Shiveluch Volcano, located in the Central Kamchatka Depression, has experienced multiple flank failures during its lifetime, most recently in 1964. The overlapping deposits of at least 13 large Holocene debris avalanches cover an area of approximately 200 km2 of the southern sector of the volcano. Deposits of two debris avalanches associated with flank extrusive domes are, in addition, located on its western slope. The maximum travel distance of individual Holocene avalanches exceeds 20 km, and their volumes reach ∼3 km3. The deposits of most avalanches typically have a hummocky surface, are poorly sorted and graded, and contain angular heterogeneous rock fragments of various sizes surrounded by coarse to fine matrix. The deposits differ in color, indicating different sources on the edifice. Tephrochronological and radiocarbon dating of the avalanches shows that the first large Holocene avalanches were emplaced approximately 4530–4350 BC. From ∼2490 BC at least 13 avalanches occurred after intervals of 30–900 years. Six large avalanches were emplaced between 120 and 970 AD, with recurrence intervals of 30–340 years. All the debris avalanches were followed by eruptions that produced various types of pyroclastic deposits. Features of some surge deposits suggest that they might have originated as a result of directed blasts triggered by rockslides. Most avalanche deposits are composed of fresh andesitic rocks of extrusive domes, so the avalanches might have resulted from the high magma supply rate and the repetitive formation of the domes. No trace of the 1854 summit failure mentioned in historical records has been found beyond 8 km from the crater; perhaps witnesses exaggerated or misinterpreted the events.

Volcanic eruptions from Kamchatka have deposited many unique tephra layers over a large region within the North Pacific, providing important isochrons between key sites such as marine ODP core 883 (Pacific Ocean, Detroit Seamount) and Elgygytgyn Lake (Chukotka, eastern Siberia). Here we present a compilation of C14 dates on major Holocene tephras from the volcanically highly active region, based on decades of detailed stratigraphical fieldwork on Shiveluch, Kliuchevskoy, and other volcanoes.The 12-m thick tephra sequence at the Kliuchevskoy slope has been continuously accumulating during the last ∼11 ka. It contains over 200 visible individual tephra layers and no datable organic material. The section is dominated by dark-gray mafic cinders related to Kliuchevskoy activity. In addition, it contains 30 light-colored thin layers of silicic tephra from distant volcanoes including 11 layers from Shiveluch volcano located only 65 km to the north. We have used EMPA glass analysis to correlate most of the marker tephra layers to their source eruptions dated earlier by C14 (Braitseva et al., 1997; Ponomareva et al., 2007), and in this way linked Kliuchevskoy tephra sequence to sequences at other volcanoes including Shiveluch. The C14 dates and tephras from the northern Kamchatka are then combined into a single Bayesian framework taking into account stratigraphical ordering within and between the sites. This approach has allowed us to enhance the reliability and precision of the estimated ages for the eruptions. Age-depth models are constructed to analyse changes in deposition rates and volcanic activity throughout the Holocene. This detailed chronology of the eruptions serves as a basis for understanding temporal patterns in the eruption sequence and geochemical variations of magmas. This research could prove important for the long-term forecast of eruptions and volcanic hazards.

On Kamchatka, detailed geologic and geomorphologic mapping of young volcanic terrains and observations on historical eruptions reveal that landslides of various scales, from small (0.001 km3) to catastrophic (up to 20–30 km3), are widespread. Moreover, these processes are among the most effective and most rapid geomorphic agents. Of 30 recently active Kamchatka volcanoes, at least 18 have experienced sector collapses, some of them repetitively. The largest sector collapses identified so far on Kamchatka volcanoes, with volumes of 20–30 km3 of resulting debris-avalanche deposits, occurred at Shiveluch and Avachinsky volcanoes in the Late Pleistocene. During the last 10,000 yr the most voluminous sector collapses have occurred on extinct Kamen' (4–6 km3) and active Kambalny (5–10 km3) volcanoes. The largest number of repetitive debris avalanches (> 10 during just the Holocene) has occurred at Shiveluch volcano. Landslides from the volcanoes cut by ring-faults of the large collapse calderas were ubiquitous. Large failures have happened on both mafic and silicic volcanoes, mostly related to volcanic activity. Orientation of collapse craters is controlled by local tectonic stress fields rather than regional fault systems.

Specific features of some debris avalanche deposits are toreva blocks — huge almost intact fragments of volcanic edifices involved in the failure; some have been erroneously mapped as individual volcanoes. One of the largest toreva blocks is Mt. Monastyr' — a ∼ 2 km3 piece of Avachinsky Somma involved in a major sector collapse 30–40 ka BP.

Long-term forecast of sector collapses on Kliuchevskoi, Koriaksky, Young Cone of Avachinsky and some other volcanoes highlights the importance of closer studies of their structure and stability.

The ~16-ka-long record of explosive eruptions from Shiveluch volcano (Kamchatka, NW Pacific) is refined using geochemical fingerprinting of tephra and radiocarbon ages. Volcanic glass from 77 prominent Holocene tephras and four Late Glacial tephra packages was analyzed by electron microprobe. Eruption ages were estimated using 113 radiocarbon dates for proximal tephra sequence. These radiocarbon dates were combined with 76 dates for regional Kamchatka marker tephra layers into a single Bayesian framework taking into account the stratigraphic ordering within and between the sites. As a result, we report ~1,700 high-quality glass analyses from Late Glacial–Holocene Shiveluch eruptions of known ages. These define the magmatic evolution of the volcano and provide a reference for correlations with distal fall deposits. Shiveluch tephras represent two major types of magmas, which have been feeding the volcano during the Late Glacial–Holocene time: Baidarny basaltic andesites and Young Shiveluch andesites. Baidarny tephras erupted mostly during the Late Glacial time (~16–12.8 ka BP) but persisted into the Holocene as subordinate admixture to the prevailing Young Shiveluch andesitic tephras (~12.7 ka BP–present). Baidarny basaltic andesite tephras have trachyandesite and trachydacite (SiO2 < 71.5 wt%) glasses. The Young Shiveluch andesite tephras have rhyolitic glasses (SiO2 > 71.5 wt%). Strongly calc-alkaline medium-K characteristics of Shiveluch volcanic glasses along with moderate Cl, CaO and low P2O5 contents permit reliable discrimination of Shiveluch tephras from the majority of other large Holocene tephras of Kamchatka. The Young Shiveluch glasses exhibit wave-like variations in SiO2 contents through time that may reflect alternating periods of high and low frequency/volume of magma supply to deep magma reservoirs beneath the volcano. The compositional variability of Shiveluch glass allows geochemical fingerprinting of individual Shiveluch tephra layers which along with age estimates facilitates their use as a dating tool in paleovolcanological, paleoseismological, paleoenvironmental and archeological studies. Electronic tables accompanying this work offer a tool for statistical correlation of unknown tephras with proximal Shiveluch units taking into account sectors of actual tephra dispersal, eruption size and expected age. Several examples illustrate the effectiveness of the new database. The data are used to assign a few previously enigmatic wide-spread tephras to particular Shiveluch eruptions. Our finding of Shiveluch tephras in sediment cores in the Bering Sea at a distance of ~600 km from the source permits re-assessment of the maximum dispersal distances for Shiveluch tephras and provides links between terrestrial and marine paleoenvironmental records.

This paper considers the propagation of ash during the paroxysmal eruption of Sheveluch Volcano which occurred April 10–13, 2023, and its impact on the water resources of the affected area. We characterize ash thicknesses at various population centers and describe the grain-size composition of the ash. We show that the propagation of ash plumes is primarily driven by the eruption dynamics, but atmospheric circulation actually controls the spatial distribution of deposit thickness. The water-soluble salts contained in the ash and the dynamics of their washing out under natural conditions have been determined. The water-soluble part of fresh ash is dominated by calcium and magnesium sulfates, sodium chloride, with minor amounts of chlorides and fluorides of aluminum, potassium, and ammonium. The first substances to be washed out from ashes are well-soluble chlorides, to be followed by sulfates. As time goes on, the total concentration of soluble salts is decreasing, and their qualitative composition changes: hydrogen carbonates of calcium, magnesium, and sodium begin to dominate. Several months after the eruption, the impact of the ashfall on water resources of the settlements, including open springs at the ground surface, was leveled out.

This impressive scientific resource presents up-to-date information on ten thousand years of volcanic activity on Earth. In the decade and a half since the previous edition was published new studies have refined assessments of the ages of many volcanoes, and several thousand new eruptions have been documented. This edition updates the book's key components: a directory of volcanoes active during the Holocene; a chronology of eruptions over the past ten thousand years; a gazetteer of volcano names, synonyms, and subsidiary features; an extensive list of references; and an introduction placing these data in context. This edition also includes new photographs, data on the most common rock types forming each volcano, information on population densities near volcanoes, and other features, making it the most comprehensive source available on Earth's dynamic volcanism.