Aleutian Ridge

Last updated

The Aleutian Ridge is located in the western part of the Aleutian Arc in the Bering Sea.

Contents

Geography

It consists of a chain of volcanic islands located along the crest of a submarine ridge with most of the active Quaternary stratocones or caldera-like volcanoes located on the northern boundaries of the Aleutian Islands. [1]

Photos by the U.S. Air Force in May 1944

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coast Mountains</span> Mountain range in Canada and the United States

The Coast Mountains are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia south to the Fraser River. The mountain range's name derives from its proximity to the sea coast, and it is often referred to as the Coast Range. The range includes volcanic and non-volcanic mountains and the extensive ice fields of the Pacific and Boundary Ranges, and the northern end of the volcanic system known as the Cascade Volcanoes. The Coast Mountains are part of a larger mountain system called the Pacific Coast Ranges or the Pacific Mountain System, which includes the Cascade Range, the Insular Mountains, the Olympic Mountains, the Oregon Coast Range, the California Coast Ranges, the Saint Elias Mountains and the Chugach Mountains. The Coast Mountains are also part of the American Cordillera—a Spanish term for an extensive chain of mountain ranges—that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that form the western backbone of North America, Central America, South America and Antarctica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ring of Fire</span> Region around the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur

The Ring of Fire is a tectonic belt of volcanoes and earthquakes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleutian Range</span> Mountain range in the state of Alaska

The Aleutian Range is a major mountain range located in southwest Alaska. It extends from Chakachamna Lake to Unimak Island, which is at the tip of the Alaska Peninsula. It includes all of the mountains of the Peninsula. The Aleutian Range is special because of its large number of active volcanoes, which are also part of the larger Aleutian Arc. The mainland part of the range is about 600 miles (1000 km) long. The Aleutian Islands are (geologically) a partially submerged western extension of the range that stretches for another 1,600 km (1000 mi). However the official designation "Aleutian Range" includes only the mainland peaks and the peaks on Unimak Island. The range is almost entirely roadless wilderness. Katmai National Park and Preserve, a large national park within the range, must be reached by boat or plane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Island arc</span> Arc-shaped archipelago formed by intense seismic activity of long chains of active volcanoes

Island arcs are long chains of active volcanoes with intense seismic activity found along convergent tectonic plate boundaries. Most island arcs originate on oceanic crust and have resulted from the descent of the lithosphere into the mantle along the subduction zone. They are the principal way by which continental growth is achieved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North American Plate</span> Large tectonic plate including most of North America, Greenland and part of Siberia

The North American Plate is a tectonic plate containing most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of 76 million km2 (29 million sq mi), it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacific Plate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanic arc</span> Chain of volcanoes formed above a subducting plate

A volcanic arc is a belt of volcanoes formed above a subducting oceanic tectonic plate, with the belt arranged in an arc shape as seen from above. Volcanic arcs typically parallel an oceanic trench, with the arc located further from the subducting plate than the trench. The oceanic plate is saturated with water, mostly in the form of hydrous minerals such as micas, amphiboles, and serpentines. As the oceanic plate is subducted, it is subjected to increasing pressure and temperature with increasing depth. The heat and pressure break down the hydrous minerals in the plate, releasing water into the overlying mantle. Volatiles such as water drastically lower the melting point of the mantle, causing some of the mantle to melt and form magma at depth under the overriding plate. The magma ascends to form an arc of volcanoes parallel to the subduction zone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Cleveland (Alaska)</span> Nearly symmetrical stratovolcano on Chuginadak island

Mount Cleveland is a nearly symmetrical stratovolcano on the western end of Chuginadak Island, which is part of the Islands of Four Mountains just west of Umnak Island in the Fox Islands of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Mt. Cleveland is 5,675 ft (1,730 m) high, and one of the most active of the 75 or more volcanoes in the larger Aleutian Arc. Aleutian natives named the island after their fire goddess, Chuginadak, who they believed inhabited the volcano. In 1894 a team from the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey visited the island and gave Mount Cleveland its current name, after then-president Grover Cleveland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Semisopochnoi Island</span> American Island

Semisopochnoi Island or Unyak Island is part of the Rat Islands group in the western Aleutian Islands of Alaska. The island is uninhabited and provides an important nesting area for maritime birds. The island is of volcanic origin, containing several volcanoes including Mount Young. It has a land area of 85.558 square miles, measuring 11 miles (18 km) in length and 12 miles (20 km) in width.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobrof Island</span> Island in the U.S. state of Alaska

Bobrof Island is one of the Andreanof Islands subgroup of the Aleutian Islands in southwestern Alaska, United States. Bobrof Island is a small, uninhabited island about 9 miles (14 km) north and west of Kanaga Island, and 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Cape Sudak on Tanaga Island. Bobrof Island is 2.6 miles (4.2 km) long and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) wide with an area of 3 square miles (7.8 km2), and consists primarily of the 2,421-foot (738 m) high Bobrof Volcano. The volcanic crater, or cone, has been heavily dissected. Underwater deposits adjacent to the island's northeast flank suggest an immense debris-avalanche has taken place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koniuji Island</span> Island in the U.S. state of Alaska

Koniuji Island is one of the Andreanof Islands subgroup of the Aleutian Islands of southwestern Alaska, United States. It lies northwest of Atka Island and east of Kasatochi Island. Koniuji Island has a land area of 0.37 sq mi and is uninhabited. The name "Koniuji" is derived from Russian: конюга, romanized: konyuga "auklet", bestowed by Russian sailors in reference to the endemic seabirds. The Aleut name is Tanax̂silĝux̂ "the big made island", in reference to putative recent volcanic activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volcanism of Canada</span> Volcanic activity in Canada

Volcanic activity is a major part of the geology of Canada and is characterized by many types of volcanic landform, including lava flows, volcanic plateaus, lava domes, cinder cones, stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes, submarine volcanoes, calderas, diatremes, and maars, along with less common volcanic forms such as tuyas and subglacial mounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andean Volcanic Belt</span> Volcanic belt in South America

The Andean Volcanic Belt is a major volcanic belt along the Andean cordillera in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. It is formed as a result of subduction of the Nazca Plate and Antarctic Plate underneath the South American Plate. The belt is subdivided into four main volcanic zones which are separated by volcanic gaps. The volcanoes of the belt are diverse in terms of activity style, products, and morphology. While some differences can be explained by which volcanic zone a volcano belongs to, there are significant differences within volcanic zones and even between neighboring volcanoes. Despite being a type location for calc-alkalic and subduction volcanism, the Andean Volcanic Belt has a broad range of volcano-tectonic settings, as it has rift systems and extensional zones, transpressional faults, subduction of mid-ocean ridges and seamount chains as well as a large range of crustal thicknesses and magma ascent paths and different amounts of crustal assimilations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amak Volcano</span> Stratovolcano in Alaska, United States

Amak Volcano is a basaltic andesite stratovolcano in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, United States, 618 miles (995 km) from Anchorage. It is located on the eponymous island, 31 miles (50 km) from Frosty Volcano and near the edge of the Alaskan Peninsula's western flank. Only boats are allowed to access the island with a certain permit.

Davidof Volcano is a potentially active stratovolcano and caldera remnant in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, USA, 1,237 miles (1,991 km) from Anchorage. Located on the eponymous island, Davidof is part of the Rat Islands sub-chain. It is also part of the "Aleutian Krakatau", a group of four islands formed when a stratovolcano caved in during the late Cenozoic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleutian Arc</span> Volcanic arc in Alaska, United States

The Aleutian Arc is a large volcanic arc of islands extending from the Southwest tip of the U.S. state of Alaska to the Kamchatka Peninsula of the Russian Federation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleutian Islands</span> Chain of islands in the northern Pacific Ocean

The Aleutian Islands, also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large volcanic islands and 55 smaller islands. Most of the Aleutian Islands belong to the U.S. state of Alaska, but some belong to the Russian federal subject of Kamchatka Krai. They form part of the Aleutian Arc in the Northern Pacific Ocean, occupying a land area of 6,821 sq mi (17,666 km2) and extending about 1,200 mi (1,900 km) westward from the Alaska Peninsula toward the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, and act as a border between the Bering Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. Crossing longitude 180°, at which point east and west longitude end, the archipelago contains both the westernmost part of the United States by longitude and the easternmost by longitude. The westernmost U.S. island in real terms, however, is Attu Island, west of which runs the International Date Line. While nearly all the archipelago is part of Alaska and is usually considered as being in the "Alaskan Bush", at the extreme western end, the small, geologically related Commander Islands belong to Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of the Pacific Ocean</span> Overview about the geology of the Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean evolved in the Mesozoic from the Panthalassic Ocean, which had formed when Rodinia rifted apart around 750 Ma. The first ocean floor which is part of the current Pacific Plate began 160 Ma to the west of the central Pacific and subsequently developed into the largest oceanic plate on Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleutian subduction zone</span> Convergence boundary between the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate

The Aleutian subduction zone is a 2,500 mi (4,000 km) long convergent boundary between the North American Plate and the Pacific Plate, that extends from the Alaska Range to the Kamchatka Peninsula. Here, the Pacific Plate is being subducted underneath the North American Plate and the rate of subduction changes from west to east from 7.5 to 5.1 cm per year. The Aleutian subduction zone includes two prominent features, the Aleutian Arc and the Aleutian Trench. The Aleutian Arc was created via volcanic eruptions from dehydration of the subducting slab at ~100 km depth. The Aleutian Trench is a narrow and deep morphology that occurs between the two converging plates as the subducting slab dives beneath the overriding plate.

Anvil Peak is a cone volcano located in Aleutian Islands, Alaska, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tana (volcano)</span>

Tana is an eroded pair of east–west trending stratovolcanic cones east of the more known Cleveland volcano, and is located on the eastern end of the Chuginadak Island of the Islands of Four Mountains of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska.

References

  1. Montanaro, C.; Beget, J. (8 March 2011). "Volcano collapse along the Aleutian Ridge (western Aleutian Arc)" (PDF). Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences . 11: 715–730. Retrieved 30 March 2012.