From Rense.com

Augustine Volcano produces a plume of steam seen 70 miles across the Cook Inlet from Homer, Alaska. The Alaskan volcanoes are arc volcanoes, related to subduction of the Pacific lithospheric plate, according to the USGS. AP Photo/Homer Tribune, Carey James.

Mount Belinda on Montagu Island in the South Sandwich Islands is erupting, reports the South Georgia government.

The Royal Air Force plans to fly a maritime patrol to the remote island from the Falkland Islands as soon as the weather allows to investigate the scale of the eruption.

A representative of the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands plans to go on the flight to see first hand the effects of the volcano, including changes to the coastline in the areas in which seabirds normally breed. From the satellite images it seems that the major colonies are unaffected as they lie on the far side of the island.

The four and a half thousand foot mountain was thought to be inactive until RAF patrols and satellite imaging four years ago showed low level activity, with ash staining the snow covered mountain top. For the past two years the volcano has been erupting more forcefully, and a recent satellite image shows a large, fast moving lava flow, 90 meters wide, which is reported to be adding 50 acres a month to the island.

The South Sandwich Islands are made up of a volcanic arc of eleven islands in the Weddell Sea, and together with South Georgia, they form one of the British Overseas Territories.

http://www.mercopress.com/Detalle.asp?NUM=7037

Observatory Confirms Eruption Of Augustine Volcano

KTVA Staff - Alaska

The Alaska Volcano Observatory says Mount Augustine Volcano has erupted. Geologist Jennifer Adleman says an ash cloud has been confirmed.

The observatory estimates the cloud is about 30-thousand feet high.

Residents of Clam Gulch on the Kenai Peninsula told the observatory they had spotted ash in their community. Adleman says she's not sure if ash was spotted in the air or on the ground.

A pair of explosions this morning shortly before five a.m. marked the onset of the eruption.

The volcano is 75 miles southwest of Homer and about 180 miles southwest of Anchorage.

The observatory says it plans flights today to gain more information on the kinds of gasses that the mountain expelled.

The four-thousand-134-foot volcano last erupted in 19-86. The explosions today were preceded by increased earthquake activity last night.

That prompted the observatory to upgrade the level of concern code from yellow to orange. With the explosions, the code is now red.

http://www.ktva.com/topstory/ci_3392670

Article from: http://www.rense.com/general69/erupt.htm