Photo evidence for “possible” eruption of an extinct volcano near the Ross Ice Shelf

UPDATE #3 02/15/08

 I have received seismic data from MEVO for 10/24/07, and I’m now satisfied that no significant volcanic eruption occured on that date. So what we are seeing is either some meteological effect, such as perhaps a lenticular cloud being shredded and blown downwind, or perhaps a steam release without and eruption. I can’t be sure at this point but it has been an interesting time of investigating it and I learned a tremendous amount in the process.

UPDATE #2 02/14/08

I’m still waiting for the director of MEVO, Dr. Philp Kyle, to provide Erebus seismic data for October 24th. He maintains that no eruption occurred on that day, but the MEVO website stops reporting on October 23rd, and so far he hasn’t provided me with the data I’ve asked for. When/if he does, I’ll post it here.

Also the explanation of “cirrus blowoff” seems to be applied only to thuderstorm anvils, and I have not found any references to it related to volcanic peaks. If anyone has a reference, please let me know.

UPDATE: I’ve received a reply from the director of MEVO (Mount Erebus Volcanic Observatory) My initial concerns about this perhaps being misidentified seem to have been valid, even though the photo evidence and anecdotal evidence appears convincing for volcanic plumes.

Here’s what the director of MEVO has to say. I think he means “serious blowoff” in his email. Others have suggested “cirrus blowoff” which turns out to be correct when he emailed back:

—– Original Message —–

From: Philip Kyle
To: Anthony Watts 
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 9:11 AM
Subject: Re: Sat image shows possible eruption of Mt. Terror

Hello Anthony
I was in Antarctica at the time of this unusual phenomena and it has been noted by others.
This is a case of sirius blowoff and due to wind and cloud conditions. There was no eruption from Terror (as much as we would love there to be one).
Philip Kyle
———————————————————- 

From: Philip Kyle

To: Anthony Watts

Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 11:39 AM

Subject: Re: Sat image shows possible eruption of Mt. Terror

i made a mistake it is “cirrus blowoff”
I am not a weather person.
In the past when we have seen the phenomenon i was told by a weather person that was the correct term.
you will need to consult either a meterologist or the people who generated the satellite image.
————————————————————————————

If it has been “noted by others”, why not put it on the MEVO web page to clarify it for everyone? The MEVO website hasn’t been updated since October 23rd 2007, and I queried him on that. His reply:

1. We lost our webmaster.
2. The student who was keeping the site up got distracted and did not do the work.
3. Eruptive activity almost ceased at Erebus
4. We were all in the field and involved with field work.

If the scientific organization responsible for providing the volcanic information about the area won’t keep their own web page updated, how would anyone know that this has been “noted by others” and that his eyewitness account says otherwise?

These images have been looked at by a lot of folks who have reviewed weather satellite imagery, so if we’ve all been misled by it, MEVO should put up a notice on their web page so that other researchers are aware. It shouldn’t be that hard to find someone who can edit a webpage at a University.

Even with this new info, this has been a fun learning exercise, and it just goes to show that when you are chasing a hypothesis, you should get all available information at your disposal, and if you operate a scientific website for public consumption, you should keep it updated. - Anthony
———————————————————————— 

ORIGINAL BLOG POST STARTS HERE:

Like I’ve said before, when your work becomes known, people start sending you things to look at. Such is the case here. An email was forwarded to me by Jim Kingsley that contained a NOAA-17 POES satellite photo and discussion about what it meant. The plume to the left was identified as Mount Erebus, but the plume to the right was simply referenced as “new” with no label as to the landmark. There was also the query “What do you think?”

Initially my first thought was “wow”, but then I started thinking it was probably just another Internet hoax or something misidentified, or simply “volcanic business as usual” there and the folks at McMurdo Base knew all about it.

Here is the photo below that started it all:

UPDATE -NEW IMAGERY: see new satellite image below from TERRA/MODIS

My thinking was that this was just another Photoshop trick, where the plume from Mount Erebus had been extracted and repasted to the right, giving the appearance of two eruptions side by side. The photo had a caption at the bottom which read: