Link to the Global Volcanism Program Home Page Volcano Photo National Museum of Natural History Home Page

Shishaldin   »  Summary

Shishaldin

Shishaldin Photo

Country:United States
Subregion Name:Aleutian Islands
Volcano Number:1101-36-
Volcano Type: Stratovolcano
Volcano Status:Historical
Last Known Eruption: 2004 
Summit Elevation: 2857 m 9,373 feet
Latitude: 54.756°N 54°45'20"N
Longitude: 163.97°W 163°58'0"W

The beautifully symmetrical volcano of Shishaldin is the highest and one of the most active volcanoes of the Aleutian Islands. The 2857-m-high, glacier-covered volcano is the westernmost of three large stratovolcanoes along an E-W line in the eastern half of Unimak Island. The Aleuts named the volcano Sisquk, meaning "mountain which points the way when I am lost." A steady steam plume rises from its small summit crater. Constructed atop an older glacially dissected volcano, Shishaldin is Holocene in age and largely basaltic in composition. Remnants of an older ancestral volcano are exposed on the west and NE sides at 1500-1800 m elevation. Shishaldin contains over two dozen pyroclastic cones on its NW flank, which is blanketed by massive aa lava flows. Frequent explosive activity, primarily consisting of strombolian ash eruptions from the small summit crater, but sometimes producing lava flows, has been recorded since the 18th century.

Global Volcanism ProgramDepartment of Mineral SciencesNational Museum of Natural HistorySmithsonian Institution

Copyright  |   | Privacy  |