Bogoslof


Facts


  • Official Name: Bogoslof Island
  • Seismically Monitored: No
  • Color Code: UNASSIGNED
  • Alert Level: UNASSIGNED
  • Elevation: 150m (492ft)
  • Latitude: 53.9272
  • Longitude: -168.0344
  • Smithsonian VNum: 311300
  • Pronunciation:
  • Nearby Towns:
    • Unalaska 61 mi (98 km) SE
    • Nikolski 76 mi (123 km) SW
    • Akutan 93 mi (149 km) NE
    • Saint George 194 mi (312 km) NW
    • False Pass 197 mi (317 km) NE
  • Subfeatures:
    • Fire Island
    • Metcalf Domes
    • McCulloch Peak
    • Tahoma Peak
    • Ship Rock
    • Castle Rock

Description

Bogoslof Island is the largest of a cluster of small, low-lying islands comprising the emergent summit of a large submarine stratovolcano. This stratovolcano rises about 6000 ft (1800 m) from the Bering Sea floor, but is only about 300 ft (100 m) above sea level at its highest point [1] . Bogoslof volcano is unusual in its location. It is slightly north of the main Aleutian volcanic front, and is interpreted as a back-arc feature. This volcano is frequently altered by both eruptions and erosion, and has undergone dramatic changes in historical time.There are currently two islands of this volcano above sea level: Fire Island and Bogoslof Island. Fire Island lies about 2000 ft (610 m) northwest of Bogoslof and is a tiny sea stack. The current-day Fire Island is what remains of a volcano dome extruded in 1883. Bogoslof is triangular in shape, and about 1.2 mi (2 km) by 0.5 mi (0.75 km). On the southwest side of Bogoslof are steep-sided twin pinnacles called Castle Rock - this is what remains of a dome erupted in 1796. On the north end of Bogoslof Island is a small, 500 ft (150 m) by 900 ft (275 m) dome that was erupted in 1992. Other domes erupted at Bogoslof, (which has had confirmed eruptions in 1796-1804, 1806-1823, 1883-1895, 1906, 1907, 1909-1910, 1926-1928, and 1992) have been lost to explosions or erosion [2] [3] [1] .

Name Origin

Quote from Orth (1971): "Bogoslof Island" is a Russian name meaning "theologian," given because the island "rose from the sea May 18, 1796, St. John's Day" (Baker, 1906). The name "O[strov] Ioanna Bogoslova," or "John the Theologian's Island," was published by Lt. Sarichev (1826). Captain Tebenkov (1852) published the name "O[strov] Bogoslova" or "theologian's island".


References Cited

[1] Geology of Umnak and Bogoslof Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, 1959

Byers, F. M. Jr., 1959, Geology of Umnak and Bogoslof Islands, Aleutian Islands, Alaska: in Investigations of Alaskan volcanoes, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1028-L, p. 267-369, 5 sheets, scale 1 at 1:63,360, 1 at 1:96,000, and 1 at 1:300,000.
full-text PDF 3.5 MB
plate 39 PDF 2.2 MB
plate 40 PDF 3.9 MB
plate 41 PDF 5.6 MB
plate 48 PDF 85 KB
table 3 PDF 149 KB

[2] Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada, 1990

Wood, C. A., and Kienle, Juergen, (eds.), 1990, Volcanoes of North America: United States and Canada: New York, Cambridge University Press, 354 p.

[3] Catalog of the historically active volcanoes of Alaska, 1998

Miller, T. P., McGimsey, R. G., Richter, D. H., Riehle, J. R., Nye, C. J., Yount, M. E., and Dumoulin, J. A., 1998, Catalog of the historically active volcanoes of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-0582, 104 p.

Current Activity

No new updates for Bogoslof volcano since November 24, 2023, 12:00 pm.

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