Drift River Oil Terminal vs. the volcano 26 March 2009Posted by admin in activity reports, Alaska, eruptions, natural hazards, Redoubt, United States.
Tags: Alaska, Drift River, lahars, natural hazards, Redoubt, United States, volcanic eruptions
The Drift River Oil Terminal stands on Cook Inlet at the mouth of Drift River, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the vent of Redoubt Volcano. When there is eruptive activity of any magnitude at Redoubt, the melting of ice and snow produces lahars – volcanic mudflows – that descend the valley of the Drift River towards the inlet.
Lahars reached the oil terminal during the eruptions of 22-23 March 2009. These pictures were taken during an Alaska Volcano Observatory overflight on 23 March 2009. The captions are those provided for each image by the AVO. More pictures can be found on the AVO website.
View east of the tank farm at DROT [Drift River Oil Terminal]. Lahar deposits have ramped up to the top of the west (closest in this image) dike and spilled over in one location (left in photo). The south dike (on right) was overtopped in several places (dark deposits/stripes), water entered the service area around the end of the north dike (far left). (Photographer Game McGimsey, image courtesy AVO/USGS.)
View west of the tank farm at DROT. Lahar deposits have ramped up to the top of the west dike and spilled over in a couple of locations. Water entered the compound along an existing roadway (foreground). The north dike (center) ends behind the grove of trees in the right midground. (Photographer Game McGimsey, image courtesy AVO/USGS.)
View west of the runway, helipad, and service buildings at DROT. The lahar deposit is at least half a meter thick at the buildings. (Photographer Cyrus Read, image courtesy AVO/USGS.)
View north up the runway. Lahar deposit covers runway and helipad to a depth at least half a meter. (Photographer Game McGimsey, image courtesy AVO/USGS.)
Since these pictures were taken further eruptions have produced more lahars that have descended the Drift Valley. What effect these have had on the oil terminal is at present unknown.
For all our Redoubt coverage: Redoubt « The Volcanism Blog.
Global Volcanism Program: Redoubt – summary information for Redoubt (1103-03-)
Alaska Volcano Observatory – Redoubt – AVO information and updates for Redoubt
Alaska Volcano Observatory – main page for the AVO