Volcano Journal Entry
Chikurachki Volcano Erupts (April 23, 2003)
Satellite view of column of ash billowing from Chikurachki volcano on Russia's Kuril Islands. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.
Russia's Chikurachki volcano erupted with huge billowing clouds of dark ash this week. The volcano is found on the Kuril Islands off the Russian mainland in the northern Pacific Ocean.
The Kuril Islands lie just below Russia's Kamchatka peninsula, the site of several active volcanoes. The region is at the edge of the North American plate where the Pacific plate dives under it along a subduction zone. Crust of the plunging plate melts deep below the surface to form magma. Eventually, the magma rises to the surface through the region's many volcanoes.
