Task I

Pick a volcano and make a map [7.5 points]

1) Name of the Volcano: Semisopochnoi.

2) Name of the Volcanic Region where the volcano is located:  It is in the Bering
Sea and part of the Rat Islands group in the western Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
3) Primary Volcano Type (shield, stratovolcano, etc.): The type is of the volcano is
Stratovolcano.
4) Date of the last known eruption: 13-20 September 2022.
5) Latitude and Longitude of the Volcano
Latitude: 51.93°N.
Longitude: 179.58°E.
6) Size (height – summit and elevation)
Summit: 1221 m
Elevation: 4006 ft.
7) An image of the volcano you chose, either on the Smithsonian site or elsewhere
on the web, or else generate one with Google Earth. Key requirement of the
image; it has to show your volcano from the side (see a note on how to use
Google Earth at the end of the assignment).

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Using Google Earth make a world map showing the location of the volcano.
(that is, a map showing an entire hemisphere)

The map has to show:

1) the outline of world's geography (oceans, continents)
2) a symbol (dot, cross, star...) to mark the location of your volcano.
3) North direction

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 Task II
Why is your volcano there? [5 points]

- Looking at the map you have made, decide what the tectonic environment (aka
geologic setting) of your volcano is, and identify it in your answer.

Based on the map of the tectonic plates, the tectonic environment of my volcano,
Semisopochnoi, is at the boundary of the North American plate and Pacific plate.
Semisopochnoi consists of an 8 km wide caldera, a shield volcano, several younger
stratovolcanoes and it is the largest subaerial volcano of the western Aleutians. The
volcano is formed as a result of collapse of a low-angle, dominantly basaltic volcano
following the eruption of a large volume of dacitic pumice.

PRODUCT OF TASK II:

A paragraph-length description (100 words or so, not longer!) of the cause of volcanism
in the tectonic environment you have identified. Be careful NOT to copy and paste as
your instructor knows how to use online search engines too… Please use your own
words. Do not forget this assignment will be run through Turnitin.

The shifting of the tectonic plates under the process of subduction is the main reason of
volcanism in Alaska. This is an on-going process where two tectonic plates converge
and one of them subducts the other. At subduction zones the plate that subducts
remains complete and goes into the interior of the Earth. The subducted plate takes
with it rocks that are rich in water. When these rocks go in the Earth’s interior by the
descending plate, the increase in heat and pressure cause water chemical compounds

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to break down and release their water. This causes the material above the subducting
plate to melt and gives rise to the volcanoes of convergent margins.