Novarupta is a volcano, located on the Alaska Peninsula in the Katmai area, about 290 miles southwest of Anchorage. Its eruption of June 6-June 8, 1912 was ten times more powerful than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens and also lead to the formation of this 841 metre (2760ft) volcano. See: 1912 Novarupta eruption. Only one eruption in historic times, Greece's Santorini in about 1500 B.C., displaced more volcanic matter than Novarupta. The 1883 eruption of Indonesia's Krakatoa displaced half as much as Novarupta. Novarupta's 1912 eruption has been rated a 6 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. Magma from the Katmai area was drained away to Novarupta which resulted in a collapse caldera.

Novarupta sits below Mount Katmai, which collapsed as a result of material being expelled from the volcano. The lava dome that formed to plug the vent from which the eruption occurred is what is now referred to as Novarupta. Pyroclastic ash flow from the eruption formed what was named the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes by Robert Griggs , who explored the volcano's aftermath for the National Geographic Society in 1916. Katmai National Park and Preserve was formed to protect the area around Novarupta.

External links

• USGS collection of descriptions of Novarupta
• USGS QuickTime video clip on Novarupta (36 seconds/0.8 MB)