What you are hearing is the sound of a fumarole
which is surrounded by sulfur on the southwestern slope of the still active Mount Griggs volcano. The valley below a mere century ago was once
filled with these fumaroles, more than ten thousand in fact, having formed in response
to the largest explosive volcanic eruption of the 20th century, where 31 cubic kilometers
or 7.4 cubic miles of lava, rock, and ash was ejected from the Novarupta volcano. The specific reason why this fumarole still
exists is that an active magma chamber still exists underneath Mount Griggs several miles
down. Yet, the magma underneath this volcano is
not currently of too much concern. As instead, a volcano we can see in the distance
known as Trident has fairly shallow magma which we can worry about, as it did not exist
at such shallow depths until a mere 11 months ago. This magmatic intrusion has pushed up a section
of ground overlying the volcano by 2 inches or 5 centimeters in that time, being centered
on its southern flank. Although we do not know if this intrusion
will result in an eruption, it is surprisingly plausible that this volcano could erupt for
the first time in many years in 2023. The Trident volcano is one of 13 stunning
active volcanoes located in the magnificent 4 million acre Katmai National Park and Preserve
in Alaska which generally contains more bears than people; 2,200 grizzly bears in fact. This park and its numerous volcanoes are located
in the northeastern stretch of the Alaskan Peninsula, with the closest populated place
to the Trident volcano being the tiny settlement of Karluk 52 miles to the southeast. While Trident is indeed in a very remote part
of the state, it is still considered to be a high threat volcano by the U.S. Geological
Survey. The reason for this rating is that its eruptions
have been universally explosive, and that if it were to erupt, the potential would exist
for regional air traffic to be greatly disrupted.``` The slowly upward moving magma is seemingly
centered near the Trident volcano's southwest cone. This magmatic intrusion appears to involve
a deep source which is continuously sending molten rock shallower into the crust from
a depth of approximately 30 miles. Not long after the intrusion began in late
August of 2022, the magma reached a joint area where 5 separate active volcanoes are
connected at depth. The magmatic intrusion of undetermined size
has since it began in August of 2022, seemingly moved in 3 directions. One direction was towards the northeast where
the Mount Katmai volcano and caldera exists, which although magma has seemingly stalled
several months ago in my opinion in that direction, has still resulted in an increased number
of earthquakes ever since, possibly due to interactions with the volcano's hydrothermal
system. Magma seemingly made more progress towards
the southwest, where it interacted with both the active Mageik and then Martin volcanoes. Beneath and between these two volcanoes there
have been 289 volcano tectonic earthquakes in the past 14 days, where magma has seemingly
gotten close to but not yet interacted with any of their existing magma chambers. The third direction magma seemingly moved
was the most significant, as it resulted in an upward motion underneath a section of the
Trident volcano, meaning magma actively exists at less than a depth of 5 kilometers or 3
miles. Trident's edifice in the past 2 weeks has
been the site of 157 earthquakes, which is many times higher than is typical for this
complex. Yet, what was of particular interest are a
series of quakes that struck 2.5 miles northwest of its main cone, seemingly close to the Novarupta
volcano at a depth of 3 miles, which have only been observed at substantially heightened
levels since May of this year. These earthquakes were not typical volcano
tectonic earthquakes, but rather what are known as low frequency earthquakes. Per a direct quote from the U.S. Geological
Survey, "Long-period... or low-frequency... earthquakes are caused by cracks resonating
as magma and gases move toward the surface. They are often seen prior to volcanic eruptions,
but their occurrence is also part of the normal background seismicity at some volcanoes and
their occurrence does not necessarily indicate that an eruption is imminent." If the rate of these low frequency earthquakes
continue to increase, then so does the chance of a volcanic eruption occurring in the short
term, probably at the Trident volcano. Thanks for watching! If you would like to request a specific topic,
please leave a comment below. Additionally, I would like to thank this channel's
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