Timing of Volcanism on Yunaska Island, Central Aleutian arc, Alaska: an Investigation Applying Multi-temporal Synthetic Aperture Radar

The volcanoes of the central Aleutian arc remain largely uninstrumented and unstudied despite numerous eruptions within the last century. Many of these eruptions are not documented and others may not have been observed. Previous synthetic aperture radar (SAR) studies at Westdahl volcano show that radar can be used to relatively date a'a lava flows and to suggest whether some flows are "historic" though not recorded. This is accomplished through comparison of semi-quantitative measurements of surface roughness for young, unvegetated lavas. Because a'a lavas typically become smoother as they weather, they produce less radar backscatter. Thus, lavas that exhibit higher radar backscatter intensities are younger than those with lower backscatter intensities for regions of similar relief and aspect. Located 305 km west of Dutch Harbor, Yunaska has six volcanic centers, of which three have probably been active in the Quaternary. Based on field observations, recent volcanism on Yunaska is associated with the younger of two nested calderas and several smaller vents and cones on the eastern half of the island. Although there is a reported 1937 eruption, it is not clear if this came from fissures north of the caldera or created the intracaldera cinder cone and lava flows. Using a twenty-year composite of SAR data, we establish relative ages for five basaltic andesite lavas from these fissures and from within the young caldera. Clear stratigraphic relationships among three lavas within the caldera provide a check on the accuracy of this technique. The use of SAR to differentiate between young lavas allows us to better document the eruption history of remote volcanoes and to mitigate their hazards.