Alaskan volcano is active and oozing magma
Scientists say Alaska's Augustine Volcano has started oozing lava and is exhibiting less-explosive activity than it did earlier this year.
Increased levels of carbon dioxide in emissions has led geologists to believe recent seismic activity is linked with dome building, rather than violent eruptions, the Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News reported Thursday.
Scientists say the volcano is producing magma, but they say that doesn't necessarily mean explosions are imminent.
"Sometimes it comes out violently and sometimes it oozes out like a tube of toothpaste," Peter Cervelli, a U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory, told the newspaper. "And that's what it's doing right now."
The volcano is located about 120 miles south of Anchorage and about 70 miles west-southwest of Homer, Alaska.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
