Volcano Blog: Kasatochi, Alaska

Another volcano in the same area where two are already in eruption cycles: Okmok and Mt. Cleveland.

I see that Wikipedia has already updated its entry on Kasatochi.

Go there and look at the picture. Kasatochi is a caldera, a collapsed crater with a lake in it, like the more famous Crater Lake of Oregon. If it's in eruption, then probably the lake has become filled with ash, or become acidic. That fate could eventually happen to Crater Lake, as well, or an eruption could open an outlet, draining the lake.

I'll point out again that we have multiple volcanoes in the same area all erupting at once, pointing to either a common magma source for all three, or perhaps a periodic shift in the earth's crust that allows magma to approach closer to the surface of the Earth than in quieter times. Fascinating stuff, even if you're only an amateur volcanologist.