Volcan Reventador

Volcan Reventador

During the very weekend that I was splashing around in rivers and insanely jumping off of bridges in Baños, a young English student was flying into Quito. Her name was Elena. Elena is currently studying Geology back in London and had contacted the Instituto Geofisico way back in January about doing some work experience here in Ecuador. Mario, my boss read her email and thought that she could certainly help out for a couple of months, but because she was English speaking, as is often the case here when that other popular language other than Spanish seems to come around, I was put in charge of overseeing the whole thing. Over the next few months I planned Elena's two month internship - essentially, I would be her boss. You know something in the world has gone very wrong when it comes to be that I have become a boss, but still I took the opportunity with relish.

During Elena's first week at work there was an opportunity to get her out in the field for a day, a trip with one of the geologists to visit a crater lake. I have been trying to get out in the field for a while now as I have only been on a few scattered trips here and there. Seismic data processing needs to be done so it's sometimes difficult to get out and up close and personal with the volcanoes. However, after weeks of bugging my boss to let me get out of the office and with Elena off on a field trip on her first week, I think Mario felt he should let me stretch my legs, and there just happened to be a trip going out that week too, to the volcano - Reventador.

Reventador means "The Exploder" in english and its quite aptly named, for in 2002, with just a few hours of precursory activity, this volatile volcano sprang into life with massive force. It was the largest eruption to take place at Reventador in historical times. The eruption created a 17km high ash plume and sent pyroclastic flows surging up to 7km from the cone, while andesitic lava flowed out of its U-shaped crater. It last erupted in 2009, continuing to create some hefty bangs whilst sending a stream of different lava flows down its flank. Yet this 3562m high stratovolcano, has actually done very little damage over its past eruptions. For Reventador is located in the Reventador National Park, out in the Eastern Andes. Lying some 5 hours drive north east of Quito on the edge of the Amazon Jungle, its remote location means that when it does live up to it's name, there are very few people there to witness it. Nevertheless, it's an important volcano for us volcanologists, and so monitoring it's current state is a continuous process. A group were being assembled to head out to Reventador for a number of reasons. One part of the group were going to fix a seismic station on the volcanoes flank. Another was off to instal a camera, which would take constant snaps of the volcano action, whilst another part of the group were going to take gas samples. I was going along for the ride and to naturally help out where-ever I could. For the general public, most people dont venture too near to reventador. Its remote location means it's pretty difficult to get to and there are only a few places to stay nearby. This means that over the last 10 years there has been almost no notable cases of damage or loss of life. I mean, you would have to be fool to get close to this exploding beast, this unpredicatble fiery chamber - so as true volcanologists............off we went!!!

There were nine of us in all. The two vehicles took the 5 our drive through pretty amazing Andes and Oreinte scenery. At first we stopped off at a communications tower where we had to make some checks regarding our seismometers out on the volcanoes flanks. We were some miles away from the volcano, but even from here we can tell if the data is being sent correctly. We later headed off to the Reventador National Park and our base camp - Hosteria Reventador. The hotel was pretty nice, with great big bedrooms and a tv / pool room close at hand. Yet it was the hammocks and swimming pool complete with slide that dominated proceedings while we were not working. Every now and again cockerels would barge their way through the dining area too, or being out on the edge of the jungle, a parrot would come and sit by your side. You could say it was a good working environment. However this hostel also had another suprise that would help out our work situation even better, but I didn't even realise this until the next morning.

A bright 5am start marked the beginning of the one day that I would get to spend out on Reventador. It was going to be a good day though - one I will certainly never forget. From the hotel, the volcano is a good 4 hour trek, and being on a tight work schedule, we didn't really have time for that. So, hidden around the back of the hotel is a small gravely area which I would soon realise was our landing pad. There were so many of us and all doing completely differnt things on different parts of the volcano, the Institute, like it often does in these situations, hired out a helicopter and pilot. It wasn't long before the helicopter was darting to and fro between the hotel landing pad and the volcano. Dropping people off in one place and collecting others in another.

Soon it was my turn for a ride. I have never been on a helicopter before and I doubt I will get to go on one again under such unusual circumstances. For I went with Silvana, a geochemist and volcanologist who was there measuring gas samples from the volcano. I was asked to hold a small piece of equipment called a spectrometer. Essentially what would happen is; the helicopter only has one side closed on it, the other is completely open. I would have to half hang out of this side holding the spectrometer up to the sky while we flew around the active volcano. The spectrometer had a cord connected to a computer which Silvana was holding in the front seat and taking the readings that were being produced. The spectrometer can detect gases in the air as well as their quantity and this was a useful measure for us volcanologists. The flight was incredible. While I was perched on the side of this helicopter with just a small car sealtbelt holding me in, we sailed high above the clouds. The views of the Amazon and Andes combined were very special, and as we soared up and around the flanks of the volcano we could see far off peaks, like the volcano Cayambe, which peaked its snow capped summit through the clouds. The helicopter flew right into the crater and around the still very active cone. Smoke and ash rose from its top. Below you could clearly see the numerous old lava flows that had swept down the volcanoes flanks in years gone by. Above the clouds and half hanging out the chopper, tightly gripping this small and very expensive devise became more problematic. It was freezing up there and the wind continuously pushes your arm back, making the whole thing very tiring. Yet it was the unbelieveable views of forests, waterfalls, and volcanoes which kept my attention firmly off the arm aching activity. Im not sure that I will ever have a better helicopter flight than that in my life.

Later that day I headed off again, this time with Pablo. He was being sent onto one of the old lava flows to instal a camera. When set up, the device would take a picture of the volcano every 5 minutes. It would be left there for a few months and then all the data (thousands of photos) would be collected. We got back on the helicopter and set off for Reventador once more. The helicopter cant land on jagged and rough lava terrain, so it meant that it had to hover a meter from the ground so we could jump down, hopefully without twisting or breaking an ankle. We landed onto one of the 2002 lava flows just fine and began to work. The camera doesnt take too long to instal and the plan was it would all be done in 20 minutes at which time the chopper would come back round and pick us up. During our installation we were suddenly both very startled. Reventador lived up to its name. A huge loud thuderous noise was heard coming from the volcanoes crater. A few seconds later this was followed by a large ash column rising high into the air. The volcano wasnt erupting but it was certainly clearing its throat. The worrying thing about it all though, was that just a few hours earlier I had been seated in a helicopter almost brushing past that cone where the explosion had initiated. If that had happened while we were still up there flying around, things could have turned out quite badly. That explosion certainly wasn't expected and it definately makes you think what might have been. Still, we were fine so we carried on with the task at hand.

We continued installing the camera. Unfortunately by the time we had finished clouds had swept in and there was now no chance of the helicopter coming to get us from our current position. Luckily, volcanologists come prepared, so we radioed our intentions in and with our GPS device - we set off. The idea was to walk over the old lava flows down to an open clearing where there was a seismic station currently being fixed by two of our colleagues. We would meet them there before radioing in to get picked up. We could even see the site we were aiming for, but getting over lava is no easy process. Its hard, jagged, often loose boulders and spikes that make for a very slow and careful footed walk. It took an hour and a half to reach our destination. This probably would have taken just 20 minutes if we were trekking on flat land, but here the lava flows swayed up and down so it was a constant scramble across. It certainly reminded me of Frodo and Sam in The Lord Of The Rings, walking over endless mounds and pillars of volcanic rock. It was a moody place out here too especially as little could be seen with the ever dropping clouds.

We finally reached the station and our friends and we were soon back on the helicopter and in the comfort of the hotel. It was a job well done and a fantastic day, though for now - my work was over. We stayed that night in the hotel and a few of the others went out that morning to finish off their jobs. Yet by 10am everything was complete so we packed up and took the slow ride back to Quito. It was a field trip I will never forget and a good learning experience. I hope I get to continue seeing and doing such amazing things through work, as really, thats why I'm out here. And if it's taught me one thing more than the anything else............it's that I will bug Mario just that little bit more now!!!