These three extremely remote stratovolcanoes are part of the Islands of Four Mountains chain (which contains at least 9 mountains) in the Aleutian Islands archipelago. Relatively scant literature exists on these volcanoes apart from perhaps Cleveland, and I had trouble finding information beyond basic location and elevation: no geological composition or detailed eruption history. Even Cleveland, which is one of the most active volcanoes in North America, has no monitoring equipment; one of the only people to observe the 2006 eruption was an astronaut on the ISS 400km up in orbit.
If you want to travel here by commercial means, you will first have to make your way to Anchorage, Alaska before taking a regional plane 500 miles to Cold Bay, which is still 336 miles removed from your final destination. In the past, you might have been able to get a bit closer via the town of Nikolski (population 18) on a Grumman Goose. Perhaps the journey is best made on a boat, although mind the near constant fog and rough seas (ever seen Deadliest Catch?). As these November 11, 2016 Landsat images show, daylight can be another limiting factor this far north. While most Landsat imagery have almost no shadows, the short winter Alaskan days make for an unusually dramatic view.
Astronaut Jeff Williams observed Cleveland’s 2006 eruption from the ISS. Credit: NASA.
From West to East: Vsevidof, Recheshnoi & Okmok volcanoes on Umnak Island.
Near the Islands of the Four Mountains lies the much larger landmass of Umnak Island, home to an additional three large volcanoes. On the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), Okmok (the large caldera on the northeast corner of the island) rated as a 6 (of 8), or “Colossal” for some of its major eruptions, with ash recently found in Greenlandic ice and new studies connecting past eruptions to influencing the fall of the Roman Republic and the end of Pharaonic Egypt. This volcano, located in the most remote part of Alaska, has the power to alter life on Earth, but it barely shows up on the metaphorical map! As recently as 2008, the volcano experienced an eruption of 4 on the VEI scale, or “Cataclysmic”, but its isolation meant we barely knew about it. That might not be the same in the future.
Size comparison of the Islands of Four Mountains and Umnak.
Satellite data modified from NASA/USGS’s Landsat 8. CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.