Unalaska, AK – This month, a team from the Alaska Volcano Observatory will be conducting research and upgrading its stations at Umnak Island.

A rotating team of geophysicists and geologists will be studying the volcanic deposits made by the eruption of Okmok Volcano in 2008. The scientists will be figuring out the composition of the volcanic deposits and mapping out their locations.

Additionally, the scientists will be adding new instruments that will better detect and characterize volcanic unrest. The AVO team will also be replacing monitoring instruments - like the pendulum-like geophones - that were destroyed by the Okmok's eruption two years ago.

Currently, AVO does not have plans to do serious work in Unalaska or Akutan this year. But Waythomas says that the observatory will likely be performing similar upgrades on these islands next summer.

The AVO team expects to wrap up the equipment upgrade in August.