In comparison to activity during the early stages of the eruption in May-June 2005, activity had diminished considerably. and drifted W and SW. Based on analysis of satellite imagery, the Darwin VAAC reported that during 4-6 January ash plumes from Barren Island rose to an altitude of 2.4 km (8,000 ft) a.s.l. By 1 May, intensified activity and bigger plumes were seen from ships, and pilots observed numerous dead fish near the island on 9 May. The eruption was apparently continuing on 17 October, when a NOAA 11 satellite image (at 1354) showed a plume extending ~150 km WNW from a point source at the volcano. Based on analysis of satellite imagery, the Darwin VAAC reported that during 23-25 April ash plumes from Barren Island rose to an altitude of 2.4 km (8,000 ft) a.s.l. More news to follow. and drifted as far as 165 km SW. Based on analysis of satellite imagery and wind data, the Darwin VAAC reported that during 3-4 January an ash plume from Barren Island rose to an altitude of 1.5 km (5,000 ft) a.s.l. Taken from Sanjeev Raghav (2011). Prior to the 1991 eruption, the central scoria cone in the crater of Barren Island was 305 m high with a 60-m-wide crater at its summit. The volcano's central cinder cone was continuously emitting dark ash clouds every few seconds from its central crater (reminiscent of the activity in 2007 . Barren Island, a possession of India in the Andaman Sea about 135 km NE of Port Blair in the Andaman Islands, is the only historically active volcano along the N-S volcanic arc extending between Sumatra and Burma (Myanmar). No thermal anomalies were seen in MIROVA data for at least five weeks (figure 24), between early June and late July 2014, and then continuing intermittently through the first half of March 2015. The lava and associated eruptive products of the 1991 and 1994-95 explosions, which were exposed earlier near the mouth of the valley and on the S side of the valley, were covered by the recent tephra The coarser pyroclasts are highly vesiculated basaltic rocks where plagioclase occurs as the dominant phenocryst set in a glassy matrix. 2010: January Eruptions that began on 26 May occurred from the summit of the scoria cone as well as flank vents. During 21-23 December, ash plumes from Barren Island were visible on satellite imagery at a maximum height of 4.6 km (15,000 ft) a.s.l. of volcano Sources: D. Chandrasekharam, Dept. Ans. 1021-1039 (DOI: 10.1007/s00445-009-0280-z). and drifted 75 km NE. Based on a pilot report and satellite imagery, the Darwin VAAC reported that an ash plume was emitted during 5-6 April that did not rise higher than 4.6 km altitude. The Indian Coast Guard vessel CGS Lakshmi Bai carried the team from Port Blair on 3 February 2003; the journey takes ~5-6 hours depending on sea conditions. Professor Chandrasekharam from the Indian Institute of Technology reported that as of 4 January no unusual volcanic activity was occurring at these volcanic islands. Information Contacts: Director General, GSI, Calcutta; S. Acharya, SANE, Port Blair; D. Shackelford, Fullerton, CA. Information Contacts: Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC), Bureau of Meteorology, Northern Territory Regional Office, PO Box 40050, Casuarina, NT 0811, Australia (URL: http://www.bom.gov.au/info/vaac/); Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) Thermal Alerts System, School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), Univ.