Above: Great Sitkin Mountain in February 2023; credit Steven Skeehan, courtesy of Alaska Volcano Observatory
Public lands come in many shapes, including the giant oval dome that is Great Sitkin Mountain in the central Aleutian Islands 26 miles east of Adak. Rising to 5,709 feet, Great Sitkin (Sitх̑naх̑ in Aleutian) is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, managed by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It is also within the federally designated Aleutian Islands Wilderness.
One of Alaska’s most active volcanoes, it has been erupting lava from its broad summit crater since May 2021. A 2023 study led by Purdue University researchers suggests that the volcano has two separate magma chambers, which they say explains why its earthquakes migrate between different areas of the volcano.
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