{{Infobox mountain | name = Alaid | native_name = {{native name|ru|Алаид}} | translation = Alaid | image = Atlasov Island1.jpg | image_caption = A view of Atlasov island as a whole with the volcano in the center of the image. | location = Atlasov Island, Sakhalin, Russia | elevation_m = 2285-2339 | coordinates = {{Coord|50|51|32|N|155|33|26|E|display=title,inline}} | type = Volcano | last_eruption = 14 October 2022, depicted. | first_ascent = Never ascended. | mapframe = no }}
'''Alaid,''' also called '''Atlasov''' due to its location or '''Araido''' in Japanese, is a volcano on Atlasov Island of the Kuril Islands, Russia. It is the northernmost volcano of the islands, and one of the most active. The height is disputed between {{convert|2285|m}}<ref name="OLYMPIC">{{cite web |title=The 'Olympic Rupture' of Alaid Volcano on Atlasov Island – Exclusive Drone Footage! |url=https://eugene.kaspersky.com/2019/08/20/the-olympic-rupture-of-alaid-volcano-on-atlasov-island-exclusive-drone-footage/ |website=eugene.kaspersky.com |access-date=24 November 2025}}</ref> to {{convert|2339|m}} tall.<ref name="NASA">{{cite web |last1=Stefanov |first1=William L. |title=Alaid Volcano, Kuril Islands, Russian Federation |url=https://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/78290/alaid-volcano-kuril-islands-russian-federation |website=www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov |publisher=NASA |access-date=25 November 2025 |language=en |date=18 June 2012}}</ref> It is the highest peak of the Kuril Islands.<ref name="NASA" />
== Geographical setting == Alaid is located on Atlasov Island, one of the Kuril Islands. These are part of the ring of tectonic instability encircling the Pacific Ocean referred to as the Ring of Fire. The majority of these islands are volcanic, and that doesn't exclude Atlasov, which its main feature is the volcano.<ref name="BRITANNICA">{{cite web |title=Kuril Islands |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Kuril-Islands |access-date=24 November 2025 |website=Encyclopaedia Britannica}}</ref>
== Geology == It is formed mostly of alkali basalts, and minorly of basaltic andesite.<ref name="MINDAT">{{cite web |title=Alaid volcano, Atlasov Island, Severo-Kurilsky District, Kuril Islands (Kurile Islands), Sakhalin Oblast, Russia |url=https://www.mindat.org/loc-410286.html |publisher=Mindat |access-date=25 November 2025}}</ref> Many rare minerals are present on the mountain. Yellow volborthite and turquoise atacamite are present on the volcano.<ref name="MDPI">{{cite journal |last1=Zhitova |first1=Elena S. |last2=Nuzhdaev |first2=Anton A. |last3=Davydova |first3=Vesta O. |last4=Sheveleva |first4=Rezeda M. |last5=Zhegunov |first5=Pavel S. |last6=Kuznetsov |first6=Ruslan A. |last7=Kutyrev |first7=Anton V. |last8=Khokhlova |first8=Maria A. |last9=Vlasenko |first9=Natalia S. |title=Calcareous Skarn-like Mineral Paragenesis from Unaltered Basalt of the Alaid Volcano (Kuril–Kamchatka Island Arc) |journal=Minerals |date=26 February 2025 |volume=15 |issue=3 |pages=237 |doi=10.3390/min15030237 |doi-access=free |url=https://www.mdpi.com/2075-163X/15/3/237 |access-date=25 November 2025}}</ref>
=== Eruptions === Alaid volcano is one of the most active volcanoes of the Sakhalin Oblast as a whole. The most significant eruptions were the 1793 and the 2022 eruption.<ref name="OLYMPIC" /> Local records indicate that eruptions also happened in 1854, 1860, 1894, 1981, 1996, 2015–2016, and 2022.<ref name="MINDAT" /><ref name="NASA" /><ref name="VOLCANOLIVE" /> thumb|Satellite image showing the eruption
==== 2022 eruption ==== The 2022 volcanic eruption was one of the biggest and most significant of the history of the volcano. Local flights had to be cancelled due to this eruption. It also increased the territory of the island by an unknown minor amount.<ref name="2022 ERUPTION">{{cite journal |last1=Degterev |first1=A. V. |last2=Chibisova |first2=M. V. |last3=Romanyuk |first3=F. A. |title=An Eхplosive–Effusive Eruption of Alaid Volcano in 2022 (Atlasova Island, Northern Kuril Islands) |journal=Russian Journal of Pacific Geology |date=1 December 2023 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=S249–S258 |doi=10.1134/S1819714023080146}}</ref>
Strombolian-vulcanian activity provoked two lava flows, that went onto the southern slope of Alaid. The ash plumes mainly spread to the southeast with their height reaching 300–530 km. The outflow of lava caused the formation of lahars that descended the southern slope of the volcano and reached the island's coast.<ref name="2022 ERUPTION" />
=== Height === Alaid is the tallest mountain of the Kurils,<ref name="NASA" /> and its peak makes Atlasov the highest island of all of Russia.{{citation needed|date=January 2026}} Like most other mountains, the height of Alaid is disputed. Some sources state that the height is of {{convert|2285|m}};<ref name="OLYMPIC" /><ref name="MINDAT" /> others, like NASA, put it at {{convert|2339|m}}.<ref name="NASA" /><ref name="VOLCANOLIVE">{{cite web |title=Alaid Volcano, Kurile Islands, Russia - John Seach |url=http://volcanolive.com/alaid.html |website=volcanolive.com |access-date=25 November 2025}}</ref><ref name="PEAKBAGGER">{{cite web |title=Vulkan Alaid - Peakbagger.com |url=https://www.peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=17657 |website=www.peakbagger.com |access-date=25 November 2025}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
Category:Volcanoes of the Kuril Islands