Transcript Piton de la Fournaise (‘Peak of the Furnace’) Reunion Island Clay Chang and Syman Hossenbux Geology Department Colby College.

Piton de la Fournaise
(‘Peak of the Furnace’)
Reunion Island
Clay Chang and Syman Hossenbux
Geology Department
Colby College
Geographic and Tectonic Setting
● Hot spot track extends from India to the
island of Reunion
● Maldives, the Chagos Ridge, the
Mascarene Plateau, and the Mauritus
Islands
● The hot spot is presently under the
African tectonic plate.
● Volcanic island of Reunion appeared 3
million years ago
About Piton de la Fournaise
● Shield volcano
● From the ocean floor it is over 21,600 feet (6,600 m) tall. The base of
the volcano has a diameter of 135 miles (220 km)(the base of Mount
St. Helens has a diameter of about 9 km)
● Two craters, the older Cratere Bory and the active Cratere
Dolomieu.
Eruptions
● Frequent, but short Hawaiian style eruptions
● lava fountains
● fast lava flows, low viscosity
● Na, K, Ca content prevent easy formation of silica chains, result is
fast-moving pahoehoe flows
Eruptive History and Hazards
● one of the most active volcanoes in the world
● more than 150 eruptions since 17th century
● active eruption sites are uninhabited, lava flows usually flow into
the Indian Ocean
Population
Within 5 km
55,859
Within 10 km
55,859
Within 30 km
246,792
Within 100 km
717,820
Most Recent Eruption
● June 21, 2014
● eruption on southeastern
side of Dolomieu crater
● warning signs: increased
seismicity and gas
emissions
● lava flows
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DubeBTln934
Volcanic Deposits
● Different types of Volcanic Ejecta categorised as per their size(Lapilli,
Bombs, Ash)
● Pahoehoe or aa
● Basaltic rocks
● Pele’s Hair
Rocks and their composition.
● Olivine
● Feldspars Plagioclase
● Pyroxenes
● Small minerals rich in Iron and
titanium; Magnetite
Tourism
● World Heritage Site by UNESCO
● Cite du volcan Museum
● Island’s main tourist attraction
Monitoring of the Volcano
● Geophysical sensors
● tiltmeters
● extensometers (an instrument used to measure the deformation (length) of a material
when it is placed under stress, these changes are usually too small to see with the naked eye)
● data sent to the Piton de la Fournaise Volcano Observatory
Bibliography
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Global volcanism project. http://www.volcano.si.edu/
(accessed 24 January, 2015)
Oregon State University, Plate tectonic setting,
http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/book/export/html/139
British Broadcast Corporation, Reunion Island,
http:/ /news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/54270000/gif/_54270753_renunion.gif
Departement d’outre mers, Ile de la Reunion, http://en.reunion.fr/
Volcano Discovery: Piton de la Fournaise volcano, at http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/pitondelafournaise.html
(accessed 24 January, 2105
Wikipedia: Piton de la Fournaise, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piton_de_la_Fournaise (accessed 24 January, 2015)
Volcano Live: Piton de la Fournaise Volcano, at http://www.volcanolive.com/piton.html (accessed 24 January, 2015)
Wired Science Blog, 2014: New Eruption at Piton de la Fournaise on Reunion Island, at
http://www.wired.com/2014/06/new-eruption-at-piton-de-la-fournaise-on-reunion-island/ (accessed 24 January, 2015)