Karthala, Comoros

By ExploreNow Editor, on April 27th, 2012%

Karthala

Volcano Type: Shield volcano
Volcano Status: Historical
Last Known Eruption: 2007
Summit Elevation: 2361 m    7,746 feet
Latitude: 11.75°S   11°45’0″S
Longitude: 43.38°E   43°23’0″E

Karthala volcano is located on Grande Comore, the most westerly of four volcanic islands comprising the Comores Archipelago, between northern Madagascar and Mozambique. Karthala occupies the southern half of Grand Comore Island.

The islands of the Comores archipelago become progressively younger westwards towards Karthala volcano.

Satellite view of Karthala

Satellite view of Karthala

The caldera, is elliptical in shape, 4 km long and 3 km wide, with outer walls around 100 m high. It is dominated by a large central pit crater, Chahale, which is 1300 m long, 800 m wide, and 300 m deep. A smaller cylindrical pit crater 250 m in diameter and 30 m deep, Changomeni, is found one km north of Chahale.

On the way to the Summit

On the way to the Summit

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Originally posted 2010-10-19 04:22:08.

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Nosy-Be, Madagascar

By ExploreNow Editor, on January 27th, 2012%

Nosy-Be Volcano

Volcano Type: Cinder cones
Volcano Status: Holocene
Last Known Eruption: Unknown
Summit Elevation: 214 m    702 feet
Latitude: 13.32°S *   13°19’0″S
Longitude: 48.48°E   48°29’0″E

Nosy-Be island off the NW coast of Madagascar contains very recent basaltic lava flows from well-preserved cinder cones. Many large crater lakes are found in the central part of the island. Nosy-Be volcanics, which are dominantly of low-silica foiditic compositions, overlie Mesozoic limestones and other sedimentary rocks. Two periods of activity occurred at Nosy-Be. Initial eruptions of fluid lava flows from the western side of the massif were followed by the construction of numerous strombolian cinder cones on the western plain. Little is known about the age of the volcanic field, and the only K-Ar dates are Tertiary in age, but the Nosy-Be volcanics were mapped as recent.

Nosy-Be, Madagascar (Bettina Neuefeind)

Nosy-Be, Madagascar (Bettina Neuefeind)

Nosy-Be, Madagascar (Bettina Neuefeind)

Nosy-Be, Madagascar (Bettina Neuefeind)

Sunset in Nosy-Be (Bettina Neuefeind)

Sunset in Nosy-Be (Bettina Neuefeind)

Area in Nosy-Be (Bettina Neuefeind)

Area in Nosy-Be (Bettina Neuefeind)

Shore (Bettina Neuefeind)

Shore (Bettina Neuefeind)

Puddle of mud (Bettina Neuefeind)

Puddle of mud (Bettina Neuefeind)

Originally posted 2010-10-19 04:26:11.

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La Grille, Comoros

By ExploreNow Editor, on December 1st, 2011%

La Grille Volcano

Volcano Type: Shield volcano
Volcano Status: Holocene
Last Known Eruption: Unknown
Summit Elevation: 1087 m   3,566 feet
Latitude: 11.47°S   11°28’0″S
Longitude: 43.33°E   43°20’0″E

La Grille shield volcano at the northern end of Grand Comore Island (also known as Ngazidja) lacks a summit caldera like its larger and more well-known neighbor to the south, Karthala volcano. The basaltic La Grille volcano also contrasts with Karthala in its abundance of pyroclastic cones up to 800 m in height. The cones were erupted along fissures paralleling the summit ridge, which has an irregular profile and is elongated in a N-S direction, and from radial fissures that reach as far as the coast. Recent lava flows, some perhaps as young as a few hundred years, have reached the sea from fissures on the lower western, northern, and eastern flanks.

La Grille

La Grille

Originally posted 2010-10-20 04:43:29.

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