Volcano Type: Stratovolcano
Volcano Status: Historical
Last Known Eruption: 1985
Summit Elevation: 2277 m 7,470 feet
Latitude: 71.08°N 71°5’0″N
Longitude: 8.17°W 8°10’0″W
Remote Jan Mayen Island, located in the Norwegian Sea along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge about 650 km NE of Iceland, consists of two volcanic complexes separated by a narrow isthmus. The large Beerenberg basaltic stratovolcano (Nord-Jan) forms the NE end of the 40-km-long island, which is ringed by high cliffs. Beerenberg is a large 2277-m-high glacier-covered stratovolcano with a 1-km-wide summit crater and numerous cinder cones that were erupted along flank fissures. It is composed primarily of basaltic lava flows with minor amounts of tephra. Historical eruptions at Beerenberg date back to the 18th century. The Sor-Jan group of pyroclastic cones and lava domes occupies the SW tip of Jan Mayen. The Holocene Sor-Jan cinder cones, tephra rings, and trachytic lava domes were erupted from short fissures with a NE-SW trend.
Beerenberg Volcano
Beerenberg Volcano on Jan Mayen is the most northern (sub-aerial) active volcano in the world. Jan Mayen island is 40 km long and has high cliffs. Beerenberg is the highest mountain in the Artic Circle. The northern half of the island is dominated by Mt. Beerenberg. The volcano has an eruption frequency of 150 ± 75 years. A major eruption occurred on Jan Mayen in 1970 accompanied by strong earthquakes.
Beerenberg Volcano
Jan Mayen is located close to the intersection of the southern end of Mohns ridge and the central part of Jan Mayen fracture zone. Jan Mayen is the northernmost volcanic island on the mid- Atlantic ridge and the northernmost sub-aerial active volcano in the world. Nord Jan, the northern half of the 380 sq km island, is dominated by the large shield volcano, Beerenberg, which is about 25 km in diameter at sea level and is capped by a nearly symmetrical summit lava cone reaching an elevation of 2277 m above sea level.
Originally posted 2010-08-09 20:21:37.
