Context:
Recently, the Sakurajima Volcano erupted on Japan’s major western island of Kyushu.
Relevance:
GS I- Geography
Dimensions of the Article:
- What is Sakurajima Volcano?
- Stratovolcano
What is Sakurajima Volcano?
- Sakurajima is one of Japan’s most active volcanoes and eruptions of varying levels take place on a regular basis.
- It is an active stratovolcano.
- The largest historical eruptions of Sakurajima took place during 1471-76 and in 1914.
- Its eruption has been recorded since the 8th Century.
- Due to its frequent deposition of ash on Kagoshima, and due to its explosive potential, it is considered as one of the very dangerous volcanoes.
Stratovolcano
- A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra.
- Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and periodic intervals of explosive eruptions and effusive eruptions, although some have collapsed summit craters called calderas.
- The lava flowing from stratovolcanoes typically cools and hardens before spreading far, due to high viscosity.
- The magma forming this lava is often felsic, having high-to-intermediate levels of silica (as in rhyolite, dacite, or andesite), with lesser amounts of less-viscous mafic magma.
- Stratovolcanoes are sometimes called “composite volcanoes” because of their composite stratified structure built up from sequential outpourings of erupted materials.
- They are among the most common types of volcanoes, in contrast to the less common shield volcanoes.
- Two famous examples of stratovolcanoes are Krakatoa in Indonesia, known for its catastrophic eruption in 1883, and Vesuvius in Italy, whose catastrophic eruption in AD 79 buried the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
- In modern times, Mount St. Helens in Washington State, USA and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines have erupted catastrophically, but with fewer deaths.
-Source: The Hindu
