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Alutu

Aluto

Stratovolcano · Ethiopia · 2335m

Alutu volcano lies between the light-brown Lake Mirrga (Lake Langano) to the S and green-blue Lake Zway to the N. Several craters are aligned along NNE-SSW and E-W fissures. Dark-colored obsidian lava flows erupted from craters along the fissures and descended the flanks in all directions. Although the age of the most recent eruption is not known, its eruptive products overlie recent basaltic lava flows to the W and strong fumarolic activity continues.
Alutu volcano lies between the light-brown Lake Mirrga (Lake Langano) to the S and green-blue Lake Zway to the N. Several craters are aligned along NNE-SSW and E-W fissures. Dark-colored obsidian lava flows erupted from craters along the fissures and descended the flanks in all directions. Although the age of the most recent eruption is not known, its eruptive products overlie recent basaltic lava flows to the W and strong fumarolic activity continues. · Photo: NASA International Space Station image ISS001-363-7, 2001 (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Stratovolcano
Country
Ethiopia
Region
Eastern Africa Volcanic Regions / Main Ethiopian Rift Volcanic Province
Elevation
2335m
Coordinates
7.770, 38.780
Last eruption
1550
Tectonic setting
Rift zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Rhyolite
Geological summary

Aluto, between lakes Zway and Langano (Mirrga), is a stratovolcano with multiple vents aligned along NNE-SSW and E-W fissures along a narrow graben between the two lakes. This silicic volcanic center lies along the regional Wonji Fault Belt and has produced abundant pumice-flow and pumice-fall deposits, along with lesser rhyolitic lava flows. Obsidian lava flows erupted from craters along the fissures have descended the flanks in all directions. Cinder cones, lava domes, phreatic explosion craters, and thermal springs are structurally controlled. The oldest known eruptions produced the Hulo-Seyno Ignimbrite about 155,000 years ago. The latest eruptions produced obsidian flows and pumice breccias about 2,000 years ago. Eruptive products overlie recent basaltic lava flows to the west. Strong fumarolic activity continues.

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
10900 BCE~10485 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?7580 BCE~7165 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?6335 BCE~5920 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?110 BCE~305 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1135~1550 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?10900 BCE7995 BCE4675 BCE1770 BCE1135

Detailed timeline

  1. 1550 (±50 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    1550 – Ongoing
    Tephra sample from E flank of edifice
  2. 50 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 50 – Ongoing
  3. 6200 BCE (±1680 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 6200 – Ongoing
    Tephra sample from Deka Wede (W of caldera)
  4. 7280 BCE (±2000 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 7280 – Ongoing
    Tephra sample from Haroresa (S of caldera)
  5. 10900 BCE (±1630 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 10900 – Ongoing
    Tephra sample from Deka Wede (W of caldera)

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.