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Fonualei

Stratovolcano · Tonga · 188m

Seen from the NE, Fonualei volcano is a small, less than 2-km-wide island that contains active fumaroles in the crater, which is breached to the SW with a fresh lava flow extending to the sea and forming a rugged shoreline. Blocky lava flows from a central cone have reached the sea through notches in the caldera rim. Eruptions have been recorded since 1791.
Seen from the NE, Fonualei volcano is a small, less than 2-km-wide island that contains active fumaroles in the crater, which is breached to the SW with a fresh lava flow extending to the sea and forming a rugged shoreline. Blocky lava flows from a central cone have reached the sea through notches in the caldera rim. Eruptions have been recorded since 1791. · Photo: Photo by Paul Taylor (published in Taylor and Ewart, 1997). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Stratovolcano
Country
Tonga
Region
Tonga-Kermadec Volcanic Regions / Tofua Volcanic Arc
Elevation
188m
Coordinates
-18.023, -174.317
Last eruption
1957
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Dacite
Geological summary

The small island of Fonualei (~2 km diameter) contains a fumarolically active crater breached to the SE with a fresh lava flow extending to the sea and forming a rugged shoreline. Steep, inward-facing scarps mark the rim of a partially exposed caldera. Blocky lava flows fill much of the northern caldera moat and reach the sea to the north and east. In contrast to the andesitic and basaltic rocks of other islands of the Tonga arc, Fonualei lavas are of dominantly dacitic composition. Eruptions have been recorded since 1791, with the largest taking place in June 1846, when explosive eruptions produced large pumice rafts, ashfall damaged crops on the island of Vava'u (70 km SSE), and ash was reported by vessels up to 950 km distant. In 1939 explosive and effusive activity occurred from summit and flank vents, and water spouts were reported 1.6 km SE of the island.

From Wikipedia

Fonualei is an uninhabited volcanic island in the kingdom of Tonga. It 70 km northwest of Vavaʻu and is part of the highly active Kermadec-Tonga subduction zone and its associated volcanic arc, which extends from New Zealand north-northeast to Fiji, and is formed by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Indo-Australian Plate. The closest island to Fonualei is Tokū 19.7 km to the southeast.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
1780~1799 · 2 eruptions · max VEI 21838~1858 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 41896~1916 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1935~1955 · 2 eruptions · max VEI 21955~1974 · 2 eruptions · max VEI 117801819187719161955

Detailed timeline

  1. 1974VEI 1Geological estimate
    1974-02-16 – Ongoing
  2. 1957VEI ?Observed
    1957-06-16 – Ongoing
  3. 1951VEI 2Observed
    1951-08-21 – Ongoing
    North-central part of the island
  4. 1939VEI 2Observed
    1939-06 – Ongoing
    Summit, W and SE sides
  5. 1906VEI ?Observed
    1906-03 – Ongoing
  6. 1846VEI 4Observed
    1846-06-11 – 1846-10-10
  7. 1791VEI 2Observed
    1791 – Ongoing
  8. 1780VEI ?Geological estimate
    1780 – Ongoing

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.