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Faial Island

Fayal

Stratovolcano · Portugal · 1041m

Fayal volcano is capped by a 2-km-wide, 400-m-deep summit caldera, seen here from its southern rim. A small pyroclastic cone (center) and a dark lake (right) can be seen on the floor of the caldera. The caldera was formed incrementally, beginning with a large eruption about 1,000 years ago. Thick airfall-pumice and pyroclastic-flow deposits related to this eruption cover the island.
Fayal volcano is capped by a 2-km-wide, 400-m-deep summit caldera, seen here from its southern rim. A small pyroclastic cone (center) and a dark lake (right) can be seen on the floor of the caldera. The caldera was formed incrementally, beginning with a large eruption about 1,000 years ago. Thick airfall-pumice and pyroclastic-flow deposits related to this eruption cover the island. · Photo: Photo by Rick Wunderman, 1997 (Smithsonian Institution). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Stratovolcano
Country
Portugal
Region
Atlantic Ocean Volcanic Regions / Azores-Terceira Rift Volcanic Province
Elevation
1041m
Coordinates
38.576, -28.713
Last eruption
1958
Tectonic setting
Rift zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite
Geological summary

The island of Fayal, also spelled Faial, is the nearest of the central Azorean islands to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The island is composed of a complex large andesitic-to-trachytic stratovolcano that contains a 2-km-wide summit caldera. Thick deposits of trachytic airfall pumice, pyroclastic flows, and lahars related to formation of the caldera cover the island. Formation of the steep-walled 400-m-deep caldera was followed by construction of fissure-fed basaltic lava fields and small volcanoes that form a peninsula extending to the west. This area is covered by the youngest volcanic products on the island. A submarine eruption at Capelinhos during 1957-58 created a new island that soon merged with the western peninsula.

From Wikipedia

Faial Island, also known as Fayal Island, is a Portuguese island contained within the Central Group or Grupo Central of the Azores, in the Atlantic Ocean.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
1672~1701 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 21929~1957 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 216721729181518721929

Detailed timeline

  1. 1957VEI 2Observed
    1957-09-27 – 1958-10-24
    West flank (Capelinhos) and summit
  2. 1672VEI 2Observed
    1672-04-24 – 1673-02-28
    West flank

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.