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Graciosa Island

Graciosa

Stratovolcano · Portugal · 402m

The south of Graciosa island is seen in this aerial view from the southwest. The village of Luz is at the center of the image. On the right (the southeast end of the island), is the 0.9 x 1.5 km Vulcão Central caldera, which formed between 60,000 and 11,000 years ago; the caldera rim forms the highest point of the 7 x 12 km island. The lava cave Furna Do Enzofre is situated in the southeastern part of the caldera, and exhibits fumarolic activity. Vegetated volcanic cones and part of the approximately 700,000 year old Serra das Fontes complex can be seen in the left of the photo.
The south of Graciosa island is seen in this aerial view from the southwest. The village of Luz is at the center of the image. On the right (the southeast end of the island), is the 0.9 x 1.5 km Vulcão Central caldera, which formed between 60,000 and 11,000 years ago; the caldera rim forms the highest point of the 7 x 12 km island. The lava cave Furna Do Enzofre is situated in the southeastern part of the caldera, and exhibits fumarolic activity. Vegetated volcanic cones and part of the approximately 700,000 year old Serra das Fontes complex can be seen in the left of the photo. · Photo: Photo by Angrense, 2007 (Wikimedia Commons). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Stratovolcano
Country
Portugal
Region
Atlantic Ocean Volcanic Regions / Azores-Terceira Rift Volcanic Province
Elevation
402m
Coordinates
39.020, -27.970
Last eruption
-1950
Tectonic setting
Rift zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Geological summary

The SE end of Graciosa, the northernmost of the central Azorean islands, contains a 0.9 x 1.6 km caldera with active fumaroles. The SE caldera rim is the high point of the 7 x 12 km island. The caldera has been the source of eruptions producing significant tephra falls, pyroclastic flows, lahars, and lava flows. Fumaroles are present in a volcanic cave inside the caldera, and a submarine fumarole occurs off the NW coast. Scoria cones erupted along several widely spaced NE-SW-trending fissures fed a youthful lava field that forms the NW end of the island. The most recent eruption from Pico Tomao, NW of the caldera, produced a lava flow during the mid-to-late Holocene that reached the eastern coast NW of the village of Praia.

From Wikipedia

Graciosa Island, also referred to as the White Island, is a volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the northernmost of the Central Group of islands in the Azores archipelago. The ovular Portuguese island has an area of 60.65 square kilometres, a length of 10 kilometres and a width of 7 kilometres. Its landscape is dominated by a 1.6-kilometre-wide (1.0-mile) central caldera located in the southeast.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
1950 BCE~1950 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1950 BCE1950 BCE1949 BCE1949 BCE1949 BCE

Detailed timeline

  1. 1950 BCE (±1400 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 1950 – Ongoing
    San Tamao

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.