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Southern Thule

Stratovolcano · United Kingdom · 1075m

Thule (left) and Cook (right) islands are seen surrounded by ice floes in this ASTER satellite image. Douglas Strait, the ice-free area in the center of the image, is underlain by a 4.3 x 4.8 km wide caldera between the two volcanic islands. A third stratovolcano forms Bellingshausen Island, just out of view to the right. The Thule Islands lie at the southern end of the South Sandwich island arc bordering the Scotia Sea and consist of three stratovolcanoes constructed along an E-W-trending line.
Thule (left) and Cook (right) islands are seen surrounded by ice floes in this ASTER satellite image. Douglas Strait, the ice-free area in the center of the image, is underlain by a 4.3 x 4.8 km wide caldera between the two volcanic islands. A third stratovolcano forms Bellingshausen Island, just out of view to the right. The Thule Islands lie at the southern end of the South Sandwich island arc bordering the Scotia Sea and consist of three stratovolcanoes constructed along an E-W-trending line. · Photo: ASTER satellite image, 2003 (National Aeronautical and Space Administration, courtesy of ASTER science team). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Stratovolcano
Country
United Kingdom
Region
Antarctic-Scotia Volcanic Regions / South Sandwich Volcanic Arc
Elevation
1075m
Coordinates
-59.442, -27.225
Last eruption
1975
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite
Geological summary

The Southern Thule island group, at the southern end of the South Sandwich island arc bordering the Scotia Sea, consist of three stratovolcanoes constructed along an E-W line. An ice-filled 1.5-2 km wide caldera truncates the summit of andesitic-dacitic Thule, the westernmost island, and a 4.3 x 4.8 km submarine caldera forms Douglas Strait between Thule and basaltic-to-dacitic Cook Island. Another possible submarine caldera lies east of Cook Island and south of basaltic andesite Bellingshausen, the easternmost island. The age of Cook Island is uncertain, but steam was observed at the summit crater of Thule Island in 1962, and ash was seen on the surface of the ice there and on Bellingshausen Island, indicating possible 20th-century eruptions (Baker, 1968). Bellingshausen has a youthful, relatively ice-free profile and an extensive well-preserved lava field on its S flank, where a small explosion crater formed sometime between 1964 and 1986.

From Wikipedia

Southern Thule is a group of the three southernmost islands in the South Sandwich Islands in the southern Atlantic Ocean: Bellingshausen, Cook, and Thule (Morrell). It is a largely submerged volcano of which only the three islands emerge above sea level. Between Cook and Thule, and south of Bellingshausen, lie two submerged calderas; a third caldera is located on Thule. Cook Island is inactive and largely glaciated, while Bellingshausen and Thule feature active craters with fumarolic activity, and evidence of eruptions in the 20th century.

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Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
1975~1975 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 119751975197619761976

Detailed timeline

  1. 1975 (±11 yrs)VEI 1Observed
    1975-07-02 – Ongoing
    South flank of Bellinghausen Island

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.