Piton de la Fournaise(‘Peak of the Furnace’)

Reunion IslandClay Chang and Syman Hossenbux

Geology DepartmentColby College

Geographic and Tectonic Setting● Hot spot track extends from India to the

island of Reunion

● Maldives, the Chagos Ridge, the

Mascarene Plateau, and the Mauritus

Islands

● The hot spot is presently under the

African tectonic plate.

● Volcanic island of Reunion appeared 3

million years ago

About Piton de la Fournaise ● Shield volcano

● From the ocean floor it is over 21,600 feet (6,600 m) tall. The base of

the volcano has a diameter of 135 miles (220 km)(the base of Mount

St. Helens has a diameter of about 9 km)

● Two craters, the older Cratere Bory and the active Cratere Dolomieu.

Eruptions● Frequent, but short Hawaiian style eruptions

● lava fountains

● fast lava flows, low viscosity

● Na, K, Ca content prevent easy formation of silica chains, result is

fast-moving pahoehoe flows

Eruptive History and Hazards● one of the most active volcanoes in the world

● more than 150 eruptions since 17th century

● active eruption sites are uninhabited, lava flows usually flow into

the Indian OceanPopulationWithin 5 km 55,859

Within 10 km 55,859

Within 30 km 246,792 Within 100 km 717,820

Most Recent Eruption● June 21, 2014

● eruption on southeastern

side of Dolomieu crater

● warning signs: increased

seismicity and gas

emissions

● lava flowshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DubeBTln934

Volcanic Deposits

● Different types of Volcanic Ejecta categorised as per their size(Lapilli,

Bombs, Ash)

● Pahoehoe or aa

● Basaltic rocks

● Pele’s Hair

Rocks and their composition.● Olivine

● Feldspars Plagioclase

● Pyroxenes

● Small minerals rich in Iron and

titanium; Magnetite

Tourism

● World Heritage Site by UNESCO

● Cite du volcan Museum

● Island’s main tourist attraction

Monitoring of the Volcano● Geophysical sensors

● tiltmeters

● extensometers (an instrument used to measure the deformation (length) of a material

when it is placed under stress, these changes are usually too small to see with the naked eye)

● data sent to the Piton de la Fournaise Volcano Observatory

BibliographySmithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Global volcanism project. http://www.volcano.si.edu/

(accessed 24 January, 2015)Oregon State University, Plate tectonic setting,http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/book/export/html/139British Broadcast Corporation, Reunion Island, http:/ /news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/54270000/gif/_54270753_renunion.gif

Departement d’outre mers, Ile de la Reunion, http://en.reunion.fr/

Volcano Discovery: Piton de la Fournaise volcano, at http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/pitondelafournaise.html

(accessed 24 January, 2105

Wikipedia: Piton de la Fournaise, at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piton_de_la_Fournaise (accessed 24 January, 2015)

Volcano Live: Piton de la Fournaise Volcano, at http://www.volcanolive.com/piton.html (accessed 24 January, 2015)

Wired Science Blog, 2014: New Eruption at Piton de la Fournaise on Reunion Island, at

http://www.wired.com/2014/06/new-eruption-at-piton-de-la-fournaise-on-reunion-island/ (accessed 24 January, 2015)