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Bouvet Volcano

Updated: Mar 29, 2024 12:40 GMT -
Shield volcano 780 m / 2,559 ft
Southern Atlantic Ocean, Norway, -54.42°S / 3.35°E
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)

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Typical eruption style: unspecified
Bouvet volcano eruptions: 50 BC (?) 

Latest nearby earthquakes

No recent earthquakes
TimeMag. / DepthDistance / Location

Background

The solitary ice-covered shield volcano of Bouvet Island is located just off the Southwest Indian Ridge, east of the triple junction between the African, South American, and Antarctic plates. The 780-m-high basaltic-to-rhyolitic island, also referred to as Bouvetoya, was discovered by and later named for Captain Lozier-Bouvet during his 1739 search for the "great southern continent." About 95% of the uninhabited 10-km-wide island is covered by glaciers. The most prominent feature is the 3.5-km-wide Wilhelmplataet caldera, which is breached to the sea on the NW side. A late-stage rhyolitic lava dome forms the Cape Valdivia peninsula on the northern flank. The latest dated eruption produced a lava flow at Cape Meteor on the eastern flank about 2000 years ago.
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Smithsonian / GVP volcano information

Latest satellite images

bouvet satellite image sat1bouvet satellite image sat2

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