Kao

The symmetrical Kao rises steeply from the ocean about 6 km N of Tofua Island in Tonga. It is elongated NNE-SSW and, with the exception of a small flat area on the SSW coast, rises at angles exceeding 35° to the summit, which has a series of small coalescing craters. The lower flanks of the basaltic andesite volcano are densely jungled, but the upper slopes are almost vegetation free. There are no fresh-looking lava flows, although the absence of sufficient time for erosion to produce deep gullies or high sea cliffs suggests a very recent origin. A missionary on a ship anchored at Tofua reported that "smoke" was "pouring forth" from Kao on 10 July 1847.