Traitor's Head

Vanuatu · Stratovolcano

Traitor's Head

Type: Stratovolcano
Elevation: 817m
Last eruption: 1881

The peninsula at the top of this Space Shuttle image of Erromango Island (N is approximately to the left) is the Traitor's Head Peninsula. Three Holocene cones at Traitor's Head are the youngest on the 50-km-long island. The volcanoes initially formed an offshore island that later joined the mainland through uplift. The only documented activity at Erromango was a submarine vent that erupted in 1881. · Photo: NASA Space Shuttle image STS68-220-4, 1994 (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/).

Type: Stratovolcano
Country: Vanuatu
Region: Southwestern Pacific / Vanuatu Volcanic Arc
Elevation: 817m
Coordinates: -18.754, 169.238
Last eruption: 1881
Tectonic setting: Subduction zone / Intermediate crust (15-25 km)
Landform: Composite
Major rock type: Basalt / Picro-basalt

Geological summary

The Traitor's Head peninsula north of Cook Bay on eastern Erromango Island is comprised of three Holocene volcanic cones that are the youngest on the 50-km-long island.

Excerpt from the Global Volcanism Program, Smithsonian Institution · Read the full summary on GVP →