Borale Ale

Bora Ale is a complex volcano located near the center of the Erta Ale Range. The earliest activity formed submarine lava flows partially covered by Quaternary reef deposits. A 4-km-wide shield volcano SW of the main cone is cut by curvilinear faults; youthful chains of spatter cones follow this same pattern and form concentric semi-circles. The summit is located on the NE side of the massif and consists of a silicic stratovolcano that is the largest of the Erta Ale Range. It has produced steep-sided viscous lava flows that have traveled up to 5 km. Strong fumarolic activity occurs within a 300-m-wide summit crater. Regional faulting has fed very recent basaltic lava flows from a NNW-trending fissure that cuts the stratovolcano.