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What type of lava does Mount Merapi produce?
andesitic lavas
Merapi has been active for about 10,000 years, according to volcanologist John Seach in New South Wales, Australia. Eruptions have become more explosive over time, with viscous andesitic lavas that form long, thick flows often generating lava domes.
What type of volcanoes Does Indonesia have?
Most volcanoes in Indonesia consist of stratovolcanoes, but this does not mean that the resulting eruptions are always explosive and they have a long period.
How was the Merapi volcano formed?
The volcano and its eruptions were caused by the Indo-Australian Plate being subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate. The volcano is located on a destructive plate margin , at a subduction zone, part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.
What causes volcanoes in Indonesia?
Most volcanoes in Indonesia belong to the Sunda Volcanic Arc, streching over 3,000 kilometers from NW Sumatra to the Banda Sea. This volcanic arc results from the subduction of Indian Ocean crust beneath the Asian Plate and includes 76% of the region’s volcanoes.
What tectonic plate is Mt Merapi?
Merapi volcano is situated above the subduction zone between the Eurasian and Indo-Australian tectonic plates. This subduction extends for about 2000 km from Sumatra to the Lesser Sunda Islands.
When did Mt Merapi first erupt?
about 400,000 years ago
Geological history Stratigraphic analysis reveals that eruptions in the Merapi area began about 400,000 years ago, and from then until about 10,000 years ago, eruptions were typically effusive, and the out flowing lava emitted was basaltic.
Was Indonesia volcano formed?
Abstract. Geography of Indonesia is dominated by about 150 volcanoes of all types and dimensions that were formed due to subduction processes occurring along the collision zone separating the Eurasian and the Indo-Australian tectonic plates. 74,000 BC, which caused a long 6-year volcanic winter.
What kind of volcano is Mount Merapi made of?
Mount Merapi is a stratovolcano – a tall, conical volcano composed of one layer of hardened lava, tephra (fragmented material produced by a volcanic eruption) and volcanic ash.
What’s the difference between mafic lava and felsic lava?
Because of these high temperatures, the viscosity is usually low as compared with felsic lava. Mafic lava leads to weaker volcanic eruptions. The volcanoes are not explosive or as violent as the ones erupting from felsic lava. Basalt lava is associated with lowly shield-volcanoes.
What kind of damage does Mount Merapi cause?
Historically, pyroclastic flows and lahars (a mud or debris flow) accompanying growth and collapse of the steep-sided active summit lava dome have devastated cultivated lands on the volcano’s western-to-southern flanks and caused many fatalities.
Where is Mount Merapi located in the Pacific Ring of fire?
Tectonically, Merapi is situated at the subduction zone where the Indo-Australian Plate is sliding beneath the Eurasian Plate. It is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire – a section of fault lines and volcanoes stretching from the western coast of South America, Alaska through Japan and Southeast Asia.