Global Volcanism Program | Kerguelen Islands

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports for Kerguelen Islands.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Kerguelen Islands.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Kerguelen Islands.

The Kerguelen Islands are composed primarily of Tertiary flood basalts and a complex of plutonic rocks. The trachybasaltic-to-trachytic Mount Ross stratovolcano at the southern end was active during the late Pleistocene. The Rallier du Baty Peninsula on the SW tip of the island contains two youthful subglacial eruptive centers, Mont St. Allouarn and Mont Henri Rallier du Baty. An active fumarole field is related to a series of Holocene trachytic lava flows and lahars that extend beyond the icecap (Ballestracci and Nougier, 1984). Gagnevin et al. (2003) dated a trachytic ignimbrite that was considered to represent the last major eruptive event on the Kerguelen Archipelago at 26,000 +/- 3000 years.

The Global Volcanism Program is not aware of any Holocene eruptions from Kerguelen Islands. If this volcano has had large eruptions (VEI >= 4) prior to 10,000 years ago, information might be found on the Kerguelen Islands page in the LaMEVE (Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions) database, a part of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Cones
Feature Name	Feature Type	Elevation	Latitude	Longitude
Aiguille Noire	Cone
Dent Bicorne	Cone
Dent Blanches	Cone
Erebus	Cone
Guynemer, Massif	Stratovolcano
Henri Rallier du Baty, Mont	Cone
Ross, Mount	Stratovolcano	1840 m	49° 35' 0" S	69° 30' 0" E
St. Allouran Saint Allouran	Cone
Craters
Feature Name	Feature Type	Elevation	Latitude	Longitude
Dôma Carva	Pleistocene caldera
Table de l'Institut	Pleistocene caldera		49° 30' 0" S	68° 57' 0" E
Thermal
Feature Name	Feature Type	Elevation	Latitude	Longitude
Fumarolles, Mont des	Fumarole

The Rallier du Baty Peninsula (lower left) forms the SW tip of Kerguelen Island. It contains two youthful subglacial eruptive centers, Mont St. Allouarn and Mont Henri Rallier du Baty. An active fumarole field is related to a series of Holocene trachytic lava flows and lahars that extend beyond the icecap. The snow-covered peak at the mid-right is late-Pleistocene Mount Ross stratovolcano. The Kerguelen Islands are composed primarily of Tertiary flood basalts and a complex of plutonic rocks extensively modified by glaciation.

NASA Space Shuttle image ISS005-E-21805, 2002 (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/).

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography. Discussion of another volcano or eruption (sometimes far from the one that is the subject of the manuscript) may produce a citation that is not at all apparent from the title.

Ballestracci R, Nougier J, 1984. Detection by infrared thermography and modelling of an icecapped geothermal system in Kerguelen Archipelago. J Volc Geotherm Res, 20: 85-100.

Gagnevin D, Ethien R, Bonin B, Moine B, Feraud G, Gerbe M C, Cottin J Y, Michon G, Tourpin S, Mamias G, Perrache C, Giret A, 2003. Open-system processes in the genesis of silica-oversaturated alkaline rocks of the Rallier-du-Baty Peninsula, Kerguelen Archipelago (Indian Ocean). J Volc Geotherm Res, 123: 267-300.

LeMasurier W E, Thomson J W (eds), 1990. Volcanoes of the Antarctic Plate and Southern Oceans. Washington, D C: Amer Geophys Union, 487 p.

Neumann van Padang M, 1963. Arabia and the Indian Ocean. Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields, Rome: IAVCEI, 16: 1-64.

Nougier J, 1972. Geochronology of the volcanic activity in Iles Kerguelen. In: Adie R J (ed) {Antarctic Geol and Geophys}, IUGS Ser-B(1): 803-808.

Weis D, Frey F A, Giret A, Cantagrel J-M, 1998. Geochemical characteristics of the youngest volcano (Mount Ross) in the Kerguelen Archipelago: inferences for magma flux, lithosphere assimilation and composition of the Kerguelen plume. J Petr, 39: 973-994.

Volcano Types
Stratovolcano(es) Pyroclastic cone(s)
Tectonic Setting
Intraplate Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
Rock Types
Major Trachyandesite / Basaltic trachy-andesite Trachyte / Trachyandesite Phono-tephrite / Tephri-phonolite
Population
Within 5 km Within 10 km Within 30 km Within 100 km	0 0 0 0

Affiliated Databases
Large Eruptions of Kerguelen Islands	Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).
WOVOdat	WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.
EarthChem	EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).
Smithsonian Collections	Search the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences collections database. Go to the "Search Rocks and Ores" tab and use the Volcano Name drop-down to find samples.

Kerguelen Islands

Volcano Types

Tectonic Setting

Rock Types

Population

Affiliated Databases