Three small, low islands on the Kerguelen Plateau form the McDonald Islands. The largest island, McDonald, is only 1 km² in area and around 200 m high. This April 1997 photo shows a plume at Samarang Hill (right). The Island is composed of a layered tuff plateau cut by dikes and lava domes. A possible nearby active submarine center was inferred from pumice that washed up on Heard Island in 1992. The snow-capped peak in the background is Heard volcano, 44 km to the E.

Copyrighted photo by Richard Williams, 1997 (Australian Antarctic Div., published in Global Volcanism Network Bulletin).

Copyrighted image used with permission. All Rights Reserved. Contact photographer for any usage requests.

Keywords: plume

Heard

McDonald Islands