Global Volcanism Program

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Alayta.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Alayta.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Alayta.

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.

Synonyms

Urikomam

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Alayta

Shield volcano

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

221112

1915 CE

1,496 m / 4,908 ft

12.888°N
40.573°E

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Shield

Volcano Types
Shield
Fissure vent(s)

Rock Types

Major
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Trachyte / Trachydacite
Trachyandesite / Basaltic Trachyandesite

Tectonic Setting

Rift zone
Intermediate crust (15-25 km)

Population

Within 5 km
Within 10 km
Within 30 km
Within 100 km

156
925
13,459
330,411

Geological Summary

The massive Alayta shield volcano covers an area of 2700 km² in the western Danakil depression SW of Lake Afrera. A series of very recent craters is aligned along the NNW-trending axis of the basaltic-to-trachytic shield. The lava field, covered by very fresh flows, was erupted from N-S fissures along the east side of the shield volcano and laps up against the western flank of Afderà volcano. Two historical eruptions that were formerly attributed to Afderà actually originated from Alayta. One of those eruptions, in 1907, produced a large lava flow from a SE-flank vent. Fumarolic activity occurs at two locations in the southern part of the complex.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

CNR-CNRS, 1975. Geological Maps of Afar: 1, Northern Afar (1971); 2, Central and Southern Afar (1975). La Celle St Cloud, France: Geotechnip.

CNR-CNRS Afar Team, 1973. Geology of northern Afar (Ethiopia). Rev Geog Phys Geol Dynam, 15: 443-490.

Wiart P, Oppenheimer C, 2005. Large magnitude silicic volcanism in north Afar: the Nabro volcanic range and Ma'alalta volcano. Bull Volcanol, 67: 99-115.

Wood C A, 1978. (pers. comm.).

Eruptive History

There is data available for 2 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

1915 Confirmed Eruption VEI: 2

Episode 1 | Eruption

1915 - Unknown

Evidence from Observations: Reported

List of 2 Events for Episode 1

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
	1915	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

1907 Jun - 1907 Aug 4 (in or after) Confirmed Eruption VEI: 2

Episode 1 | Eruption

SE flank

1907 Jun - 1907 Aug 4 (in or after)

Evidence from Observations: Reported

List of 6 Events for Episode 1 at SE flank

Start Date	End Date	Event Type
- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
- - - -	- - - -	Lava flow
- - - -	- - - -	Earthquakes (undefined)
- - - -	- - - -	Property Damage
1907	- - - -	Fatalities
1907 Jun	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Alayta.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Alayta.

Photo Gallery

The massive Alayta shield volcano (center) covers an area of 2,700 km² in the western Danakil depression SW of Lake Afrera (upper right). The volcanic consists of two parts--an elongated shield volcano on the west (medium-toned) and an extensive lava field forming the dark-colored area on the eastern flank of the shield volcano. The Alayta lava field, covered by very fresh lava flows (the most recent of which was erupted in 1907), was erupted from N-S-trending fissures and laps up against the western flank of Afderà volcano (immediately SW of Lake Afrera).

NASA Space Shuttle image S-19-35, 1984 (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/).

Alayta shield volcano (left-center) covers an area of 2,700 km² in the western Danakil depression. A series of recent craters is aligned along the NNW-trending axis. The Alayta lava field (center dark area) was erupted from N-S-trending fissures along the E side of the volcano and reaches the W flank of Afderà volcano, immediately S of Lake Guilietti (Lake Afrera) at the upper right-center.

NASA Landsat image, 1999 (courtesy of Hawaii Synergy Project, Univ. of Hawaii Institute of Geophysics & Planetology).

The Alayta shield volcano is in the center of this December 2019 Planet Labs satellite image mosaic (N is at the top; this image is approximately 82 km across), with a series of vents along the axis and darker lava flow fields surround much of the edifice. The flows reach Afderà to the NE. Lake Afrera is in the NE corner of the image.

Satellite image courtesy of Planet Labs Inc., 2019 (https://www.planet.com/).

GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

The maps shown below have been scanned from the GVP map archives and include the volcano on this page. Clicking on the small images will load the full 300 dpi map. Very small-scale maps (such as world maps) are not included.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Alayta in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

MIROVA

Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA) is a near real time volcanic hot-spot detection system based on the analysis of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. In particular, MIROVA uses the Middle InfraRed Radiation (MIR), measured over target volcanoes, in order to detect, locate and measure the heat radiation sourced from volcanic activity.

MODVOLC Thermal Alerts

Using infrared satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, scientists at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, developed an automated system called MODVOLC to map thermal hot-spots in near real time. For each MODIS image, the algorithm automatically scans each 1 km pixel within it to check for high-temperature hot-spots. When one is found the date, time, location, and intensity are recorded. MODIS looks at every square km of the Earth every 48 hours, once during the day and once during the night, and the presence of two MODIS sensors in space allows at least four hot-spot observations every two days. Each day updated global maps are compiled to display the locations of all hot spots detected in the previous 24 hours. There is a drop-down list with volcano names which allow users to 'zoom-in' and examine the distribution of hot-spots at a variety of spatial scales.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

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.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

Volcanic Hazard Maps

The IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk has a Volcanic Hazard Maps database designed to serve as a resource for hazard mappers (or other interested parties) to explore how common issues in hazard map development have been addressed at different volcanoes, in different countries, for different hazards, and for different intended audiences. In addition to the comprehensive, searchable Volcanic Hazard Maps Database, this website contains information about diversity of volcanic hazard maps, illustrated using examples from the database. This site is for educational purposes related to volcanic hazard maps. Hazard maps found on this website should not be used for emergency purposes. For the most recent, official hazard map for a particular volcano, please seek out the proper institutional authorities on the matter.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Alayta. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Alayta. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

DECADE Data

The DECADE portal, still in the developmental stage, serves as an example of the proposed interoperability between The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the Mapping Gas Emissions (MaGa) Database, and the EarthChem Geochemical Portal. The Deep Earth Carbon Degassing (DECADE) initiative seeks to use new and established technologies to determine accurate global fluxes of volcanic CO₂ to the atmosphere, but installing CO₂ monitoring networks on 20 of the world's 150 most actively degassing volcanoes. The group uses related laboratory-based studies (direct gas sampling and analysis, melt inclusions) to provide new data for direct degassing of deep earth carbon to the atmosphere.

Large Eruptions of Alayta

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).

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).