Geological Summary

The Northwest Shepherd Islands group includes three volcanic cones on Emae Island (Pahunga, Talimasa, and Tipikal), Makura Island (~8 km SE of Emae), and the large submarine edifice under them. Williams and Warden (1964) report historical activity on Emae and some ashfall, which could have originated from a different volcano (Eissen et al. 1991). Warden (1967) reported strongly eroded summit craters and deep dissection of surficial deposits, and suggested that the Emae volcanoes may have become extinct in the Pliocene or early Pleistocene. Crawford et al. (1988) place Emae on the rim of a large caldera that extends to Mataso Island, more than 15 km S. Macfarlane et al. (1988) place two smaller uncertain calderas at this location; Eissen et al. (1991) did not find evidence for a caldera. Makura is largely composed of tilted lava flows.

References

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

Beier C, Brandl P A, Lima S M, Haase K M, 2018. Tectonic control on the genesis of magmas in the New Hebrides arc (Vanuatu). Lithos, v. 312–313, p. 290-307. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2018.05.011

Crawford A J, Greene H G, Exon N F, 1988. Geology, petrology and geochemistry of submarine volcanoes around Epi Island, New Hebrides island arc. In: Greene H G and Wong F L (eds) Geology and Offshore Resources of Pacific Island Arcs--Vanuatu Region, Circum-Pacific Council Energy Min Resour Earth Sci Ser, 8: 301-327.

Eissen J-P, Blot C, Louat R, 1991. Chronologie de l'activite volcanique historique de l'arc insulaire des Nouvelles-Hebrides de 1595 a 1991. ORSTOM Rapports Sci Tech Sci Terre Geol-Geophys, 2: 1-69.

IAVCEI, 1973-80. Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. IAVCEI Data Sheets, Rome, International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior.

Macfarlane A, Carney J N, Crawford A J, Greene H G, 1988. Vanuatu--A review of the onshore geology. In: Greene H G and Wong F L (eds) Geology and Offshore Resources of Pacific Island Arcs--Vanuatu Region, Circum-Pacific Council Energy Min Resour Earth Sci Ser, 8: 45-91.

New Hebrides Geological Survey, 1972. Geology of the Central Islands. New Hebrides Geological Survey, 1:100,000 geol map sheet 8.

Warden A J, 1967. Distribution and development of the volcanoes of the Central Islands. New Hebrides Geological Survey Annual Report 1965, p 27-33.

Warden A J, 1967. The geology of the Central Islands. New Hebrides Condominium Geological Survey Regional Report,, 5: 1-108.

Williams C E F, Warden A J, 1964. Progress Report of the Geological Survey for the Period 1959-1962. New Hebrides: British Service, 75 p.