Global Volcanism Program

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

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

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

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

306030

2990 BCE

984 m / 3,228 ft

37.5°N
130.87°E

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Composite

Volcano Types
Stratovolcano
Caldera
Pyroclastic cone

Rock Types

Major
Trachyandesite / Basaltic Trachyandesite
Phonolite

Tectonic Setting

Intraplate
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Population

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

7,399
9,210
9,210
9,210

Geological Summary

Ulleungdo, also known as Ulreungdo, is a 10-km-wide island about 100 km E of the central Korean Peninsula. The trachyandesitic stratovolcano is truncated by the Nari caldera. A major phonolitic explosive eruption at the beginning of the Holocene from Nari caldera produced pyroclastic flows and deposited ash in central Honshu, Japan.

References

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

IAVCEI, 1973-80. Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. IAVCEI Data Sheets, Rome: Internatl Assoc Volc Chemistry Earth's Interior.

Lim C, Ikehara K, Toyoda K, 2008. Cryptotephra detection using high-resolution trace-element analysis of Holocene marine sediments, southwest Japan. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 72: 5022-5036.

Machida H, 1990. Frequency and magnitude of catastrophic explosive volcanism in the Japan region during the past 130 ka: implications for human occupance of volcanic regions. Geol Soc Aust Symp Proc, 1: 27-36.

Machida H, Arai F, 1983. Extensive ash falls in and around the Sea of Japan from large, late Quaternary eruptions. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 18: 151-164.

Tomita T, 1969. Volcanic geology of the Cenozoic alkaline petrographic province of eastern Asia. In: Ogura T (ed) Geology and Mineral Resources of the Far East, Tokyo: Univ Tokyo Press, p 139-179.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 3 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

2990 BCE ± 40 years Confirmed Eruption (Explosive / Effusive)

Episode 1 | Eruption (Explosive / Effusive)

U-2 tephra

2990 BCE ± 40 years - Unknown

Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)

List of 2 Events for Episode 1 at U-2 tephra

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
	- - - -	- - - -	Tephra

6450 BCE (?) Confirmed Eruption (Explosive / Effusive)

Episode 1 | Eruption (Explosive / Effusive)

U-3 tephra

6450 BCE (?) - Unknown

Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

List of 2 Events for Episode 1 at U-3 tephra

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
	- - - -	- - - -	Tephra

8750 BCE (?) Confirmed Eruption (Explosive / Effusive) VEI: 6

Episode 1 | Eruption (Explosive / Effusive)

Ulreungdo-Oki tephra layer; U-4

8750 BCE (?) - Unknown

Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

List of 4 Events for Episode 1 at Ulreungdo-Oki tephra layer; U-4

Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
- - - -	- - - -	Explosion	extremely violent or catastrophic
- - - -	- - - -	Pyroclastic flow
- - - -	- - - -	Tephra
8750 BCE (?)	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

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

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Arpong

Cone

Craters

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Nari

Caldera

Photo Gallery

Ulreung stratovolcano forms a small 10-km-wide island about 100 km E of the central Korean Peninsula. The island, seen in this NASA Landsat image (with north to the top) is a tourist destination from the Korean mainland. Ulreung was the site of a major explosive eruption at the beginning of the Holocene that produced pyroclastic flows and deposited ash in central Honshu.

NASA Landsat 7 image (worldwind.arc.nasa.gov)

Ulreung volcano forms this small 12-km-wide island about 100 km east of the coast of the central Korean Peninsula. The extensively eroded edifice is seen in this Planet Labs June 2019 satellite image mosaic (N is at the top). It contains a caldera and was the site of a major explosive eruption at the beginning of the Holocene that produced pyroclastic flows and deposited ash across the Sea of Japan.

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

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Ulleungdo 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 Ulleungdo. 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 Ulleungdo. 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 Ulleungdo

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).