Global Volcanism Program | Robinson Crusoe

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Robinson Crusoe.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Robinson Crusoe.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Robinson Crusoe.

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

356020

Pleistocene

922 m / 3,025 ft

33.658°S
78.85°W

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Shield

Volcano Types
Shield(s)
Caldera(s)

Rock Types

Major
Basalt / Picro-Basalt

Minor
Trachybasalt / Tephrite Basanite

Tectonic Setting

Intraplate
Oceanic crust (< 15 km)

Population

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

0
0
0
0

Geological Summary

The main part of Robinson Crusoe (Mas a Tierra) Island, in the central part of the Juan Fernandez Island group, is composed of four overlapping shield volcanoes with calderas breached to the NE. The SW part of the basaltic island consists of smaller altered cones. Potassium-Argon dates for the island range from 5.8 to 3.8 million years ago (Steussy et al., 1984) and the island is more dissected than Alexander Selkirk (Mas a Fuera) Island to the west. An eruption at El Yunque was reported in 1743, but is considered uncertain (Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World). Reports exist of a submarine eruption about 1.5 km north of the island in 1835 that produced an explosion and flames that lit up the island, primarily from the Governor, but the story varied over the years and no evidence was ever located (see CAVW for summary).

This volcano is located within the Juan Fernandez, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve property.

References

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

Baker P E, Keyvan-Scocouhi F A, 1982. Petrology and geochemistry of the Juan Fernandez Islands, south east Pacific. In: Schmincke H-U, Baker P E, Forjaz V H (eds) Proc Symp Activity Oceanic Volcanoes, Arquipelago, Revista Univ Dos Acores, 3: 255-264.

Farley K A, Basu A R, Craig H, 1993. He, Sr and Nd isotopic variations in lavas from the Juan Fernandez archipelago, SE Pacific. Contr Mineral Petr, 115: 75-87.

Katsui Y (ed), 1971. List of the World Active Volcanoes. Volc Soc Japan draft ms, (limited circulation), 160 p.

Natland J H, 2003. Capture of helium and other volatiles during the growth of olivine phenocrysts in picritic basalts from the Juan Fernandez Islands. J Petr, 44: 421-456.

Richards A F, 1962. Archipelago de Colon, Isla San Felix and Islas Juan Fernandez. Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields, Rome: IAVCEI, 14: 1-50.

Stuessy T F, Foland K A, Sutter J F, Sanders R W, Silva-O M, 1984. Botanical and geological significance of Potassium-Argon dates from the Juan Fernandez islands. Science, 225: 49-51.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 1 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

1835 Feb 20 - 1835 Feb 21 Confirmed Eruption (Explosive / Effusive) VEI: 1 (?)

Episode 1 | Eruption (Explosive / Effusive)

1.6 km north of Punta Bacalao

1835 Feb 20 - 1835 Feb 21

Evidence from Observations: Reported

List of 4 Events for Episode 1 at 1.6 km north of Punta Bacalao

Start Date	End Date	Event Type
- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
- - - -	- - - -	Tsunami
- - - -	- - - -	Property Damage
1835 Feb 20	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

[ 1743 ] Uncertain Eruption

Episode 1 | Eruption (Explosive / Effusive)

1743 - Unknown

Evidence from Unknown

List of 1 Events for Episode 1

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	- - - -	- - - -	Flames	weak or small

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

Mas a Tierra

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Yunque, El
Anvil, The

Stratovolcano

922 m

33° 39' 29.00" S

78° 51' 0.00" W

Photo Gallery

An eruption plume (upper left) rises on February 20, 1835 from a submarine volcano in Bahía Cumberland off Punta Bacalao on Robinson Crusoe (Mas a Tierra) Island. The sketch was made by Sutcliffe (1939), the island's governor; during the eruption flames were reported that lit up the island. Robinson Crusoe, in the central part of the Juan Fernandez Island group, is composed of four overlapping shield volcanoes with calderas breached to the NE. The SW part of the basaltic island consists of smaller altered cones.

Sketch in Sutcliff, 1839 (courtesy of Oscar González-Ferrán, University of Chile).

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Robinson Crusoe 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.

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.

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 Robinson Crusoe. 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 Robinson Crusoe. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

Large Eruptions of Robinson Crusoe

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).