Global Volcanism Program

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

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

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

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

382120

4500 BCE

1,862 m / 6,109 ft

32.73°N
16.97°W

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Shield

Volcano Types
Shield
Pyroclastic cone(s)

Rock Types

Major
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Trachybasalt / Tephrite Basanite
Trachyandesite / Basaltic Trachyandesite

Minor
Trachyte / Trachydacite
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite

Tectonic Setting

Intraplate
Oceanic crust (< 15 km)

Population

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

209,816
209,816
215,730
220,977

Geological Summary

Madeira Island is the emergent top of a massive shield volcano that rises about 6 km from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean and forms the largest island of the 90-km-long Madeira Archipelago. Construction of the volcano along E-W rift zones from the Miocene to about 700,000 years ago was followed by a period of extensive erosion and possible edifice collapse. Two steep-walled amphitheaters open to south in the central part of the island. Late-stage eruptions are scattered throughout the island and lasted until the Holocene, producing scoria cones and intra-canyon lava flows covering rocks of the older eroded edifice. The youngest activity lies in the west-central part of the island, and consists of cinder cones in the upper Sao Vicente valley, a series of intra-canyon flows, and a tephra layer on top of the Paul da Serra plateau dated at about 6,500 years ago.

This volcano is located within the Santana Madeira, 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.

Geldmacher J, Hoernle K A, 2000. The 72 Ma geochemical evolution of the Maderia hotspot (eastern North Atlantic): recycling of Paleozoic (500 Ma) oceanic lithosphere. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 183: 73-92.

Geldmacher J, van den Bogaard P, Hoernle K, Schmincke H-U, 2000. The 40Ar/39Ar age dating of the Madeira Archipelago and hotspot track (eastern North Atlantic). Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems, 1: 1008. https://doi.org/10.1029/1999GC00018

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

Klugel A, Walter T R, Schwarz S, Geldmacher J, 2005. Gravitational spreading causes en-echelon diking along a rift zone of Madeira Archipelago: an experimental approach and implications for magma transport. Bull Volcanol, 68: 37-46.

Mitchell-Thome R C, 1976. Geology of the Middle Atlantic Islands. Berlin: Gebruder Borntraeger, 382 p.

Schwarz S, Klugel A, van den Bogaard P, Geldmacher J, 2005. Internal structure and evolution of a volcanic rift system in the eastern North Atlantic: the Desertas rift zone, Madeira archipelago. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 141: 123-135.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 1 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

4500 BCE ± 50 years Confirmed Eruption (Explosive / Effusive)

Episode 1 | Eruption (Explosive / Effusive)

Paul da Serra

4500 BCE ± 50 years - Unknown

Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

List of 2 Events for Episode 1 at Paul da Serra

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

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

Madiera

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Ruivo, Pico

Pyroclastic cone

1862 m

Photo Gallery

The 90-km-long island of Madeira is seen in this NASA Landsat image (with north to the top). Construction of the volcano along E-W-trending rift zones was followed by a period of extensive erosion and possible edifice collapse. The capital city of Funchal lies along the SE coast, east of a large caldera that extends to the southern coast. Late-stage eruptions were scattered throughout the island, although the youngest activity took place along the west-central crest of the island, on the Paul da Serra plateau near the cloud near the center of this image.

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

The rugged summit of Pico Ruvio forms the high point of the island of Madeira. This eroded scoria cone complex was erupted during Pliocene-to-Pleistocene rift activity along the axis of the Madeira rift. Dense swarms of dikes, some of which are visible in this image (dark gray bands), are oriented E-W, parallel to the orientation of the rift.

Photo by Paul Bernhardt.

Funchal, the capital city of Madeira, is seen here along the southeast flanks of the massive shield volcano forming the island. The island is the emergent summit of a volcano that rises about 6 km from the seafloor in an E-W-trending rift zone. Following a period of extensive erosion, renewed eruptions produced cinder cones and lava flows that traveled down dissected valleys.

Photo by Paul Bernhardt.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Madeira 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 Madeira. 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 Madeira. 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 Madeira

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).