Batu Tara volcano (Banda Sea, Indonesia): strombolian activity & short field report

Source: Volcano Discovery - 11/29/12, By Tom Pfeiffer

A group of VolcanoDiscovery visited Batu Tara volcano from 24-29 November. During the whole 4 days stay, exceptionally good weather conditions permitted to observe strombolian and effusive activity from the active crater located at about 500 m altitude high in the large eastern collapse scar of the stratovolcano.

Explosive eruptions occurred at irregular intervals ranging from 5-30 minutes and consisted in frequent ash venting with minor amounts of incandescent material to classic strombolian explosions ejecting lava bombs to 100-300 m height above the crater, and occasionally, significantly more powerful blasts with ejections of liquid spatter several hundreds of meters in all directions. The latter eruptions were accompanied by shock waves and loud detonation sounds.

Ash plumes rose typically about 200-500 m, and caused light ash fall on the western side of the island where we camped.

One of the recent feeder dikes could be seen standing out for about 100 m length as a rip stretching from the rim of the crater into the "Sciara del Fuoco" slope. Near the intersection of the dike with the crater rim, an effusive vent with glowing lava could often be seen. This looked similar to a small flat lava dome from which small and larger incandescent rock falls were triggered that descended the steep slope and often reached the sea. Increased effusion of lava and incandescent avalanches herefrom often preceded explosions.

Both effusive and explosive activity fluctuated significantly on a daily basis.

A selection of photos will be available soon after our return from Indonesia.

• All news about: Batu Tara volcano

• Information about: Batu Tara volcano