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Ma Alalta Volcano | John Seach
(Pierre Pruvost)
West Danokil, Ethiopia
13.02 N, 40.20 E
summit elevation 1815 m
Stratovolcano
Ma Alalta volcano is located west of the Danakil Depression at the base of the Ethiopian Scarp. Fumarolic activity is located at a dome on the southern flank.
The complex extends 40 km along a north-northwest to south-southeast trend.
Ma Alalta is contains a nested caldera. The outer caldera measures
approximately
8x5 km and is elongated perpendicularly to the NNW trend. The inner
caldera has dimensions of 5 by 2.5 km, its long axis parallel to
that of the larger caldera.
Ignimbrites, possibly related to the formation of the outer caldera, are especially visible on the NE and SE flanks of the volcano, covering an area of 105 sq km. Rhyolitic flows and coulees are present in the southern part of the volcano.
Two lava fields composed of a succession of basaltic lava flows bound the Ma Alalta Complex to the north and to the south.
Further reading
Tortelli, G., Gioncada, A., Pagli, C., Rosi, M., Keir, D. and De Dosso, L., 2020, May. Evidence of active magmatic rifting in Ma'alalta marginal volcano (Afar, Ethiopia). In EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts (p. 6976).
Wiart, P. and Oppenheimer, C., 2005. Large magnitude silicic volcanism in north Afar: the Nabro Volcanic Range and Ma’alalta volcano. Bulletin of Volcanology, 67(2), pp.99-115.
Ma Alalta Volcano Eruptions
No recent eruptions.