Volcano Live

South Sandwich Islands

59.449 S, 27.366 W
summit elevation 725 m
Stratovolcano

Thule is the southernmost island in the South Sandwich group. The island is a partly eroded stratovolcano. The summit is Mount Larsen at 725 m.

A 60 m deep volcanic cone occupies the centre of the island. On the eastern side, coastal cliffs cut into the cone. Stratified pyroclastics and lava flows are exposed in cliffs around the island. Hewison Point is home to a large penguin colony.

Eruptions at Thule Volcano
A glacier which joins Hewison Point to the island is partially covered with ash and scoria. This indicates a flank crater was recently active. In 1962 scoriacious material was observed on ice above the south coast.

Further reading
Leat, P.T., Day, S.J., Tate, A.J., Martin, T.J., Owen, M.J. and Tappin, D.R., 2013. Volcanic evolution of the South Sandwich volcanic arc, South Atlantic, from multibeam bathymetry. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 265, pp.60-77.

Leat, P.T., Tate, A.J., Tappin, D.R., Day, S.J. and Owen, M.J., 2010. Growth and mass wasting of volcanic centers in the northern South Sandwich arc, South Atlantic, revealed by new multibeam mapping. Marine Geology, 275(1-4), pp.110-126.

Larsen, N., Knudsen, B., Jørgensen, T.S., Di Sarra, A., Fuà, D., Di Girolamo, P., Fiocco, G., Cacciani, M., Rosen, J.M. and Kjome, N.T., 1994. Backscatter measurements of stratospheric aerosols at Thule during January‐February 1992. Geophysical research letters, 21(13), pp.1303-1306.