1. Piton de la Fournaise (‘Peak of the Furnace’) Reunion Island
Clay Chang and Syman Hossenbux
Geology Department
Colby College

2. Geographic and Tectonic Setting
Hot spot track extends from India to the island of Reunion
Maldives, the Chagos Ridge, the Mascarene Plateau, and the Mauritus Islands
The hot spot is presently under the African tectonic plate.
Volcanic island of Reunion appeared 3 million years ago

3. About Piton de la Fournaise
Shield volcano
From the ocean floor it is over 21,600 feet (6,600 m) tall. The base of the volcano has a diameter of 135 miles (220 km)(the base of Mount St. Helens has a diameter of about 9 km)
Two craters, the older Cratere Bory and the active Cratere Dolomieu.

4. Eruptions Frequent, but short Hawaiian style eruptions lava fountains
fast lava flows, low viscosity
Na, K, Ca content prevent easy formation of silica chains, result is fast-moving pahoehoe flows

5. Eruptive History and Hazards
one of the most active volcanoes in the world
more than 150 eruptions since 17th century
active eruption sites are uninhabited, lava flows usually flow into the Indian Ocean
Population
Within 5 km ,859
Within 10 km ,859
Within 30 km ,792
Within 100 km ,820

6. Most Recent Eruption June 21, 2014
eruption on southeastern side of Dolomieu crater
warning signs: increased seismicity and gas emissions
lava flows

7. Volcanic Deposits
Different types of Volcanic Ejecta categorised as per their size(Lapilli, Bombs, Ash)
Pahoehoe or aa
Basaltic rocks
Pele’s Hair

8. Rocks and their composition.
Olivine
Feldspars Plagioclase
Pyroxenes
Small minerals rich in Iron and titanium; Magnetite

9. Tourism World Heritage Site by UNESCO Cite du volcan Museum
Island’s main tourist attraction

10. Monitoring of the Volcano
Geophysical sensors
tiltmeters
extensometers (an instrument used to measure the deformation (length) of a material when it is placed under stress, these changes are usually too small to see with the naked eye)
data sent to the Piton de la Fournaise Volcano Observatory

11. Bibliography
Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Global volcanism project. (accessed 24 January, 2015)
Oregon State University, Plate tectonic setting,
British Broadcast Corporation, Reunion Island, /news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/ /gif/_ _renunion.gif
Departement d’outre mers, Ile de la Reunion,
Volcano Discovery: Piton de la Fournaise volcano, at (accessed 24 January, 2105
Wikipedia: Piton de la Fournaise, at (accessed 24 January, 2015)
Volcano Live: Piton de la Fournaise Volcano, at (accessed 24 January, 2015)
Wired Science Blog, 2014: New Eruption at Piton de la Fournaise on Reunion Island, at (accessed 24 January, 2015)