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Heard

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Google Earth Placemark
  • Country
  • Subregion Name
  • Volcano Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  • 2745 m
    9004 ft
  • -53.106°
  • 73.513°
  • Elevation
  •  
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

1 May-7 May 2013

According to NASA Earth Observatory (EO) an image acquired on 7 April from the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA's EO-1 satellite showed that Mawson's Peak crater on Heard Island had filled and a lava flow had traveled down the SW flank. The lava flow was visible in an image acquired on 20 April and had slightly widened just below the summit.

Sources: NASA Earth Observatory



 Available Weekly Reports




2013: May |
2012: October |
2006: June |

1 May 2013              Back to Top

According to NASA Earth Observatory (EO) an image acquired on 7 April from the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA's EO-1 satellite showed that Mawson's Peak crater on Heard Island had filled and a lava flow had traveled down the SW flank. The lava flow was visible in an image acquired on 20 April and had slightly widened just below the summit.

Sources: NASA Earth Observatory

24 October 2012              Back to Top

According to Volcano Live, satellite imagery of Heard Island showed thermal anomalies on 21 and 24 September, and 10 and 19 October. NASA's Earth Observatory reported that a satellite image acquired on 13 October showed a possible dark area in the summit crater of Mawson Peak and hot surfaces within the crater, indicating the presence of lava in or just beneath the crater.

Sources: Volcano Live , NASA Earth Observatory

7 June 2006              Back to Top

From 11 March to 2 June, MODVOLC (a MODIS thermal alert system) detected approximately 10 alerts from or near the summit of Big Ben on Heard Island. The area of the thermal anomaly was 1 to 2 pixels in size (1 pixel=1 km).

Sources: Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) Thermal Alerts Team



Summary of eruption dates and Volcanic Explosivity Indices (VEI).

Start Date Stop Date Eruption Certainty VEI Evidence Activity Area or Unit
2006 Mar 11 2008 Mar 3 Confirmed 0 Historical Mawson Peak
2003 Jun 9 2004 Jun 14 Confirmed 0 Historical Mawson Peak
2000 Mar 7 (?) 2001 Feb Confirmed 1 Historical Mawson Peak and upper south flank
1993 Jan 2 ± 15 days Unknown Confirmed 2 Historical Mawson Peak
1992 May 29 (?) Unknown Confirmed 0 Historical Mawson Peak
[ 1992 Jan 17 ] [ 1992 Jan 18 ] Uncertain     Mawson Peak
1985 Jan 14 1987 Jan (?) Confirmed 2 Historical Mawson Peak
1954 Apr 13 (?) 1954 Jun 13 (?) Confirmed 2 Historical Mawson Peak
1953 Aug 20 1953 Nov 18 Confirmed 2 Historical Mawson Peak
1950 Jan 24 1952 Mar 12 (?) Confirmed 2 Historical Mawson Peak
1910 Mar 1910 Apr Confirmed 2 Historical Mawson Peak
[ 1881 Jun 2 ] [ Unknown ] Uncertain 2  

Heard Island on the Kerguelen Plateau in the southern Indian Ocean consists primarily of the emergent portion of two volcanic structures. The large glacier-covered composite basaltic-to-trachytic cone of Big Ben comprises most of the island, and the smaller Mt. Dixon volcano lies at the NW tip of the island across a narrow isthmus. Little is known about the structure of Big Ben volcano because of its extensive ice cover. The historically active Mawson Peak forms the island's 2745-m high point and lies within a 5-6 km wide caldera breached to the SW side of Big Ben. Small satellitic scoria cones are mostly located on the northern coast. Several subglacial eruptions have been reported in historical time at this isolated volcano, but observations are infrequent and additional activity may have occurred.