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Harra of Arhab   »  Summary

Harra of Arhab

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Country:Yemen
Subregion Name:Southern Arabia
Volcano Number:0301-09-
Volcano Type: Volcanic field
Volcano Status:Historical
Last Known Eruption: 500 AD ± 100 years
Summit Elevation: 3100 m 10,170 feet
Latitude: 15.63°N * 15°38'0"N
Longitude: 44.08°E 44°5'0"E

The Quaternary Harra of Arhab lava field in Yemen, north of the capital city of Sana'a, consists of a 1500 sq km basaltic plateau capped by a few small stratovolcanoes and about 60 scoria cones, two of which have erupted in historical time. Cones in the volcanic field (also known as the Sana'a or the Sana'a-Amran volcanic field) are commonly aligned along a north-NW trend above a 100-250-m-thick volcanic plateau. Pliocene-to-Holocene volcanic rocks have a dominantly basaltic-to-hawaiitic composition and overlie the northern end of an area of extensive Oligocene-Miocene basaltic-to-rhyolitic rocks that extends to the SW tip of the Arabian Peninsula. The latest eruption at Harra of Arhab took place in pre-Islamic time between about 400 and 600 AD and produced a lava flow that traveled 9 km.

Global Volcanism ProgramDepartment of Mineral SciencesNational Museum of Natural HistorySmithsonian Institution

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