Sofugan (Japan)

Status Normal Eruption Unknown 99m
Stratovolcano (Subduction zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km))

Sofugan is a steep-sided pinnacle that rises 99 m above the sea surface south of Torishima volcano. Its dramatic and isolated setting prompted it to also be known as "Lot's Wife Rocks." The basaltic-to-andesitic pinnacle is the remnant of a large stratovolcano that is 28 km wide at its base and rises 2200 m above the sea floor. A submarine depression lies between the pinnacle and an arcuate submarine ridge to the SW that rises to less than 150 m of the sea surface. In 1975 discolored sea water was observed about 500 m north of Sofugan, and the volcano was reclassified as active by the Japan Meteorological Agency in 2003.

The impressive sheer pinnacle of Sofu-gan, seen here from the west, rises 99 m above the sea surface south of Tori-shima volcano. Its dramatic and isolated setting prompted it to also be known as "Lot's Wife Rocks." The basaltic-to-andesitic pinnacle is the remnant of a large stratovolcano that is 28 km wide at its base and rises 2200 m above the sea floor. In 1975 discolored sea water was observed about 500 m north of the rocks.

Copyrighted photo by Makoto Yuasa, 1985 (Japanese Quaternary Volcanoes database, RIODB, http://riodb02.ibase.aist.go.jp/strata/VOL_JP/EN/index.htm and Geol Surv Japan, AIST, http://www.gsj.jp/).

Last updated 2019-08-04 00:28:03