Dabbahu Volcano (also Boina, Boyna or Moina) is an
active volcano
An active volcano is a volcano which is either erupting or is likely to erupt in the future. An active volcano which is not currently erupting is known as a dormant volcano.
Overview
Tlocene Epoch. Most volcanoes are situated on the Pacific Ri ...
located in the remote
Afar Region
The Afar Region (; aa, Qafar Rakaakayak; am, አፋር ክልል), formerly known as Region 2, is a regional state in northeastern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Afar people. Its capital is the planned city of Semera, which lies on the pave ...
of
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
. This
stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...
is part of the
Afar Triangle
The Afar Triangle (also called the Afar Depression) is a geological depression caused by the Afar Triple Junction, which is part of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. The region has disclosed fossil specimens of the very earliest hominins; t ...
(Afar Depression), a highly active volcanic region which includes
Erta Ale
Erta Ale (or Ertale or Irta'ale; Amharic: ኤርታሌ) is a continuously active basaltic shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia. It is situated in the Afar Depression, a barren desert area. Erta Ale is the most active volcano ...
.
An eruption on September 26, 2005 created a large fissure in the ground, known as the
Dabbahu fissure.
2005 eruption
The only eruption of the volcano in
recorded history
Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world hist ...
occurred on September 26, 2005. Preceding the eruption, the ground
swelled and an
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
swarm consisting of over 130 events occurred.
Earthquakes measured 4.2 on the
Richter scale
The Richter scale —also called the Richter magnitude scale, Richter's magnitude scale, and the Gutenberg–Richter scale—is a measure of the strength of earthquakes, developed by Charles Francis Richter and presented in his landmark 1935 ...
. The eruption began 5 kilometers northeast of the summit. Ash from the eruption darkened the area surrounding the volcano for nearly 3 days.
The eruption formed a 500 m long fissure and a wide
pumice cone
Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and ...
at the fissure's southern end. Ash reached as far as the administrative center of
Teru, located southwest of the volcano.
Plate tectonics
The volcano is located along the
Somali Plate
The Somali Plate is a minor tectonic plate which straddles the Equator in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is currently in the process of separating from the African Plate along the East African Rift Valley. It is approximately centered on the isl ...
. Researchers predict that the land along this region, known as the
East African Rift
The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. In the past it was considered to be part of a ...
, will eventually break away, creating a new island consisting of eastern Ethiopia and
Djibouti
Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...
with a new sea in between. Using seismic data from 2005, a research study predicted that this new ocean would likely be formed in about one million years.
Life
Scientists are studying the fissure for
extremophile
An extremophile (from Latin ' meaning "extreme" and Greek ' () meaning "love") is an organism that is able to live (or in some cases thrive) in extreme environments, i.e. environments that make survival challenging such as due to extreme temper ...
s.
See also
*
Erta Ale
Erta Ale (or Ertale or Irta'ale; Amharic: ኤርታሌ) is a continuously active basaltic shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia. It is situated in the Afar Depression, a barren desert area. Erta Ale is the most active volcano ...
*
Geography of Ethiopia
Ethiopia is located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Djibouti and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. Ethiopia has a high central plateau that varies from above sea level ...
References
{{Geography of Africa
Afar Region
Active volcanoes
Natural disasters in Ethiopia
Stratovolcanoes of Ethiopia
Volcanoes of the Great Rift Valley
Mountains of Ethiopia
Pleistocene stratovolcanoes
2005 disasters in Ethiopia