Taisetsu Volcano Group Relief Map (B), SRTM-1

The is a

volcanic group A volcanic group is a stratigraphic group consisting of volcanic strata. They can be in the form of volcanic fields, volcanic complexes and cone A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (freque ...

of peaks arranged around the wide

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. In the Ainu language it is known as ''Nutapukaushipe'' (which means "the mountain above the river"),Geographical Survey Institute website
, last access 1 July 2008. ''Nutaku Kamushupe'', or ''Optateske''. These peaks are the highest in Hokkaidō. The group lends its name to the

Daisetsuzan National Park , or Taisetsuzan is located in the mountainous center of the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō. At , Daisetsuzan is the largest national park in Japan, and is approximately the size of Kanagawa Prefecture. Daisetsuzan, meaning "great snowy mo ...

in which the volcanic group is located.

Geography

The volcanic group lies at the north end of the Daisetsu-Tokachi

graben In geology, a graben () is a depressed block of the crust of a planet or moon, bordered by parallel normal faults. Etymology ''Graben'' is a loan word from German, meaning 'ditch' or 'trench'. The word was first used in the geologic contex ...

on the

Kurile arc The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands (; rus, Кури́льские острова́, r=Kuril'skiye ostrova, p=kʊˈrʲilʲskʲɪjə ɐstrɐˈva; Japanese: or ) are a volcanic archipelago currently administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the ...

of the

Ring of Fire The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. The Ring o ...

. The volcanic zone makes itself known through a number of

fumarole A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...

s and natural

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

List of mountains by height

The following peaks make up the volcanic group:

References

Hokkaipedia, Daisetsuzan Mountains
last access 2 July 2008. * ''Teikoku's Complete Atlas of Japan'', Teikoku Shoin Co., Ltd, Tokyo 1990,

External links

- Japan Meteorological Agency
Taisetsuzan: National catalogue of the active volcanoes in Japan
- Japan Meteorological Agency

- Geological Survey of Japan
Taisetsuzan
- Smithsonian Institution: Global Volcanism Program Volcanoes of Hokkaido Natural monuments of Japan Volcanism of Japan Volcanic groups {{Hokkaido-geo-stub

Geography

List of mountains by height

See also

References

External links