Mount Mariveles is a dormant

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 ...

and the highest point in the province of

Bataan Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entir ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Mariveles and the adjacent

Mount Natib Mount Natib is a dormant stratovolcano and caldera complex in the province of Bataan on western Luzon Island of the Philippines. The volcano complex occupies the northern portion of the Bataan Peninsula. The mountain and adjacent surrounding i ...

comprise 80.9 percent of the total land area of the province.Redpen (2008-01-24)
"Bataan Mountains"
MyBataan.com. Retrieved on 2011-09-15. The mountain and adjacent cones lie opposite the city of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

across

Manila Bay Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phili ...

, providing a beautiful setting for the

sunset Sunset, also known as sundown, is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon due to Earth's rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth (except the North and South poles), the equinox Sun sets due west at the moment of both the spring ...

s seen from the city.

Location

Mount Mariveles lies at the southern end of the

Zambales Mountains The Zambales Mountains is a mountain range on western Luzon island in the Philippines. The mountains separate Luzon's central plain from the South China Sea. Its most prominent section is known as the Cabusilan Mountain Range composed of Mount ...

in the

Bataan Peninsula Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the entir ...

, west of

. Bataan province belongs to the

Central Luzon Central Luzon ( pam, (Reyun ning) Kalibudtarang Luzon, pag, (Rehiyon na) Pegley na Luzon, tgl, (Rehiyon ng) Gitnang Luzon, ilo, (Rehion/Deppaar ti) Tengnga ti Luzon), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines, ...

(Region III), of the Philippines.

Physical features

Mount Mariveles is a massive

topped with a summit caldera which drains to the north. The highest peak, called Mariveles, has an elevation of

asl American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that is express ...

. Mounts Pantingan, Bataan, Tarak, and Vintana are the other peaks of the volcano-caldera complex, which has a base diameter of .

Mount Samat Mount Samat () is a mountain in the town of Pilar, Bataan, Philippines. Located near its summit is the Mount Samat National Shrine, a national shrine dedicated to the fallen Filipino and American fallen during World War II. Geology Mount Samat ...

on the northern slope, and Mount Limay on the eastern slope, are major, youthful-looking

parasitic cone A parasitic cone (also adventive cone or satellite cone) is the cone-shaped accumulation of volcanic material not part of the central vent of a volcano. It forms from eruptions from fractures on the flank of the volcano. These fractures occur ...

s of the volcano. Mariveles is still thermally active with the following

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 ...

s located within the complex: Tiis Spring, Saysain Spring, and Pucot Spring.

Eruptions

There are no recorded historical eruptions from Mariveles caldera. However, archeologists report the last active eruption indicated by

radiocarbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...

occurring around mid-

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

or about 2050

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

Geology

Rock type is predominantly

biotite Biotite is a common group of phyllosilicate minerals within the mica group, with the approximate chemical formula . It is primarily a solid-solution series between the iron-endmember annite, and the magnesium-endmember phlogopite; more alumino ...

hornblende Hornblende is a complex inosilicate series of minerals. It is not a recognized mineral in its own right, but the name is used as a general or field term, to refer to a dark amphibole. Hornblende minerals are common in igneous and metamorphic rocks ...

, and

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...

, with

dacite Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...

flows and dacitic tuffs similar to nearby

. Mount Mariveles is on the Western Bataan Lineament

volcanic belt A volcanic belt is a large volcanically active region. Other terms are used for smaller areas of activity, such as volcanic fields. Volcanic belts are found above zones of unusually high temperature () where magma is created by partial melting ...

of Luzon, which includes

Mount Pinatubo Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano in the Zambales Mountains, located on the tripoint boundary of the Philippine provinces of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga, all in Central Luzon on the northern island of Luzon. Its eruptive history w ...

, site of the second largest eruption of the last 20th century.

Listings

The

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS, ; tl, Surian ng Pilipinas sa Bulkanolohiya at Sismolohiya) is a Philippine national institution dedicated to provide information on the activities of volcanoes, earthquakes, and ...

(PHIVOLCS), the Philippine government branch that deals with volcanology in the country, lists Mariveles as a potentially active volcano for the age of its last eruption and active thermal features.

Climbing Mariveles

There are already three peaks familiar to the local mountaineering community, namely Tarak Ridge, Pantingan or Banayan Peak, and Mariveles Ridge. The rest of the peaks in the caldera are still waiting to be explored. Tarak Ridge is the more well-known destination on Mount Mariveles, with its jump-off point situated at Barangay Alas-asin,

Mariveles Mariveles, officially the Municipality of Mariveles ( tl, Bayan ng Mariveles), is a first class municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 149,879 people. History Founded as a ''p ...

."Tarak Ridge"
Pinoy Mountaineer. Retrieved on 2012-02-21. Pantingan Peak (locally called Banayan Peak) can be accessed through Sitio Duhat, Saysain,

Bagac Bagac, officially the Municipality of Bagac ( tl, Bayan ng Bagac), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 31,365 people. With an area of , Bagac is the largest mun ...

. Mariveles Ridge can be accessed through Sitio Parca,

References

External links

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), Mariveles page (archived)
*
Mariveles Mountain Range
from MyBataan

from Pinoy Mountaineer {{DEFAULTSORT:Mariveles Stratovolcanoes of the Philippines Subduction volcanoes Volcanoes of Luzon Mountains of the Philippines Landforms of Bataan Potentially active volcanoes of the Philippines Pliocene stratovolcanoes Pleistocene stratovolcanoes