Global Volcanism Program

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Gada Ale.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Gada Ale.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Gada Ale.

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Synonyms

Kibreale | Chebrit Ale | Kebrit Ale

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Catherine

Tuff ring

100 m

13° 55' 0" N

40° 25' 0" E

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

221050

Unknown - Evidence Credible

287 m / 942 ft

13.975°N
40.408°E

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Composite

Volcano Types
Stratovolcano

Rock Types

Major
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Trachyandesite / Basaltic Trachyandesite
Trachyte / Trachydacite

Tectonic Setting

Rift zone
Intermediate crust (15-25 km)

Population

Within 5 km
Within 10 km
Within 30 km
Within 100 km

101
605
4,827
618,972

Geological Summary

Gada Ale (also known as Kebrit Ale), the most prominent volcano at the northern end of the Erta Ale Range, is formed of interstratified lava flows and hyaloclastites. Fumarolic activity is continuing, and the summit crater contains a small lake with hot mud. Like other Erta Ale Range volcanoes, Gada Ale is considered to be of Holocene age (Barberi and Varet, 1970). A fissure on the SE flank has produced spatter cones and a cinder cone; the latter fed lava flows that reach to Lake Bakili. The symmetrical Catherine tuff ring is located along this same SE trend west of Lake Bakili, and other tuff rings occur on the east side of the lake. A 2-km-wide salt dome to the west has uplifted lava flows as much as 100 m, and the structure of Gada Ale itself appears to be related to salt diapir uplift.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

Barberi F, Varet J, 1970. The Erta Ale volcanic range (Danakill depression, Northern Afar, Ethiopia). Bull Volcanol, 34: 848-917.

IAVCEI, 1973-80. Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. IAVCEI Data Sheets, Rome: Internatl Assoc Volc Chemistry Earth's Interior.

Katsui Y (ed), 1971. List of the World Active Volcanoes. Volc Soc Japan draft ms, (limited circulation), 160 p.

Pagli C, Wright T J, Ebinger C J, Yun S-H, Cann J R, Barnie T, Ayele A, 2012. Shallow axial magma chamber at the slow-spreading Erta Ale Ridge. Nature Geoscience 5, 284-288. https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo1414

Richard J J, Neumann van Padang M, 1957. Africa and the Red Sea. Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields, Rome: IAVCEI 4: 1-118.

WoldeGabriel G, 1987. (pers. comm.).

Eruptive History

The Global Volcanism Program is not aware of any Holocene eruptions from Gada Ale. If this volcano has had large eruptions (VEI >= 4) prior to 12,000 years ago, information might be found on the Gada Ale page in the LaMEVE (Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions) database, a part of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

Deformation History

There is data available for 1 deformation periods. Expand each entry for additional details.

Deformation during 1993 Jun - 1996 May [Subsidence; Observed by InSAR]

Start Date: 1993 Jun

Stop Date: 1996 May

Direction: Subsidence

Method: InSAR

Magnitude: 12.000 cm

Spatial Extent: 5.00 km

Latitude: 14.000

Longitude: 40.000

Remarks: Perhaps related to the northward propagation of the Erta Ale range

June 1993-Oct. 1997 interferogram for Gada ''Ale area. One cycle of phase corresponds to 2.8 cm change in ground-to-radar distance.

From: Amelung et al. 2000b.

Reference List: Amelung et al. 2000b.

Full References:

Amelung F, Oppenheimer C, Segall P, Zebker H, 2000. Ground deformation near Gada 'Ale volcano, Afar, observed by radar interferometry. Geophysical Research Letters, 27, 3093-3096. https://doi.org/10.1029/2000GL008497

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Gada Ale.

Photo Gallery

Gada Ale (upper right) is the most prominent volcano at the northern end of the Erta Ale Range. The 287-m-high volcano is seen here from the S, with two small lakes on its lower NW flank. Lake Aasale (Lake Karum) at about 116 m below sea level, is in the background. Prominent fissures (lower right) are adjacent to an uplifted salt dome (lower left). Salt diapir uplift has affected both this 2-km-wide area W of the volcano (where lava flows are uplifted as much as 100 m) and Gada Ale itself.

Copyrighted photo by Marco Fulle, 2002 (Stromboli On-Line, http://stromboli.net).

GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Gada Ale in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

MIROVA

Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA) is a near real time volcanic hot-spot detection system based on the analysis of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. In particular, MIROVA uses the Middle InfraRed Radiation (MIR), measured over target volcanoes, in order to detect, locate and measure the heat radiation sourced from volcanic activity.

MODVOLC Thermal Alerts

Using infrared satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, scientists at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, developed an automated system called MODVOLC to map thermal hot-spots in near real time. For each MODIS image, the algorithm automatically scans each 1 km pixel within it to check for high-temperature hot-spots. When one is found the date, time, location, and intensity are recorded. MODIS looks at every square km of the Earth every 48 hours, once during the day and once during the night, and the presence of two MODIS sensors in space allows at least four hot-spot observations every two days. Each day updated global maps are compiled to display the locations of all hot spots detected in the previous 24 hours. There is a drop-down list with volcano names which allow users to 'zoom-in' and examine the distribution of hot-spots at a variety of spatial scales.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

Volcanic Hazard Maps

The IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk has a Volcanic Hazard Maps database designed to serve as a resource for hazard mappers (or other interested parties) to explore how common issues in hazard map development have been addressed at different volcanoes, in different countries, for different hazards, and for different intended audiences. In addition to the comprehensive, searchable Volcanic Hazard Maps Database, this website contains information about diversity of volcanic hazard maps, illustrated using examples from the database. This site is for educational purposes related to volcanic hazard maps. Hazard maps found on this website should not be used for emergency purposes. For the most recent, official hazard map for a particular volcano, please seek out the proper institutional authorities on the matter.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Gada Ale. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Gada Ale. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

DECADE Data

The DECADE portal, still in the developmental stage, serves as an example of the proposed interoperability between The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the Mapping Gas Emissions (MaGa) Database, and the EarthChem Geochemical Portal. The Deep Earth Carbon Degassing (DECADE) initiative seeks to use new and established technologies to determine accurate global fluxes of volcanic CO₂ to the atmosphere, but installing CO₂ monitoring networks on 20 of the world's 150 most actively degassing volcanoes. The group uses related laboratory-based studies (direct gas sampling and analysis, melt inclusions) to provide new data for direct degassing of deep earth carbon to the atmosphere.

Large Eruptions of Gada Ale

Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

EarthChem

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).