Global Volcanism Program

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Meru.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Meru.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Meru.

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

Orok, Oldoinyo | Black Mountain

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Ash Cone
Merker Kegel

Cone

3664 m

3° 14' 22" S

36° 45' 46" E

Great Domberg Hill

Cone

1551 m

3° 21' 0" S

36° 57' 0" E

Little Meru

Stratovolcano

3775 m

3° 12' 46" S

36° 46' 28" E

Matuffa Crater

Cone - Crater

3° 21' 0" S

36° 59' 0" E

Ngurdoto Crater

Cone - Crater

1853 m

3° 17' 0" S

36° 56' 0" E

Sambu, Oldonyo

Cone

3° 10' 0" S

36° 39' 0" E

Domes

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Bastioni Hill

Dome

3° 17' 0" S

36° 53' 0" E

Burlow Hill

Dome

3° 16' 0" S

36° 49' 0" E

Button Hill

Dome

3° 10' 0" S

36° 43' 0" E

Naigonesoit

Dome

3° 9' 0" S

36° 44' 0" E

Songe

Dome

2109 m

3° 9' 0" S

36° 47' 0" E

Tululusia

Dome

3° 14' 0" S

36° 50' 0" E

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

222160

1910 CE

4,550 m / 14,928 ft

3.244°S
36.75°E

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Composite

Volcano Types
Stratovolcano
Pyroclastic cone
Lava dome

Rock Types

Major
Phonolite
Foidite
Phono-tephrite / Tephri-phonolite
Trachyte / Trachydacite
Basalt / Picro-Basalt

Tectonic Setting

Rift zone
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Population

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

0
2,506
828,942
2,375,631

Geological Summary

Meru has a conical profile when viewed from the west, but there is a 4-km-wide collapse crater to the E. The summit collapse is associated with the early Holocene Momella event that resulted in debris avalanche and lahar deposits as far as the W flank of Kilimanjaro. Cones and lava domes are located on all sides; a maar field is present on the lower N flank. Activty from the Ash Cone, inside the open crater, was reported around 1878 and in 1910 CE. A second vent between it and the headwall produced lava flows that cover much of the caldera floor. Kisaka et al. (2021) identified three late Pleistocene explosive eruptions during 31-38 ka BP (cal ¹⁴C).

References

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

Cattermole P, 1982. Meru - A rift valley giant. Volcano News, 11: 1-3.

Guest N J, Leedal G P, 1953. The volcanic activity of Mt. Meru. Tanganyika Geol Surv Div Rec, 3: 40-47.

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

Kisaka M, Fontijn K, Shemsanga C, Tomasek I, Gaduputi S, Debaille V, Delcamp A, Kervyn M, 2021. The late Quaternary eruptive history of Meru volcano, northern Tanzania. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 417:107314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2021.107314

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.

Wilkinson P, Mitchell J G, Cattermole P J, Downie C, 1986. Volcanic chronology of the Meru-Kilimanjaro region, northern Tanzania. J Geol Soc London, 143: 601-605.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 4 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

1910 Oct 26 - 1910 Dec 22 Confirmed Eruption VEI: 2

Episode 1 | Eruption

Ash Cone

1910 Oct 26 - 1910 Dec 22

Evidence from Observations: Reported

Small ash eruption from Ash Cone. Guest and Leedal (1953) mention activity on 13 and 26 October 1910, but Richard and Neumann van Padang (1957), who cite this report, lists 26 October as the start of the eruption.

List of 2 Events for Episode 1 at Ash Cone

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
	1910 Oct 26	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)	VEI 2

1886 (?) Confirmed Eruption VEI: 0

Episode 1 | Eruption

Dome NW of Ash Cone

1886 (?) - Unknown

Evidence from Observations: Reported

Lava flows from a dome NW of Ash Cone (CAVW: Richard and Neumann van Padang, 1957; Cattermole, 1982).

List of 2 Events for Episode 1 at Dome NW of Ash Cone

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	- - - -	- - - -	Lava flow
	1886 (?)	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)	VEI 0

1878 ± 1 years Confirmed Eruption VEI: 2

Episode 1 | Eruption

Dome NW of Ash Cone

1878 ± 1 years - Unknown

Evidence from Observations: Reported

The eruption date for lava flows from a dome at the NW base of Ash Cone has been variously listed as 1878 (Cattermole, 1982), 1877 (CAVW: Richard and Neumann van Padang, 1957), and 1879 (Guest and Leedal, 1953); CAVW also lists explosive activity.

List of 3 Events for Episode 1 at Dome NW of Ash Cone

Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
- - - -	- - - -	Lava flow
1878 ± 1 years	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)	VEI 2

5850 BCE (?) Confirmed Eruption VEI: 4

Episode 1 | Eruption

Momella debris avalanche deposit

5850 BCE (?) - Unknown

Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)

The large breached caldera formed about 7,800 years ago, accompanied by Plinian eruptions and massive debris avalanches and lahars that cover wide areas below the E flank.

List of 5 Events for Episode 1 at Momella debris avalanche deposit

Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
- - - -	- - - -	Avalanche
- - - -	- - - -	Lahar or Mudflow
- - - -	- - - -	Edifice Destroyed	Collapse/avalanche
5850 BCE (?)	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)	VEI 4

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Meru.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Meru.

Photo Gallery

An aerial view across the summit plateau of Kilimanjaro looks west towards Meru stratovolcano in the distance. The nested craters in the center are the youngest features of the volcano. They cut a summit ash cone that has grown within a 2.4 x 3.6 caldera, whose rim is seen at the left.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1977.

Meru volcano, Africa's fourth highest mountain, rises to the west of its more prominent neighbor, Kilimanjaro. Seen here from the slopes of Kilimanjaro, 4565-m-high Meru is cut by a 5-km-wide breached caldera on the east side that formed about 7800 years ago when the summit of the volcano collapsed. The resulting massive debris avalanche and lahar traveled as far as the western flank of Kilimanjaro volcano. The historically active Ash Cone forms a prominent symmetrical cone inside the breached caldera.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1977.

The northern wall of the horseshoe-shaped caldera cutting the summit of Meru volcano rises vertically up to 900 m above the caldera floor. The 5-km-wide caldera is breached to the east and was formed as a result of a massive volcanic landslide about 7800 years ago.

Copyrighted photo by Katia and Maurice Krafft, 1977.

Meru volcano (upper right), Africa's fourth highest mountain, is seen from the ice-covered summit plateau of neighboring Kilimanjaro volcano. The volcano is cut by a 5-km-wide breached caldera on the E side that formed about 7,800 years ago when the summit collapsed. A massive debris avalanche and lahar traveled to the east as far as the western flank of Kilimanjaro.

Photo by Tom Jorstad, 1991 (Smithsonian Institution).

GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Meru 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 Meru. 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 Meru. 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 Meru

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).