Global Volcanism Program

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Jebel Marra.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Jebel Marra.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Jebel Marra.

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

Gimbala, Jebel | Marra Mountains

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Gurgei

Volcanic field

Idwa, Jebel

Cone

Craters

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Deriba

Caldera

3042 m

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

225030

2000 BCE

3,042 m / 9,980 ft

12.95°N
24.27°E

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Cluster

Volcano Types
Volcanic field

Rock Types

Major
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Trachyte / Trachydacite
Trachybasalt / Tephrite Basanite
Trachyandesite / Basaltic Trachyandesite
Phonolite

Tectonic Setting

Intraplate
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Population

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

638
8,692
120,061
983,802

Geological Summary

The most prominent feature of the vast Jebel Marra volcanic field, located in the Darfur province of western Sudan, is the youthful Deriba caldera. The 5-km-wide, steep-walled caldera, located at the southern end of the field, was formed about 3,500 years ago at the time of the eruption of voluminous airfall pumice and pyroclastic flows that traveled more than 30 km from the volcano. The Jebel Marra volcanic field covers a broad area of the Marra Mountains and contains early basaltic lava flows overlain by thick sequences of pyroclastic-flow deposits. The northern part of the field displays trachytic lava plugs and spines forming residual inselbergs and young basaltic scoria cones and lava flows. Ash eruptions at Deriba caldera may have continued into early historical time (Burton and Wickers, 1966), and fumarolic activity has been observed on the flanks of a small pyroclastic cone within the caldera.

References

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

Burton A N, Wickens G E, 1966. Jebel Marra volcano, Sudan. Nature, 210: 1146-1147.

Davidson J P, Wilson I R, 1989. Evolution of an alkali basalt-trachyte suite from Jebel Marra volcano, Sudan, through assimilation and fractional crystallization. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 95: 141-160.

Francis P W, Thorpe R S, Ahmed F, 1973. Setting and significance of Tertiary-Recent volcanism in the Darfur Province of western Sudan. Nature, 243: 30-32.

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

Vail J R, 1972. Jebel Marra, a dormant volcano in Darfur Province, western Sudan. Bull Volcanol, 36: 251-268.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 1 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

2000 BCE (?) Confirmed Eruption VEI: 4

Episode 1 | Eruption

Deriba caldera

2000 BCE (?) - Unknown

Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

List of 4 Events for Episode 1 at Deriba caldera

Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
- - - -	- - - -	Explosion	extremely violent or catastrophic
- - - -	- - - -	Pumice
- - - -	- - - -	Caldera	Explosion
2000 BCE (?)	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Jebel Marra.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Jebel Marra.

Photo Gallery

The small circular area just right of the center of this Space Shuttle image is Deriba caldera, the most prominent feature of the vast Jebel Marra volcanic field in western Sudan. The 5-km-wide, steep-walled caldera was formed about 3,500 years ago during an eruption that produced voluminous airfall pumice and pyroclastic flows that traveled more than 30 km from the volcano. Ash eruptions may have continued into early historical time, and fumarolic activity continues on the flanks of the caldera.

NASA Space Shuttle image STS32-94-24, 1990 (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/).

A lake partially fills a younger cone within the Deriba caldera of Jebel Marra volcano in this view from the N. The 5-km-wide, steep-walled caldera, whose wall appears in the background, was formed about 3,500 years ago at the time of the eruption of voluminous airfall pumice and pyroclastic flows that traveled more than 30 km from the volcano. Post-caldera ash eruptions may have continued into historical time.

Photo by J. Williams, 1986 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sudan_Jebel_Marra_Deriba_Lakes.jpg)

The 5-7 km Deriba caldera is part of the Jebel Marra volcanic field, located in the Darfur province of western Sudan, shown in this November 2019 Planet Labs satellite image monthly mosaic (N is at the top). It formed during an eruption 3,500 years ago that produced pyroclastic flows reaching 30 km away. The central lake is within the crater of a smaller cone.

Satellite image courtesy of Planet Labs Inc., 2019 (https://www.planet.com/).

GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Jebel Marra 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 Jebel Marra. 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 Jebel Marra. 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 Jebel Marra

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).