Global Volcanism Program | Traitor's Head

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Traitor's Head.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Traitor's Head.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Traitor's Head.

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.

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Nagat

Cone

753 m

18° 44' 46" S

169° 14' 57" E

Oulenou

Cone

414 m

18° 45' 37" S

169° 13' 26" E

Rantop

Cone

817 m

18° 45' 21" S

169° 14' 30" E

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

257090

1881 CE

817 m / 2,680 ft

18.754°S
169.238°E

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Composite

Volcano Types
Stratovolcano
Pyroclastic cone(s)

Rock Types

Major
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Intermediate crust (15-25 km)

Population

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

207
380
7,007
30,651

Geological Summary

The Traitor's Head peninsula north of Cook Bay on eastern Erromango Island is comprised of three Holocene volcanic cones that are the youngest on the 50-km-long island. Mounts Rantop, Nagat, and Oulenou are small basaltic-to-andesitic stratovolcanoes with well-preserved morphologies. Rantop is the largest, but Oulenou is the most youthful looking, with an unbreached crater. A low plateau to the NW is underlain by ash deposits distributed by southeasterly trade winds. The volcanoes initially formed an offshore island that was joined to the mainland by uplift after volcanism ceased. A submarine vent offshore between the tip of the peninsula and Goat Island, 5 km to the NE, erupted in 1881, the only recorded activity of the Erromango volcanoes.

References

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

Colley H, Ash R P, 1971. The geology of Erromango. New Hebrides Condominium Geol Surv Reg Rpt, 112 p.

Fisher N H, 1957. Melanesia. Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields, Rome: IAVCEI, 5: 1-105.

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

Marcelot G, Maury R C, Lefevre C, 1983. Mineralogy of Erromango lavas (New Hebrides): evidence of an early stage of fractionation in island arc basalts. Lithos, 16: 135-151.

New Hebrides Geological Survey, 1974. Geology of Erromango. New Hebrides Geol Surv, 1:100,000 geol map sheet 10.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 1 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

[ 1959 Jul 2 ± 182 days ] Uncertain Eruption

Episode 1 \| Eruption				Four submarine vents N of Erromango
1959 Jul 2 ± 182 days - Unknown				Evidence from Unknown

1881 Confirmed Eruption VEI: 0

Episode 1 | Eruption

NE flank submarine vent

1881 - Unknown

Evidence from Observations: Reported

List of 1 Events for Episode 1 at NE flank submarine vent

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	1881	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Traitor's Head.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Traitor's Head.

Photo Gallery

The peninsula at the top of this Space Shuttle image of Erromango Island (N is approximately to the left) is the Traitor's Head Peninsula. Three Holocene cones at Traitor's Head are the youngest on the 50-km-long island. The volcanoes initially formed an offshore island that later joined the mainland through uplift. The only documented activity at Erromango was a submarine vent that erupted in 1881.

NASA Space Shuttle image STS68-220-4, 1994 (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/).

Traitor's Head Peninsula of Erromango Island is shown in this July 2019 Planet Labs satellite image monthly mosaic (N is at the top; this image is approximately 10 km across). Three eroded volcanic edifices are visible, Nagat to the NE, Rantop in the center, and Oulenou with the summit crater to the W.

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 Traitor's Head 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 Traitor's Head. 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 Traitor's Head. 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 Traitor's Head

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).