Global Volcanism Program

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

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

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

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

Jigoku-dani

Pyroclastic cone

Shihorei

Pyroclastic cone

Takeura

Stratovolcano

Craters

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Hiroyiyama-Oyunuma-Urajigoku

Fissure vent

Kuttara

Caldera

Kuttara

Caldera

Oyunuma
O-Yunuma

Crater

Tachibana

Crater

Urajigoku

Crater

Domes

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Hiyoriyama
Hiyori-yama

Dome

Thermal

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Noboribetsu
Noboribetu

Thermal

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

285034

1820 CE

549 m / 1,801 ft

42.491°N
141.16°E

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Composite

Volcano Types
Stratovolcano(es)
Caldera
Lava dome
Pyroclastic cone(s)

Rock Types

Major
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite
Dacite
Rhyolite

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Population

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

10,198
34,015
220,509
3,371,955

Geological Summary

The Kuttara volcanic group consists of a series of small stratovolcanoes, lava domes, pyroclastic cones, and a caldera near the Pacific coast SE of Toya caldera and SW of Shikotsu caldera. The Kuttara group was constructed during five major eruptive stages, the first of which occurred more than 60,000 years ago. A major dacitic pumice eruption at the end of the 4th stage about 40,000 years ago resulted in the formation of the 3-km-diameter Kuttara caldera. The caldera cut a basaltic-to-andesitic stratovolcano complex, which late in its activity produced two major andesitic lava flows on its north side at Kita-yama. Explosions, probably in early Holocene time, formed two large craters on the west flank of the caldera, and a dacitic lava dome was emplaced about 10,000 years ago. Late-stage phreatic explosion products from Jigoku-dani, a 300-400 m wide crater south of the lava dome, overlie the 1663 tephra from Usu volcano. Jigoku-dani and Noboribetsu Spa are the sites of intense thermal activity, including fumaroles, hot springs, and geysers.

References

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

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

Japan Meteorological Agency, 1996. National Catalogue of the Active Volcanoes in Japan (second edition). Tokyo: Japan Meteorological Agency, 502 p (in Japanese).

Japan Meteorological Agency, 2013. National Catalogue of the Active Volcanoes in Japan (fourth edition, English version). Japan Meteorological Agency.

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

Katsui Y, Yokoyama I, Murozumi M, 1981. Noboribetsu Spa. In: Katsui Y (ed) Symp Arc Volc Field Excur Guide to Usu and Tarumai Volcanoes and Noboribetsu Spa, Part 3, Tokyo: Volc Soc Japan, p 55-64.

Moriizumi M, 1998. The growth history of the Kuttara volcanic group, Hokkaido, Japan. Bull Volc Soc Japan (Kazan), 43: 95-111 (in Japanese with English abs).

Nakano S, Yamamoto T, Iwaya T, Itoh J, Takada A, 2001-. Quaternary Volcanoes of Japan. Geol Surv Japan, AIST, http://www.aist.go.jp/RIODB/strata/VOL_JP/.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 3 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

1820 ± 100 years Confirmed Eruption VEI: 1

Episode 1 | Eruption

West flank (Jigoku-dani)

1820 ± 100 years - Unknown

Evidence from Correlation: Tephrochronology

List of 2 Events for Episode 1 at West flank (Jigoku-dani)

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	- - - -	- - - -	Phreatic activity	weak or small
	1820 ± 100 years	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

0200 ± 75 years Confirmed Eruption

Episode 1 | Eruption

0200 ± 75 years - Unknown

Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (calibrated)

List of 2 Events for Episode 1

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
	- - - -	- - - -	Phreatic activity

8050 BCE (?) Confirmed Eruption

Episode 1 | Eruption

Hiyori-yama lava dome

8050 BCE (?) - Unknown

Evidence from Correlation: Tephrochronology

List of 1 Events for Episode 1 at Hiyori-yama lava dome

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	- - - -	- - - -	Lava dome

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Kuttara.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Kuttara.

Photo Gallery

Steam rises from the Kuttara volcano Jigokudani thermal area, which contains active fumaroles, hot springs, hot pools, and mud pots. These high-rise hotels have been constructed on the western flank.

Photo by Tom Simkin, 1981 (Smithsonian Institution).

Hiyoriyama lava dome (left) was extruded during late stages of the eruption that produced the Oyunuma crater in the foreground. The dome is mantled by a thin layer of older sediments and breccias that were baked during uplift of the dome. The crater is 300-400 m wide and filled with hot water.

Photo by Tom Simkin, 1981 (Smithsonian Institution).

This view shows large areas of hydrothermally altered ground at the Jigokudani ("Valley of Hell") thermal area of Kuttara volcano. Jigokudani is a 300-500 m crater that formed on the W flank of Kuttara.

Photo by Tom Simkin, 1981 (Smithsonian Institution).

Lake Kuttara fills the 3-km-wide Kuttara caldera, which formed during major late-Pleistocene explosive eruptions. Pumice-rich pyroclastic flow deposits from this eruption cover a wide area around the volcano. Post-caldera volcanism constructed a group of explosion craters and a lava dome on the W flank. A phreatic explosion at one of the W-flank craters postdates the 1663 CE eruption of nearby Usu volcano.

Photo by Mihoko Moriizumi, 1995 (Hokkaido University).

Kuttara volcano, seen here from Shiraoi town, is a low cone that has a 3-km-wide caldera at its summit. The caldera formed during the late Pleistocene, but minor explosions occurred from a crater in a western-flank thermal area as recently as about 200 years ago.

Photo by Mihoko Moriizumi, 1995 (Hokkaido University).

Kuttara volcano consists of a 3-km-wide, lake-filled caldera seen here from the W, near the Pacific coast of Hokkaido. Post-caldera eruptions have produced a series of explosion craters on the west flank. Thermal activity associated with these craters has produced large areas of hydrothermally altered ground seen at the bottom of the photo. The resort town of Noboribetsu Spa is visible at the lower center.

Photo by Yoshio Katsui, 1996 (Hokkaido University).

The 3-km-wide Kuttara caldera formed 40,000 years ago and contains Lake Kuttara, shown in this September 2019 Planet Labs satellite image monthly mosaic (N is at the top). The complex also contains cones, domes, and craters, and has ongoing geothermal activity. The Noboribetsu geothermal field and the Hiyoriyama Cryptodome are on the W flank, approximately 1.3 km from the lake edge in this view.

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

The following 4 samples associated with this volcano can be found in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences collections, and may be availble for research (contact the Rock and Ore Collections Manager). Catalog number links will open a window with more information.

Catalog Number	Sample Description	Lava Source	Collection Date
NMNH 112876	Hornblende Dacite	NOBORIBETSU THERMAL AREA	--
NMNH 112876	Hornblende Dacite	NOBORIBETSU THERMAL AREA	--
NMNH 112877	Andesite	NOBORIBETSU THERMAL AREA	--
NMNH 112877	Andesite	NOBORIBETSU THERMAL AREA	--

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 Kuttara. 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 Kuttara. 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 Kuttara

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).