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EARTH FROM SPACE: Mt Fuji, Japan
4 Jul 2009
The 3,776-metre-high Mount Fuji Volcano, located on the island of Honshu in Japan, is one of the world's classic examples of a stratovolcano.
The volcano's steep, conical profile is the result of numerous layers of lava and debris from explosive eruptions, including ash, cinders, and volcanic bombs, that build up over time.
The steep profile is possible because of the relatively high viscosity (stickiness) of the lava typically associated with stratovolcanoes. The high viscosity leads to thick sequences of lava flows near the eruptive vent that build the cone structure. (Low-viscosity flows spread out over the landscape and build lower-profile shield volcanoes.)
Mount Fuji, or Fuji-san in Japanese, is actually comprised of several overlapping volcanoes that began erupting in the Pleistocene Epoch (1.8 million to approximately 10,000 years ago).
The currently active volcano, known as Younger Fuji, began forming approximately 11,000 to 8,000 years ago. The most recent explosive activity occurred in 1707, creating Hoei Crater on the southeastern flank of the volcano (image centre). This eruption deposited ash on Edo (present-day Tokyo), 95 kilometres to the northeast.
No further eruptions have occurred at Mount Fuji, but steam was observed at the summit from 1780-1820, and the volcano is considered active.
This oblique (viewed at an angle, rather than straight down) astronaut photo illustrates the snow-covered southeastern flank of the volcano. The northeastern flank is visible in this image.
Astronaut photograph provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Centre. Caption adapted from information issued by William L. Stefanov, NASA-JSC.
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