Piton de la Fournaise Volcano

Piton de la Fournaise Volcano Latest News

The Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Reunion Island erupted for the second time this year.

About Piton de la Fournaise Volcano

• Location: It occupies the east-southeastern end of French Island La Réunion in the western Indian Ocean.
• Type: It is a massive basaltic shield volcano.
• It is built on the flank of the larger and older Piton des Neiges volcano whose early activity was basaltic but ended with eruption of differentiated alkaline lavas. 
• It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world.
• It is in a phase of frequent but short-lived eruptions that start with lava fountains and produce large lava flows. 
• Status: It is around 500,000 years old and since 2010, it has been a member of the prestigious club of natural treasures listed as World Heritage sites by UNESCO.

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Key Facts about Shield Volcano

• They are the largest volcanoes on Earth.
• They do not form soaring mountains with conical peaks like composite volcanoes. Instead, they are broad volcanoes with gentle slopes. 
• They are almost exclusively basalt, a type of lava that is very fluid when erupted.
• Because basalt has a low viscosity, it can flow on the surface better. So, when these types of volcanoes erupt, lava flows outwards at large distances.
• They are built by repeated eruptions that occurred intermittently over vast periods of time.
• The Hawaiian shield volcanoes are the most famous examples.

Source: Watchers