The Tatun Volcanic Group () constitutes a

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

es located in northern

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. It is located 15 km north of

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, and lies to the west of

Keelung Keelung ( ; zh, p=Jīlóng, c=基隆, poj=Ke-lâng), Chilung or Jilong ( ; ), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port city in northeastern Taiwan. The city is part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area with neighboring New Ta ...

. It just adjoins the northern coast of the Taiwan island. The volcanic group was a result of episodic

volcanism Volcanism, vulcanism, volcanicity, or volcanic activity is the phenomenon where solids, liquids, gases, and their mixtures erupt to the surface of a solid-surface astronomical body such as a planet or a moon. It is caused by the presence of a he ...

between 2.8 and 0.2 Ma. As of 2005, some geothermal activity was occurring and gas

fumarole A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or another rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcani ...

s were active among these volcanoes. Observations of the Tatun Volcanic Group suggest that

magma chamber A magma chamber is a large pool of liquid rock beneath the surface of the Earth. The molten rock, or magma, in such a chamber is less dense than the surrounding country rock, which produces buoyant forces on the magma that tend to drive it u ...

s probably still exist under the land surface of northern Taiwan. The last eruption occurred in the year 648. In 2002 it was listed as a potential World Heritage Site.https://twh.boch.gov.tw/taiwan/index.aspx?lang=en_ushttps://www.moc.gov.tw/en/News_Content2.aspx?n=398&s=14054

History

The north of the island is where evidence of volcanic activity is most obvious. In the early 20th century, the North Range of hills, also called ''Daitonzan'' from Japanese or ''Twa-tun'' from Hokkien, was recognized as having an abundance of sulfur deposits. There were three craters in the North Range between

Tamsui Tamsui District () is a seaside district in New Taipei City, Taiwan adjacent to the Tamsui River and overlooking the Taiwan Strait. The name of the district means "fresh water" in Chinese. Although modest in size (population 189,271), Tamsui ...

and Kimpauli (approx. modern-day Jinshan). The North hill crater, over in diameter and about deep, was the most extensive and was sometimes filled with water.

Volcanic edifices

Volcanic edifices (i.e.,

andesitic Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

lava dome In volcanology, a lava dome is a circular, mound-shaped protrusion resulting from the slow extrusion of viscous lava from a volcano. Dome-building eruptions are common, particularly in convergent plate boundary settings. Around 6% of eruptions ...

s) of the Tatun Volcanic Group include:

References

{{Authority control Volcanoes of Taiwan Volcanic groups Landforms of Taipei Potential World Heritage Sites in Taiwan

History

Volcanic edifices

See also

References