Didicas Volcano is an
active volcanic island
Geologically, a volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term high island can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...
in the
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Cagayan
Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan (; ; ; isnag language, Isnag: ''Provinsia nga Cagayan''; ivatan language, Ivatan: ''Provinsiya nu Cagayan''; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Cag ...
in northern
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. The island, which was a
submarine volcano and re-emerged from the sea in 1952, is NE of
Camiguin Island, one of the Babuyan Islands in
Luzon Strait
The Luzon Strait (Tagalog: ''Kipot ng Luzon'', ) is the strait between Luzon and Taiwan. The strait thereby connects the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea in the western Pacific Ocean.
This body of water is an important strait for shipp ...
. Before 1952, the volcano first breached the ocean surface in 1857.
[Villamor, Ignacio. "Census of the Philippine Islands, 1918, Vol. I", p. 112. Manila Bureau of Printing, 1920.]
Physical features
Didicas is topped with a
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 ...
with an elevation of and a base diameter of at sea level. It is at the southern end of the
Luzon Volcanic Arc
The Luzon Volcanic Arc is a volcanic arc, chain of volcanoes in a north–south line across the Luzon Strait from Taiwan to Luzon. The name "Luzon Volcanic Arc" was first proposed by Carl Bowin et al. to describe a series of Miocene to recent vo ...
, and like all the volcanoes in the Philippines, is part of the
Pacific ring of fire
The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a tectonic belt of volcanoes and earthquakes.
It is about long and up to about wide, and surrounds most of the Pa ...
.
Eruption history
There have been six historical eruptions recorded from the volcano since the 18th century.
*1773: The first recorded submarine eruption from the volcano, on what was known as Didicas reefs of the Farallones.
*1856 September or October: The first activity started as a column of "smoke" in between the two rocks well known to the locals, but no earthquakes were felt.
*1857: The volcano erupted violently, attended by earthquakes, then broke the surface of the sea. From then to 1860, the volcano was constantly active and in four years had reached a height of . The island was later washed out by the waves and disappeared beneath the sea.
[U.S. Bureau of Insular Affairs. "Description of the Philippines, Part 1", p. 39. Manila Bureau of Printing, 1903.][U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. "United States Coast Pilot Philippine Islands, Part I", p.44. Washington Government Printing Office, 1919.]
*1900: An eruption left three rock masses up to high.
*1952: The volcano broke the ocean's surface again during an eruption that started around March 16.
*1953: The activities subsided. The resulting island is wide with an elevation of .
*1969: First known fatalities from the volcano: three fishermen were killed while fishing near the volcano. The activity, which started on March 21, came from a new crater on the northern side of the island. Air reconnaissance over the volcano reported bubbling mud on the wide bottom of the crater. Activity on the volcano waned in June.
*1978 January 6 to 9: The last eruption of Didicas to date. The mild eruption blanketed the island with volcanic ash.
See also
*
List of volcanoes in the Philippines
**
List of active volcanoes in the Philippines
As of 2018, the Philippines has 24 volcanoes listed as Volcano#Active, active by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). Twenty-one of these have had historical eruptions. The three exceptions are Cabalian, which is a ...
**
List of potentially active volcanoes in the Philippines
**
List of inactive volcanoes in the Philippines
This is a list of inactive volcanoes in the Philippines. Volcanoes with no record of eruptions are considered as extinct or inactive. Their physical form since their last activity has been altered by agents of weathering and erosion with the for ...
*
Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology
References
External links
"Didicas Volcano Page" at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Didicas
Stratovolcanoes of the Philippines
Subduction volcanoes
Volcanoes of the Luzon Strait
Mountains of the Philippines
Active volcanoes of the Philippines
Landforms of Cagayan
Holocene stratovolcanoes