The Piton des Neiges (Snow Peak) is a

complex volcano A complex volcano, also called a compound volcano or a volcanic complex, is a mixed landform consisting of related volcanic centers and their associated lava flows and pyroclastic rock. They may form due to changes in eruptive habit or ...

Réunion Réunion (; ; ; known as before 1848) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France. Part of the Mascarene Islands, it is located approximately east of the isl ...

, one of the French

volcanic 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 often fo ...

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

s in the Mascarene Archipelago in the southwestern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. It is located about east of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. Piton des Neiges is the highest point on Réunion and considered to be the highest point in the Indian Ocean. Piton des Neiges is ranked 82nd by

prominence In topography, prominence or relative height (also referred to as autonomous height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contour line encircling ...

History and geology

Piton des Neiges was formed by the

Réunion hotspot The Réunion hotspot is a volcanic hotspot which currently lies under the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The Chagos-Laccadive Ridge and the southern part of the Mascarene Plateau are volcanic traces of the Réunion hotspot. The hotspo ...

and emerged from the sea about two million years ago. The volcano has been inactive for 20,000 years. Réunion itself is considered to be about three million years old; the other two islands in the

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

and

Rodrigues Rodrigues ( ; Mauritian Creole, Creole: ) is a Autonomous administrative division, autonomous Outer islands of Mauritius, outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about east of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascarene Isl ...

, are 7.8 million and 1.5 million years old, respectively. The Piton des Neiges forms the northwestern two-thirds of Réunion, with the very active Piton de la Fournaise comprising the rest. Additionally, it is surrounded by three massive crater valleys. As its name suggests, snow is occasionally seen on its summit in winter. Piton des Neiges is ranked 14th in the world by

topographic isolation The topographic isolation of a summit is the minimum geographical distance, horizontal distance to a point of equal elevation, representing a radius of dominance in which the peak is the highest point. It can be calculated for small hills and is ...

. The island possesses a high

endemism Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

of flowering plants (about 225); this has justified the creation of a biological reserve on the lower slopes of the Piton des Neiges.

Hiking

Three tracks lead up to the peak: one from the Cirque de Salazie, another from the

Cirque de Cilaos A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform arising from flu ...

, and the third from Plaine des Cafres. They meet at a staffed

mountain hut A mountain hut is a building located at high elevation, in mountainous terrain, generally accessible only by foot, intended to provide food and shelter to mountaineering, mountaineers, climbing, climbers and Hiking, hikers. Mountain huts are us ...

about an hour's walk below the peak. The hike starting from

Cilaos Cilaos () is a town and commune in France, commune on the France, French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. It is located centrally on the island, in a caldera of altitude 1,214 m. The caldera (usually known as the 'Cirque') is also named fo ...

spans 8.9 miles, typically taking an average of 8.5 hours to complete. Although this is feasible in a single day, most hikers prefer to stay overnight at the mountain hut, Gîte de la Caverne Dufour. This hike is considered challenging due to the elevation gain. The hike starting from la Plaine des Cafres is much longer, at 19.6 miles, and a similar elevation gain of .

References

External links

Reunion island

Hike starting from la Plaine des Cafres
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neiges, Piton Des Mountains of Réunion Volcanoes of Réunion Shield volcanoes of France Hotspot volcanoes Dormant volcanoes Pliocene shield volcanoes Pleistocene shield volcanoes Polygenetic shield volcanoes Réunion National Park Highest points of French national parks

History and geology

Hiking

See also

References

External links