Mount FujiEmily Rosales and Vincent Lin

Dept. of Geology, Colby College

http://www.climbingandrunning.com/to-the-top-of-fuji-san-mount-fuji/

Location

Photos courtesy of Google Maps ©

Basic Information• Type: Stratovolcano• Elevation: 3776m above sea level• Facts:– Highest volcano in Japan– Part of a chain of volcanoes within the Fuji

Volcanic Zone– Simple conical shape

Plate Tectonics of Japan

• Mt. Fuji is on the Ring of Fire• Meeting point of three plates – Philippine,

North American, and Eurasian plate

http://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blogs/japan-new-zetatalk-added-more

Eruption History

• Last Erupted in 1707• Earliest Eruption: 781• 13 times in the last thousand years• Still active today

http://echeng.com/journal/2006/12/30/mt-fuji-from-the-air/

Volcanic Hazards

• Ash and pumice from explosive eruptions• Potential basaltic pyroclastic flow

http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2013/05/21/photographing-the-many-faces-of-mt-fuji/

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hazards/tephra/

Rocks and Deposits

• Primarily basalt, also andesite, dacite, and other rocks

• Lava basaltic, flows easier• Pyroclastic flows

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hazards/tephra/

Current Activity

• Critical state• Attention was given to the volcano after the

2011 earthquake and tsunami• Debates on whether it will erupt in 2015

http://jto.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/nn20130801f2a.jpg

Fun Facts• Considered a sacred

mountain• Visited by tens of thousands

of pilgrims• Multiple shrines throughout

the mountain• Symbol of Japan• Inspired artists and poets• Popular spot for tourism:

hikinghttp://www.japan-guide.com/g8/6365_01.jpg

http://nexttriptourism.com/mount-fuji-where-tourism-japan/climbing-mount-fuji-where-tourism-japan/

Bibliography• Klemetti, Erik, 2010: Mt. Fuji: Japan’s sacred volcano, at

http://bigthink.com/eruptions/mt-fuji-japans-sacred-volcano (accessed on 26 January, 2015) • National Geographic: Mount Fuji: Symbol of Japan, at

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/mount-fuji/?ar_a=1 (accessed on 26 January, 2015) • Scudder, Rebecca, 2011: Geology of the Fuji Volcano, at

http://www.brighthub.com/environment/science-environmental/articles/94885.aspx (accessed on 26 January, 2015) • Skizuoka Prefecture: What’s Mt. Fuji, at http://www.pref.shizuoka.jp/a_foreign/english/fuji/whatfuji.html (accessed

on 26 January, 2015) • Volcano Discovery: Mt. Fuji Volcano, at http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/fuji.html (accessed on 26 January, 2015) • Watanabe, S., E. Widom, T. Ui, N. Miyaji, A.M. Roberts, 2006: The Evolution of a chemically zoned magma chamber:

The 1707 Eruption of Fuji Volcano, Japan. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, vol. 152, issues 1-2, pp 1-19.

• Yoshimoto, Mitsuhiro, Toshitsugu Fujii, Takayuki Kaneko, Atsushi Yasuda, Setsuya Nakada, and Akikazu Matsumoto,

2010: Evolution of Mount Fuji, Japan: Inference from drilling into the subaerial oldest volcano, pre-Komitake. Island Arc, vol. 19, pp 470-488.