Mount Fuji
Emily Rosales and Vincent Lin
Dept. of Geology, Colby College
http://www.climbingandrunning.com/to-the-top-offuji-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
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•
•
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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://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hazards/tephra/
http://www.spoon-tamago.com/2013/05/21/photographing-the-many-faces-ofmt-fuji/
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
http://nexttriptourism.com/mount-fuji-where-tourismjapan/climbing-mount-fuji-where-tourism-japan/
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:
hiking
http://www.japan-guide.com/g8/6365_01.jpg
Bibliography
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Klemetti, Erik, 2010: Mt. Fuji: Japan’s sacred volcano, at http://bigthink.com/eruptions/mt-fuji-japans-sacredvolcano (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/scienceenvironmental/articles/94885.aspx (accessed on 26 January, 2015)
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Skizuoka Prefecture: What’s Mt. Fuji, at http://www.pref.shizuoka.jp/a_foreign/english/fuji/whatfuji.html
(accessed on 26 January, 2015)
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Volcano Discovery: Mt. Fuji Volcano, at http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/fuji.html (accessed on 26 January, 2015)
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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.
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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.