Link to the Global Volcanism Program Home Page Volcano Photo National Museum of Natural History Home Page

Pantelleria   »  Summary

Pantelleria

Pantelleria Photo

Country:Italy
Subregion Name:Italy
Volcano Number:0101-071
Volcano Type: Shield volcano
Volcano Status:Historical
Last Known Eruption: 1891 
Summit Elevation: 836 m 2,743 feet
Latitude: 36.77°N 36°46'0"N
Longitude: 12.02°E 12°1'0"E

The island of Pantelleria is constructed above a drowned continental rift in the Strait of Sicily and has been the locus of intensive volcano-tectonic activity. Two large Pleistocene calderas dominate the island, which contains numerous post-caldera lava domes and cinder cones and is the type locality for peralkaline rhyolitic rocks, pantellerites. The 15-km-long island is the emergent summit of a largely submarine edifice. The 6-km-wide Cinque Denti caldera, the youngest of the two calderas, formed about 45,000 years ago and contains the two post-caldera shield volcanoes of Monte Grande and Monte Gibele. Holocene eruptions have constructed pumice cones, lava domes, and short, blocky lava flows. Many Holocene vents are located on three sides of the uplifted Montagna Grande block on the SE side of the island. A submarine eruption in 1891 from a vent off the NW coast is the only confirmed historical activity.

Global Volcanism ProgramDepartment of Mineral SciencesNational Museum of Natural HistorySmithsonian Institution

Copyright  |   | Privacy  |