What is the smallest volcano in the world that has erupted more than
once? Is it that the smaller they are, the younger they are?
Emma
Hi Emma,
That's kind of a good question and I'm not sure I can come up with a very
good answer. Your stipulation of having erupted more than once is an
important one since, as you are probably aware, there is a class of
volcanoes called "monogenetic" which only erupt once. Many of these are
only small lava shields or small cinder cones. The tricky thing is that
such a "single" eruption may last for 10-20 years with variations in its
activity. From our perspective of 10-100 years later it seems like one
eruption but while you're living through it the variations can very much
seem like separate eruptions.
Getting back to your question, there are a number of oceanic volcanoes
that barely poke above sea level. Examples include Surtsey (off Iceland),
Bogoslof (in the Aelutians), and Metis Shoal (in Tonga, and active this
past summer) Of course they usually have to be pretty big just to make
it to the surface so this is perhaps not a good answer.
The problem with most volcano lists I know of is that they usually list
the summit elevation, which may have little to do with the actual height
of the volcano over its base. As a guess I might say that Cerro Negro in
Nicaragua is a candidate for one of the smallest volcanoes. It last
erupted in 1992.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland
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