How long do volcanoes last?
Beth Joseph
Hi Beth,
That's a difficult question because it requires us to know when a volcano
first started to erupt (usually difficult because its oldest lavas and ash
are most often buried), and because it requires us to know that the
volcano has truly stopped erupting. That last part is difficult because
many times the periods between eruptions for a particular volcano are much
longer than we have been watching it.
Different types of volcanoes seem to have different lifetimes. For
example, big rhyolite calderas such as Yellowstone seem to be able to last
for at least a couple million years (however, the frequency of eruptions
is very low). On the other hand, Hawaiian shield volcanoes probably have
a very productive period of their lives that lasts for about 500,000 to
750,000 years. That is a pretty uncertain estimate, and some folks think
it may be as short as 200,000 years or as long as 1,000,000 years.
Strato volcanoes tend to be much smaller than shield volcanoes, but they
also don't erupt as often. Mt Ranier, a large strato volcano (but pretty
tiny compared to a Hawaiian shield volcano) is probably around 800,000
years old, according to the US Geological Survey, and is still considered
active today.
I realize this was not a precise answer, but I don't think there is one.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland
Other Categories
Other Questions
To VolcanoWorld