Balagan-Tas
{{Short description|Cinder cone volcano in Russia}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Balagan-Tas
| other_name = Балаган-Тас
| native_name = {{native name list |tag1=sah|name1=Балаҕан Таас |tag2=sah-Latn|name2=Balaghan Taas}}
| photo =
| photo_caption =
| photo_size =
| elevation_m = 993
| elevation_ref=
| prominence_m = 300
| prominence_ref =
| range = Chersky Range
| listing =
| location = Sakha Republic, Russia
| map_image = Relief Map of Far Eastern Federal District.jpg
| map_caption =
| map = Russia Far Eastern Federal District
| map_relief = Relief Map of Far Eastern Federal District.jpg
| coordinates = {{coord|65.95|N|145.9|E|type:mountain|display=intitle|notes=}}
| coordinates_ref =
| topo =
| type = Cinder Cone
| age = 266,000 ± 30,000 years
| volcanic_arc/belt =
| last_eruption = 1775
| first_ascent =
| easiest_route =
}}
Balagan-Tas ({{langx|sah|Балаҕан Таас}}, {{langx|ru|Балаган-Тас}}) is a cinder cone volcano in Russia. It was discovered by V.A. Zimin in 1939 and is one of the main features of the Moma Natural Park.
Description
This volcano is located in the Chersky Range, in the Moma River valley, and is the only clearly Quaternary volcano in the area; the existence of another volcano active in the 1770s has not been confirmed. The supposed Indigirsky volcano (reported near the Indigirka river) may be actually Balagan-Tas.{{sfn|Whitford-Stark|1983|p=199}} Its location has often been given incorrectly.{{sfn|Fujita|Cambray|Velbel|1990|p=110}}
Balagan-Tas is a volcanic cone with a crater of which little remains. It covers a surface area of {{convert|1.8|km2}}.{{sfn|Whitford-Stark|1987|p=24}} The crater is {{convert|200|m}} wide and {{convert|40|m}} deep; the cone is {{convert|300|m}} high and has a base diameter of {{convert|1200|m}}.{{sfn|Whitford-Stark|1987|p=48}} It may be considered a composite volcano.{{sfn|Whitford-Stark|1987|p=29}} The volcano has generated three lava flows which cover a surface area of {{convert|45|km2}}.{{sfn|Fujita|Cambray|Velbel|1990|p=110}} They reach a thickness of {{convert|10|m}}.{{sfn|Whitford-Stark|1987|p=24}}
The volcano has erupted alkali basalts typical for rift zone volcanoes.{{sfn|Fujita|Cambray|Velbel|1990|p=110}} Its composition has been characterized as hawaiite.{{sfn|Whitford-Stark|1983|p=199}} Titanium dioxide contents of 3.81% have been measured. The helium-3/helium-4 ratios approach these associated with mantle plumes.
Balagan-Tas lies on an anticline.{{sfn|Whitford-Stark|1983|p=213}} It is associated with faulting. Further it is related to the Moma-Zoryansk rift and the Gakkel ridge, which extends to the Laptev Sea. The De Long Islands and a potentially Quaternary dyke complex of the Viliga river may also be related. This tectonic activity is related to the interaction between the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate.{{sfn|Whitford-Stark|1987|p=39}}
Other volcanoes are found in the neighbourhood.{{sfn|Fujita|Cambray|Velbel|1990|p=110}} Northwest of Balagan-Tas lies the Uraga Khaya volcano;{{sfn|Fujita|Cambray|Velbel|1990|p=111}} it is located at {{coord|66.1|N|145.4|E}} and is a lava dome formed by rhyolite. Its age is unclear; potassium-argon dating has yielded an age of 16.6 mya but its appearance indicates it may be considerably younger. A further volcano may exist northwest of this centre.{{sfn|Fujita|Cambray|Velbel|1990|p=110}} A liparite dome named Majak is located at {{coord|66.45|N|147.15|E}},{{sfn|Whitford-Stark|1987|p=24}} but it may be the same as Uraga Khaya and the coordinates wrong.{{sfn|Fujita|Cambray|Velbel|1990|p=110}}
Potassium-argon dating of Balagan-Tas has yielded an age of 266,000 ± 30,000 years ago, comparable to Anyuj volcano, and may reflect a regional or global pulse of volcanic activity. Other sources consider the volcano late Holocene in age,{{sfn|Whitford-Stark|1987|p=35}} or even as active during historical times. Hot springs are found southeast of Balagan-Tas. They reach temperatures of {{convert|30|C}},{{sfn|Fujita|Cambray|Velbel|1990|p=112}} which together with the other activity indicates a hot upper mantle. If reports of activity of the supposed Indighirsky volcano in the 1770s refer to Balagan-Tas,{{sfn|Whitford-Stark|1987|p=24}} then this volcano may have had historical activity,{{sfn|Whitford-Stark|1987|p=24}} one of the few outside of Kamchatka in continental Asia.{{sfn|Whitford-Stark|1987|p=31}}
References
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
}}
= Sources =
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book|last1=Whitford-Stark|first1=J. L.|chapter=A Survey of Cenozoic Volcanism on Mainland Asia|volume=213|year=1987|pages=1–74|issn=0072-1077|doi=10.1130/SPE213-p1|series=Geological Society of America Special Papers|isbn=978-0-8137-2213-9}}
- {{cite journal|last1=Whitford-Stark|first1=J.L.|title=Cenozoic volcanic and petrochemical provinces of Mainland Asia|journal=Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research|date=December 1983|volume=19|issue=3–4|pages=193–222|doi=10.1016/0377-0273(83)90110-5|bibcode=1983JVGR...19..193W}}
- {{cite journal|last1=Fujita|first1=Kazuya|last2=Cambray|first2=F.William|last3=Velbel|first3=Michael A|title=Tectonics of the Laptev Sea and Moma rift systems, northeastern USSR|journal=Marine Geology|date=June 1990|volume=93|pages=95–118|doi=10.1016/0025-3227(90)90079-Y|bibcode=1990MGeol..93...95F}}
{{refend}}
Further reading
- Argunov, M. S., and S. I. Gavrikov. "Balagan-Tas, an early Quaternary volcano." Izv. Acad. Sci. USSR 8 (1960): 72–74.
- Global Volcanism Program, 2013. Balagan-Tas (301805) in Volcanoes of the World, v. 4.5.0. Venzke, E (ed.). Smithsonian Institution. Downloaded 24 Sep 2016 (http://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=301805). https://dx.doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.VOTW4-2013
- Rudich, K. N. "Late Quaternary volcano Balagan-Tas." Presentday Volcanism in Northeast Siberia, edited by: Rudich, KN, Nauka, Moscow (1964): 3-44.