Mount Fuji: Japan’s highest mountain that’s an active volcano too!
What do you think when you hear about a volcano? Well, a mountain top from where lava comes out, flows and burns all the surrounding areas. Thankfully, we only get to see it in our geography books!
Volcanoes, as many of you would know, are of three types: Active, dormant and extinct. While the last one, as the name suggests, is not expected to erupt anytime in the future, a dormant volcano is the one which has not erupted for ages but has the possibility may erupt anytime in the future. An active volcano, on the other hand, is the one which is either erupting, has erupted in the recent past or will definitely erupt in the coming years.
Here’s an interesting piece of information for you on active volcanoes: There are 1350 of them all over the world and 10% are spread across Japan alone. Mount Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain peak, is an active volcano and a stratovolcano too! What is that now, you must be thinking. Let’s find out today!
What exactly is a stratovolcano?
Better known as a composite volcano, a stratovolcano is a single tall volcano containing multiple layers of hardened lava, ash and other volcanic substances. Let’s tell you how they are formed.
Well, a stratovolcano is formed by alternating layers of lava and pyroclastic rocks (volcanic rock fragments formed during a said eruption). So, imagine that a stratovolcano is spread across mountain slopes instead of one mountain top. How fascinating is it? But enough about stratovolcanoes! Let us now move on to Mount Fuji, one of the most popular stratovolcanoes in the world.
Mount Fuji: Japan’s landmark stratovolcano
This stratovolcano has three layers placed on top of one another. The oldest and the bottommost layer forms the Komitake volcano (active 7,00,000 years ago). the middle layer is named Kofuji (often Old Fuji) volcano (active about 1,00,000 years ago). Can you guess the name of the youngest and the topmost layer? It’s Fuji, or more specifically, New Fuji volcano, which became active only 10,000 years ago. Wondering when was the last time it erupted? Well, it was more than 300 years ago, in 1707. Though it has been dormant since it last erupted, geologists still call it an active volcano. Since Japan is extremely prone to earthquakes, it indicates that an eruption is imminent anytime!
As for its location, Mount Fuji is situated only 100 km west of the Japanese capital city Tokyo on Honshu Island near the Pacific Coast. It is 3766 metres high and is known as Fujisan in Japanese. Here’s a fun fact for you! Despite its active volcanic nature, Fuji’s summit is covered in snow for most times of the year. Also, near the volcanic crater, there are as many as eight peaks. All of them have distinct yet symmetrically conical shapes, something that is very unusual for a volcano.
Deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Mount Fuji has three cities and five lakes surrounding it. In fact, the Japanese government lists it as one of the country’s Special Places of Scenic Beauty.