One of the more important recent eruptions has been the one at Fogo, Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) Islands, off the W coast of Senegal, in April-May 1995. This volcano is poorly known, and some of you may have seen the video images of the 1995 eruption in the TV news. More probably have not. There are now some beautiful images of the new eruption available on the WWW (see below, at bottom of this page), but it might be interesting to compare them to those of the last eruption, in the summer of 1951. The images are in b/w also in the original version. I put two images of the eruption itself (showing lava fountaining at the crater formed then at the base of the central cone of Pico and a Strombolian explosion at the same cone) and two views of the caldera with Pico and the sites of several flank eruptions. For those wanting to know where these and more photos of Fogo and its 1951 eruption (as well as a very detailed description of that and earlier eruptions) can be found, the reference is as follows (note that it is in Portuguese, though):
Ribeiro O (1954) A Ilha do Fogo e as suas erupçoes. Junta de Investigaçoes do Ultramar, Memórias (Série Geográfica), vol. 1, p. 1-319 (with 41 plates). The second edition of this monograph was published in 1960 and is essentially unchanged from the first edition.
Fogo during the 1951 eruption. Monte Orlando, a new cinder cone on the southern flank of the central cone, Pico (visible in the background), is seen here ejecting lava fountains on the evening of 20 June 1951. A well-developed lava channel is visible in the foreground. Photo taken by Orlando Ribeiro. Full size (55 kb) version of this image can be opened here
Close-up of Monte Orlando during a violent Strombolian burst on the afternoon of 9 July 1951. Explosion occurs from a vent on the SW side of the main vent which is quiet on the right margin of the image. Photo taken by Orlando Ribeiro. Full size (70 kb) version of this image can be opened here
View of Fogo's Chã Caldera from the north in late 1952. Cone of Pico lies in right part of the image. Details of the scene and indications can be seen in the full-size (95 kb) version of this image .
Chã Caldera viewed from the south with Pico central cone at left. See the full-size (95 kb) version of this image for details and description.
... and an image of the 1995 eruption!
Until recently, this was the only photo of the 1995 eruption on the WWW. Published on 9 April 1995 in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung , this photo was probably taken one or two days earlier, thus showing the eruption during an early stage. Activity consists mostly of lava fountaining from several vents with minor ash emission. No large cone has yet formed but irregular tephra ramparts can be seen around the vents. Slope of Pico central cone is to the right. Courtesy of Neue Zürcher Zeitung (press agency unknown; abbreviated "epa"). Click here for large (ca. 70 kb) version of this photo.
More info (and IMAGES!!!) about the recent Fogo eruption can be found at the following locations:
March 1995 issue of the GVN Bulletin
April 1995 issue of the GVN Bulletin
May 1995 issue of the GVN Bulletin
The Cabo Verde Home Page (yes -- there is one!!)
