The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology reported an eruption on Mount Kanlaon, a stratovolcano (cone shaped volcano made up of layers of ash and lava) on northern Negros Island in the central Philippines, at about 9.30 am local time on Monday 23 November 2015. The eruption produced an ash column about 1.5 km in height that drifted to the southwest. Some emissions were detected emerging from the crater of the volcano on the following day.
Ash colmn over Mount Kanlaon on Monday 23 November 2015. Jash Pakaña/CNN.
The geology of the Philippines is complex, with the majority of the islands located on the east of the Sunda Plate. To the east of this lies the Philippine Sea plate, which is being subducted beneath the Sunda Plate (a breakaway part of the Eurasian Plate); further east, in the Mariana Islands, the Pacific Plate is being subducted beneath the Philippine Sea Plate. This is not a smooth process, and the rocks of the tectonic plates frequently stick together before eventually being broken apart by the rising pressure, leading to Earthquakes in the process. Material from the subducting Philippine Plate is heated by the temperature of the Earth's interior, causing lighter minerals to melt and the resultant magma to rise through the overlying Sunda Plate, fueling the volcanoes of the Philippines.
Subduction beneath the Philippines. Yves Descatoire/Singapore Earth Observatory.
See also...
Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake under southwestern Luzon Island, the Philippines. The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.8 Earthquake at a depth of 106 km beneath southwestern Luzon Island in the Philippines, at...
Eruptions on Mount Bulusan. Mount Bulusan, a 1565 m stratovolcano (cone shaped volcano made up of layers of ash and lava) on the southern tip of the Bicol Peninsula on Luzon Island, in the Philippines, began erupting slightly after 9.45 am...
Magnitude 4.8 Earthquake to the south of Bohol Island in the Philippines. The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 4.8 Earthquake at a depth of 35 km off the south coast of Bohol... Follow Sciency Thoughts on Facebook.