Mt. Changbaishan By Signy Coakley and Ethan Zhang Dept. of Geology, Colby College

Basic Information ● Location o On the border of NE China and North Korea o Climate: Average temperature of -10 °F to 50 °F o Part of the Changbai Mountain National Reserve ● Tectonic Plate o On Eurasian plate  Activity produced by deep subduction of Pacific Plate 600 km below o Possible mantle plume

Formation ● Formed approximately 1 million years ago o viscous trachyte magma ● Each of which released materials main peak was formed after 4 major eruptions. o Each eruption released released materials that covered the major peak for as thick as 200 meters ● Last millenium eruption caused the creation of the caldera

Volcano Description ● Stratovolcano ● Dimensions o Altitude of approximately 2700 meters o Elevation: 9000 ft. o 60 km diameter ● Features o Has four major pyroclastic cones o Caldera: 5-km-wide, 850-m-deep summit caldera occupied by Lake Tianchi ("Sky Lake") o 16 surrounding peaks from the summit o Multiple spires caused by escaping gas

Rocks and Deposits ● Major o Trachyte / Trachyandesite o Rhyolite o Basalt / Picro-Basalt ●Minor ○Trachyandesite / Basaltic trachy-andesite ○Trachybasalt / Tephrite Basanite ●Minerals ○Alakali and feldspar

Magma type ● Highly viscous and gassy o Can tell from past deposits that show high levels of CO2 ● trachytic and rhyolitic ● Indicator of violent eruptions

Eruptions

● Millenium Eruption o Dated around 940 AD o One of the largest volcano eruptions in history o Labeled a VEI 7 o Created caldera o Rock Deposits  tephra found across South East Asia, including northern tip of Japan  Total volume of cubic km of ash  25 km altitude for eruption column ● All past eruptions have been pyroclastic flows

Predicting the Next Eruption ● Eruptions occur around every 100 years o latest eruption was in 1903 ● Currently due for an eruption ● Team from Cambridge given access to North Korean side of the volcano o Leading the current investigation o China and South Korea continue to research as well

Predicting the Next Eruption ● Seismology o A dozen seismometers  Change in seismic activity starting in 2002  increased rate of 72 earthquakes a month  Mainly beneath the volcanic crater ● Gas Emissions o Hot springs show rise in CO2, hydrogen, helium, and nitrogen o Indicates outgassing from magma

Predicting the Next Eruption ● Thermal Maps o magnetotelluric soundings used to create thermal image of magma chamber o North Korean data suggests magma is rising ● Rock Deposits o deposit samples of pumice

Results ● 99% chance of an eruption in 2032 ● Lower chances of it happening this year ● Expected to be a big eruption o High levels of gas o Viscous magma o Studying previous rock deposits

Hazards ● Large populations around volcano ● Lahars o 2 billion tons of water in Sky Lake ● Large scale pyroclastic flow

Fun Facts! ● Logging Industry in China ● Mining Industry o coal, iron, copper, nickel, etc. ● Tourism o Tianchi (Headstream of Tumen River and Songhua River) ● Hot Springs ● Over a thousand hundred hot springs spreaded across Mt.Changbaishan ● Temperature as high as 180 degrees ● China attempted to make it location of the Winter Olympics

Wildlife at the Volcano! ● Flora o Primarily birch and pine trees ● Fauna o Array of exotic animals around the area  leopards, bears, wolves, boars, etc.  Important Bird Area ● Holds the endangered scaly-sided mergansers

Sources Smithsonian Institution, 2011: Changbaishan, at 23 January, 2015) Schimincke, U.,1999: Volatile emission during the eruption of Baitoushan Volcano, at 23 January, 2015) Daily Mail, 2014: Chartering Un-explored territory: Foreign scientists given access to huge North Korean volcano that was the site of one of the biggest eruptions in history, at (accessed 24 January,2015) University of Cambridge, 2014:Volcanological and geophysical research on Paektu volcano, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, at 24 January,2015) Klemetti, E., 2012: When Will Baekdu Caldera Erupt (or How to Misuse Volcanologic Data) at (accessed 24 January, 2015)

Duke University, 2011:Vigil at North Korea’s Mount Doom, at (accessed 24 January,2015) Natural Environment Research Council, 2014: Journey to North Korea's volcano: British scientists visit Mount Paektu, at (accessed 24 January, 2015) Planet Earth Online, 2013: Science without borders, at 24 January,2015) The Economist, 2013: Geo-politics on the Korean peninsula, Another rumbler, at 24 January, 2015) Sources