Volcán Wolf
Encyclopedia
Volcán Wolf is the highest peak in the Galapagos Islands
and is situated on Isabela Island
and reaches 1707 m (5,600 ft) and is the highest point in the Galapagos Islands. It is a shield volcano
with a characteristic upturned soup bowl shape.
The volcano was named after Theodor Wolf
a German geologist who studied the Galapagos Islands in the 19th century, Wolf Island
in the north of the Galapagos is also named after him.
Its height makes Wolf Volcano an "ultra prominent peak
", which is a peak with a topographic prominence
of over 1500m.
which creates a hotspot
of volcanic activity away from plate boundaries where islands then form, similar to process that has created the Hawaiian islands. This plume stays in place while the Nazca plate
moves above it, the relative movement of this plate is 91 degrees. The oceanic plate under Wolf Volcano is believed to be only 10 million years old and the volcano is estimated it to be less than half a million years old.
Wolf is situated at the northern end of Isabela Island in the Galapagos, and sits on the Equator
. It is one of the six coalescing volcanoes that make up this island, Ecuador, Darwin, Alcedo
, Sierra Negra
, and Cerro Azul
. Along with the Fernandina
island volcano the western Galapagos volcanoes have similar structures which differ from the volcanoes in the eastern part of the archipelago. The western volcanoes are higher and have larger calderas than those to the east, they are also shaped like an upturned soup bowl.
Wolf reaches a height of over 1700m, the caldera is 6 by 7km and has a depth of 700m, only Cerro Azul has a caldera of similar depth in the Galapagos. Following the last eruption there was collapse in the caldera causing its stepped appearance. Wolf has very steep slopes reaching 35 degrees in places making access difficult. The first historical eruption in the Galapagos was recorded for this volcano in 1797 a further 9 eruptions have been recorded since then, the last being in 1982. Eruptions prior to 1797 have been dated from analysis of surface exposures. The newest lavas are on the eastern and southern sides as well as within the caldera.
Lava flows from Wolf are unusual for a mid ocean island and also differ from the two volcanoes next to it, Ecuador and Darwin and other volcanoes closer to the centre of the plume. The lavas from Wolf are similar to those erupted from the Galapagos Spreading Center, a mid ocean ridge over 200km away. This is believed to be due to interaction between the plume, which is centred on Fernandina, and the upper mantle.
of Galapagos tortoise
, Geochelone nigra becki which has a saddleback shell and is found on the northern and western slopes of the volcano, away from the more recent lava flows where there is denser vegetation. However, tortoise subspecies from many different Galapagos islands have been abandoned at Wolf Volcano by ships which at one time collected the tortoise as a food source. During a 2008 survey of over 1600 specimens on Wolf Volcano all morphologies of tortoise were found, including two that in shape are similar to Lonesome George
. DNA
studies of these specimens are currently being undertaken.
In 2009 it was announced that a new species of land iguana had been found on the slopes of Wolf Volcano. The pink land iguana had been found by park rangers in 1986 and has been studied by scientists since 2000. Scientists are unsure where the species developed as it is believed to have separated from the other land iguana of Galapagos prior to Wolf volcano or Isabela Island having formed.
0°02′N 91°20′W
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...
and is situated on Isabela Island
Isabela Island (Ecuador)
Isabela Island is the largest island of the Galápagos with an area of , and length of nearly 4 times larger than Santa Cruz, the next largest of the islands. This island was named in honor of Queen Isabella of Spain, who sponsored the voyage of Columbus. . By the English, it was named Albemarle...
and reaches 1707 m (5,600 ft) and is the highest point in the Galapagos Islands. It is a shield volcano
Shield volcano
A shield volcano is a type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. They are named for their large size and low profile, resembling a warrior's shield. This is caused by the highly fluid lava they erupt, which travels farther than lava erupted from more explosive volcanoes...
with a characteristic upturned soup bowl shape.
The volcano was named after Theodor Wolf
Theodor Wolf
Theodor Wolf was a German naturalist who studied the Galápagos Islands during the late nineteenth century. Wolf Island is named after him. The wolf volcano on Isabela Island was also named after him...
a German geologist who studied the Galapagos Islands in the 19th century, Wolf Island
Wolf Island
Wolf Island or Wenman Island is a small island in the Galapagos Islands and was named after the German geologist Theodor Wolf, who also has the volcano Wolf on Isabela Island named after him...
in the north of the Galapagos is also named after him.
Its height makes Wolf Volcano an "ultra prominent peak
Ultra prominent peak
An ultra prominent peak, or Ultra for short, is a mountain with a topographic prominence of or more. There are a total of roughly 1,524 such peaks in the world. Some are famous even to non-climbers, such as Mount Everest, Aconcagua, and Mount McKinley , while others are much more obscure...
", which is a peak with a topographic prominence
Topographic prominence
In topography, prominence, also known as autonomous height, relative height, shoulder drop , or prime factor , categorizes the height of the mountain's or hill's summit by the elevation between it and the lowest contour line encircling it and no higher summit...
of over 1500m.
Geology
The Galapagos Islands are believed to be formed from a mantle plumeMantle plume
A mantle plume is a hypothetical thermal diapir of abnormally hot rock that nucleates at the core-mantle boundary and rises through the Earth's mantle. Such plumes were invoked in 1971 to explain volcanic regions that were not thought to be explicable by the then-new theory of plate tectonics. Some...
which creates a hotspot
Galápagos hotspot
The Galápagos hotspot is a volcanic hotspot in the East Pacific Ocean responsible for the creation of the Galapagos Islands as well as three major aseismic ridge systems, Carnegie, Cocos and Malpelso which are on two tectonic plates. The hotspot is located near the Equator on the Nazca Plate not...
of volcanic activity away from plate boundaries where islands then form, similar to process that has created the Hawaiian islands. This plume stays in place while the Nazca plate
Nazca Plate
]The Nazca Plate, named after the Nazca region of southern Peru, is an oceanic tectonic plate in the eastern Pacific Ocean basin off the west coast of South America. The ongoing subduction along the Peru-Chile Trench of the Nazca Plate under the South American Plate is largely responsible for the...
moves above it, the relative movement of this plate is 91 degrees. The oceanic plate under Wolf Volcano is believed to be only 10 million years old and the volcano is estimated it to be less than half a million years old.
Wolf is situated at the northern end of Isabela Island in the Galapagos, and sits on the Equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
. It is one of the six coalescing volcanoes that make up this island, Ecuador, Darwin, Alcedo
Alcedo Volcano
Alcedo Volcano is one of the six coalescing shield volcanoes that make up Isabela Island in the Galapagos. The remote location of the volcano has meant that even the most recent eruption in 1993 was not recorded until two years later...
, Sierra Negra
Sierra Negra (Galápagos)
Sierra Negra is a large shield volcano at the South eastern end of Isabela Island in the Galapagos that rises to an altitude of 1124m. It coalesces with the volcanoes Cerro Azul to the west and Alcedo to the north...
, and Cerro Azul
Cerro Azul (Ecuador volcano)
Cerro Azul is a shield volcano on the south western part of Isabela Island in the Galápagos Islands, the name translates from Spanish as blue mountain...
. Along with the Fernandina
Fernandina
Fernandina may refer to:*Fernandina Beach, Florida*Fernandina Island, Galapagos Islands*Fernandina , a citrus fruit...
island volcano the western Galapagos volcanoes have similar structures which differ from the volcanoes in the eastern part of the archipelago. The western volcanoes are higher and have larger calderas than those to the east, they are also shaped like an upturned soup bowl.
Wolf reaches a height of over 1700m, the caldera is 6 by 7km and has a depth of 700m, only Cerro Azul has a caldera of similar depth in the Galapagos. Following the last eruption there was collapse in the caldera causing its stepped appearance. Wolf has very steep slopes reaching 35 degrees in places making access difficult. The first historical eruption in the Galapagos was recorded for this volcano in 1797 a further 9 eruptions have been recorded since then, the last being in 1982. Eruptions prior to 1797 have been dated from analysis of surface exposures. The newest lavas are on the eastern and southern sides as well as within the caldera.
Lava flows from Wolf are unusual for a mid ocean island and also differ from the two volcanoes next to it, Ecuador and Darwin and other volcanoes closer to the centre of the plume. The lavas from Wolf are similar to those erupted from the Galapagos Spreading Center, a mid ocean ridge over 200km away. This is believed to be due to interaction between the plume, which is centred on Fernandina, and the upper mantle.
Wildlife
As is common in the Galapagos, Wolf Volcano has unique fauna, differing not only from the other islands in the group but also from its neighbouring volcanoes on the same island. It has its own subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of Galapagos tortoise
Galápagos tortoise
The Galápagos tortoise or Galápagos giant tortoise is the largest living species of tortoise, reaching weights of over and lengths of over . With life spans in the wild of over 100 years, it is one of the longest-lived vertebrates...
, Geochelone nigra becki which has a saddleback shell and is found on the northern and western slopes of the volcano, away from the more recent lava flows where there is denser vegetation. However, tortoise subspecies from many different Galapagos islands have been abandoned at Wolf Volcano by ships which at one time collected the tortoise as a food source. During a 2008 survey of over 1600 specimens on Wolf Volcano all morphologies of tortoise were found, including two that in shape are similar to Lonesome George
Lonesome George
Lonesome George is a tortoise, the last known individual of the Pinta Island tortoise , which is one of eight to fifteen extant subspecies of Galápagos tortoise, all of which are native to the Galápagos Islands...
. DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
studies of these specimens are currently being undertaken.
In 2009 it was announced that a new species of land iguana had been found on the slopes of Wolf Volcano. The pink land iguana had been found by park rangers in 1986 and has been studied by scientists since 2000. Scientists are unsure where the species developed as it is believed to have separated from the other land iguana of Galapagos prior to Wolf volcano or Isabela Island having formed.
Ecology
The natural habitat is under threat from the introduction of goats. The Galapagos National Park has instigated Project Isabela to eradicate feral goats from around Wolf.External links
- Wolf Volcano at NASA Earth Observatory
0°02′N 91°20′W