It appears that I was a bit premature earlier in assuming, as reports at the time had suggested, that the eruption was from Dubbi! As new information has come to light (discussed in the eruptions blog and the volcanism blog) it appears that the eruption has orignated from the Nabro volcano. A subtle reminder to us all that volcanoes and volcanology can be quite unpredictable! A little about Nabro is posted below.
Nabro, which is located in the Danakil depression is a mysterious volcano located at the South-Easterly end of the Danakil alps. It is the highest peak of the Nabro Volcanic Complex at ~2218 m. The Nabro volcanic complex is a roughly NNE to SSW trending system with Dubbi at the most NNE point, Nabro in the centre and Bara Ale at the most SSW point. The length of the complex is roughly 110 km. At the summit are two calderas 5 and 8 km wide. Also present in the area around Nabro are lava domes, evidence of lava flows and ignimbrites. The lava flows are generally basaltic in nature whilst the lava domes and ignimbrites are distinctly rhyolitic in nature, there are also some obsidian flows in the area. It seems that the early evolution of Nabro was dominated by more evolved magmas (rhyolitic) and ignimbrite forming eruptions whilst later on in life activity became more effusive in nature. (Wiart and Oppenheimer, 2005)
I have kept my previous post on Dubbi active and is available here, it still provides a good overview of Dubbi volcano and volcanism in the area.
Sources
Wiart and Oppenheimer, 2005. Large magnitude silicic volcanism in north Afar: The Nabro Volcanic Range and Ma'alalta volcano. Bulletin of Volcanology
Global Volcanism Program
Nabro, which is located in the Danakil depression is a mysterious volcano located at the South-Easterly end of the Danakil alps. It is the highest peak of the Nabro Volcanic Complex at ~2218 m. The Nabro volcanic complex is a roughly NNE to SSW trending system with Dubbi at the most NNE point, Nabro in the centre and Bara Ale at the most SSW point. The length of the complex is roughly 110 km. At the summit are two calderas 5 and 8 km wide. Also present in the area around Nabro are lava domes, evidence of lava flows and ignimbrites. The lava flows are generally basaltic in nature whilst the lava domes and ignimbrites are distinctly rhyolitic in nature, there are also some obsidian flows in the area. It seems that the early evolution of Nabro was dominated by more evolved magmas (rhyolitic) and ignimbrite forming eruptions whilst later on in life activity became more effusive in nature. (Wiart and Oppenheimer, 2005)
I have kept my previous post on Dubbi active and is available here, it still provides a good overview of Dubbi volcano and volcanism in the area.
Sources
Wiart and Oppenheimer, 2005. Large magnitude silicic volcanism in north Afar: The Nabro Volcanic Range and Ma'alalta volcano. Bulletin of Volcanology
Global Volcanism Program
Global Volcanism Program image of Nabro.
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