IMAGES AND PHOTOS IN ERUPTION ON THE ACTIVES VOLCANOES OF THE WORLD

TANNA island and the YASUR VOCANO


The TANNA island (total surface of 550 km ²) is situated in the South of the VANUATU volcanic archipelago, in the Taféa province, and is 28 km long on 14 km wide. TANNA is one of most visited islands of VANUATU, because it shelters one of the most beautiful curiosities in the World, one of the most Majestic and amazing shows of fire and light, the volcanic eruptions of the YASUR VOLCANO.

The YASUR VOLCANO is situated in the southeast of the TANNA island and is par excellence, the cousin of the Stromboli VOLCANO in Italy. The YASUR VOLCANO is especially the inescapable place to guarantee you an ADVENTURE ON AN ACTIVE VOLCANO ! It is EXPLOSIONS, sheaves of fire, incandescent eruptions of lava, projections of volcanic bombs, emissions of scorias and hot ashes, as well as gas plumes, that will be masters of an incredible symphony of the nature.
This dream show of the eruptions of the YASUR VOLCANO is majestically orchestrated by the dynamics of gases which confers him a regular and permanent eruptive volcanic activity, given rhythm by the magic of the physics of the ascents of gas bubble.

The TANNA island is also known for its cultural wealth, its small villages and its festivals of custom’s dances, as the TOKA festival or the movement JOHN FRUM.

To visit TANNA, It is also the opportunity to discover its geology, its volcanic moonscapes, its hot sources, and if besides, you have the soul of the explorer in thirst of knowledge, or just a lover of the unusual photography, the PHOTOS of volcanic ERUPTIONS, then it is your destination! Let's go to SOUTH PACIFIC at the heart of VANUATU!

GEOLOGY OF TANNA ISLAND

The TANNA island (28 x 14 km) with its half-moon shape is the peak of a large volcanic cone rising almost 4000 m when measures from its base on the sea floor.

Geologists have recognized several stages in the evolution of Tanna island:

1) The formation of Green Hill volcano has been started around 3 Ma ago.

Green Hill is mostly composed of subaerial basaltic lava flows in the north and tuffs of basaltic to andesitic composition in the east. The last formations are dated of Late-Pliocene (-2,5 to -2,4 Ma).

2) Reef-limestone (3 Ma until today)

3) Tukosmeru Volcano during the Pleistocene period (-1,7 Ma to -0,6 Ma) :

It was a large stratovolcano  that occupied the whole southern part of the TANNA island, (today visible as thick layers of ash flow tuffs of andesitic composition) and today the rests of this volcanic mountain constitue the peak of the island (1084 m).

4) Collaps of NE flank of Tukosmeru volcano mark an impressive scar in which is going to be built the Siwi volcano.

5) Formation of late pleistocene Siwi volcano in the SE part of island.

6) Formation of the horseshoes-shaped Siwi Caldera, elongated (9x4 km) in a N70 direction, delimited by the Siwi Ring Fracture associated to a pyroclastic eruption. ? (-126 ka)

7) During the Late Pleistocene - Holocene (from -126 ka to present-day), the post-collapse volcanic activity inside the Siwi caldera has included both effusive and explosive phases, with the formation of pyroclastic cones (Ombus, Yasur). Since about 1400 yr BP, the eruptive activity has been focused at Yasur volcano, located on the western edge of the Yenkahe block (6x3 km), and rising 360m above sea level.
 

THE CULT OF JOHN FRUM
The island is the centre of the John Frum religious movement, which attracts tourist interest as a cargo cult. The first wave of the John Frum movement was a means to escape from what was known as Tanna Law, imposed by the Presbyterian mission at Lenakel from early in the twentieth century until World War II. Many Tanna Islanders had moved from their traditional villages to the mission villages on the coast, only to be subject to highly repressive church practices designed to change their cultural norms.
The first John appeared at night as a spirit at a place called Green Point and told the people to return to their traditional way of life (custom). From that time custom on Tanna has been seen as an alternative to modernity encouraged by many missionary denominations.

 

VANUATU EXPEDITION – GEOLOGIC ADVENTURES – PHOTOS AND VOLCANOES DISCOVERY

Yashmin has a Volcanology master’s degree by university education. He was always fascinated by the volcanoes’s beauty and the cultural traditions of peoples which live in their closenesses. Full of enthusiasm and lover of volcanic eruptions, of the nature, of the hike on the active volcanoes, but also passionate about the photography to immortalize the present moment, the moment of happiness, the enjoyment, the ecstasy, which we can live in front of a volcanic eruption, it is always with a big pleasure and professionalism, that Yashmin take those who are in search of feelings, of unforgettable sensations, as close as possible of the incandescent lava, to live an ADVENTURE on the ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF the WORLD! And in this particular case on the famous YASUR VOLCANO.

In collaboration with VOLCANODISCOVERY