Mount Tambora facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mount Tambora |
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| Tomboro | |
Caldera of Mount Tambora
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| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 2,850 m (9,350 ft) |
| Prominence | 2,722 m (8,930 ft) |
| Geography | |
 Mount Tambora
Location in Indonesia
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| Location | Bima & Dompu Regencies, Sanggar peninsula, Sumbawa, Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia |
| Geology | |
| Age of rock | Late Pleistocene-recent |
| Mountain type | Trachybasaltic-trachyandesitic stratovolcano |
| Volcanic arc | Sunda Arc |
| Last eruption | 1967 |
| Climbing | |
| Easiest route | Southeast: Doro Mboha Northwest: Pancasila |
Mount Tambora, or Tomboro, is an active stratovolcano in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. It is located on Sumbawa in the Lesser Sunda Islands and was formed by the active subduction zones beneath it. Before 1815, it was one of the tallest peaks in the Indonesian archipelago - more than 4,300 metres (14,100 feet) high.
Tambora's eruption is the largest eruption in recorded human history and the largest of the Holocene (10,000 years ago to present). It started with a series of smaller eruptions beginning 5 April, 1815. Later that year it erupted wuth the explosion that was heard on Sumatra island, more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) away. Heavy volcanic ash rains were observed as far away as Borneo, Sulawesi, Java, and Maluku islands, and the maximum elevation of Tambora was reduced from about 4,300 metres (14,100 ft) to 2,850 metres (9,350 feet). The death toll was at least 71,000 people. The eruption contributed to global climate anomalies in the following years, while 1816 became known as the "year without a summer" because of the impact on North American and European weather. In the Northern Hemisphere, crops failed and livestock died, resulting in the worst famine of the century.
Mount Tambora is still active. The last eruption was recorded in 1967. However, it was a gentle eruption and was non-explosive. Another very small eruption was reported in 2011.
Contents
History
When the volcano erupted in 1815, it climaxed on 10 April. It was the most destructive volcanic eruption in modern history. It has been estimated that it was four times larger than the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa, between Java and Sumatra, in terms of volume of magma ejected. Before the explosion, Tambora was 4,300 m (14,100 ft) high, now it is only 2,722 m (8,930 ft) high. Its massive crater is therefore a caldera.
The eruption destroyed a small Asian culture, known to archaeologists as the Tamboran kingdom. Most deaths from the eruption were from starvation and disease, as the fallout ruined farming in the local region. The death toll was at least 71,000 people, of whom 11,000–12,000 were killed directly by the eruption. The often-cited figure of 92,000 people killed is believed to be overestimated.
It launched 160 cubic kilometers – 160 km3 (38 cu mi) – of ash into the upper atmosphere. This caused famine around the world. Tambora's 1815 outburst was the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history. The explosion was heard on Sumatra island more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi) away. Heavy volcanic ash falls were observed as far away as Borneo, Sulawesi, Java and Maluku islands.
Climate change
The eruption caused a global climate change known as the "volcanic winter". 1816 became known as the "Year without a summer" because of the effect on North American and European weather. Crops failed and livestock died in much of the Northern Hemisphere, resulting in the worst famine of the 19th century.
Culture
A human settlement obliterated by the Tambora eruption was discovered in 2004. That summer, a team led by Haraldur Sigurðsson with scientists from the University of Rhode Island, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the Indonesian Directorate of Volcanology began an archaeological dig in Tambora. Over six weeks, they unearthed evidence of habitation about 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of the caldera, deep in jungle, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from shore. The team excavated 3 metres (9.8 ft) of deposits of pumice and ash. The scientists used ground-penetrating radar to locate a small buried house which contained the remains of two adults, bronze bowls, ceramic pots, iron tools and other artifacts. Tests revealed that objects had been carbonized by the heat of the magma. Sigurdsson dubbed the find the "Pompeii of the East", and media reports referred to the "Lost Kingdom of Tambora". Sigurdsson intended to return to Tambora in 2007 to search for the rest of the villages, and hopefully to find a palace. Many villages in the area had converted to Islam in the 17th century, but the structures uncovered so far do not show Islamic influence.
Based on the artifacts found, such as bronzeware and finely decorated china possibly of Vietnamese or Cambodian origin, the team concluded that the people were well-off traders. The Sumbawa people were known in the East Indies for their horses, honey, sappan wood (for producing red dye), and sandalwood (for incense and medications). The area was thought to be highly productive agriculturally.
The language of the Tambora people was lost with the eruption. Linguists have examined remnant lexical material, such as records by Zollinger and Raffles, and established that Tambora was not an Austronesian language, as would be expected in the area, but possibly a language isolate, or perhaps a member of one of the families of Papuan languages found 500 kilometres (310 mi) or more to the east.
Ecosystem
A team led by the Swiss botanist Heinrich Zollinger arrived on Sumbawa in 1847. Zollinger sought to study the area of eruption and its effects on the local ecosystem. He was the first person after the eruption to ascend the summit, which was still covered by smoke. As Zollinger climbed, his feet sank several times through a thin surface crust into a warm layer of powder-like sulfur. Some vegetation had regrown, including trees on the lower slope. A Casuarina forest was noted at 2,200 to 2,550 metres (7,220 to 8,370 ft), while several Imperata cylindrica grasslands were also found. In August 2015 a team of Georesearch Volcanedo Germany followed the way used by Zollinger and explored this way for the first time since 1847. Because of the length of the distance to be travelled on foot, the partly very high temperatures and the lack of water it was a particular challenge for the team of Georesearch Volcanedo.
Resettlement of the area began in 1907, and a coffee plantation was established in the 1930s in the Pekat village on the northwestern slope. A dense rain forest of Duabanga moluccana trees had grown at an altitude of 1,000 to 2,800 metres (3,300 to 9,200 ft). It covers an area up to 80,000 hectares (200,000 acres). The rain forest was discovered by a Dutch team, led by Koster and de Voogd in 1933. From their accounts, they started their journey in a "fairly barren, dry and hot country", and then they entered "a mighty jungle" with "huge, majestic forest giants". At 1,100 metres (3,600 ft), the trees became thinner in shape. Above 1,800 metres (5,900 ft), they found Dodonaea viscosa flowering plants dominated by Casuarina trees. On the summit was sparse Edelweiss and Wahlenbergia.
An 1896 survey records 56 species of birds including the crested white-eye. Several other zoological surveys followed and found other bird species, with over 90 bird species discoveries in this period, including yellow-crested cockatoos, Zoothera thrushes, Hill mynas, green junglefowl and rainbow lorikeets are hunted for the cagebird trade by the local people. Orange-footed scrubfowl are hunted for food. This bird exploitation has resulted in population declines, and the yellow-crested cockatoo is nearing extinction on Sumbawa island.
A commercial logging company began to operate in the area in 1972, posing a threat to the rain forest. The company holds a timber-cutting concession for an area of 20,000 hectares (49,000 acres), or 25% of the total area. Another part of the rain forest is used as a hunting ground. In between the hunting ground and the logging area, there is a designated wildlife reserve where deer, water buffalos, wild pigs, bats, flying foxes and species of reptiles and birds can be found. In 2015, the conservation area protecting the mountain's ecosystem was upgraded to a national park.
Exploration of the caldera floor
Zollinger (1847), van Rheden (1913) and W. A. Petroeschevsky (1947) could only observe the caldera floor from the crater rim. In 2013, a German research team (Georesearch Volcanedo Germany) for the first time carried out a longer expedition into this caldera, about 1300 m deep, and with the help of a native team climbed down the southern caldera wall, reaching the caldera floor while experiencing extreme conditions. The team stayed in the caldera for nine days. People had reached the caldera floor only in a few cases as the descent down the steep wall is difficult and dangerous, subject to earthquakes, landslides and rockfalls. Moreover, only relatively short stays on the caldera floor had been possible because of logistical problems, so that extensive studies had been impossible. The investigation program of Georesearch Volcanedo on the caldera floor included researching the visible effects of smaller eruptions which had taken place since 1815, gas measurements, studies of flora and fauna and measurement of weather data. Especially striking was the relatively high activity of Doro Api Toi ("Gunung Api Kecil" means "small volcano") in the southern part of the caldera and the gases escaping under high pressure on the lower north-east wall. Besides the team discovered near the Doro Api Toi a lavadome which had not yet been mentioned in scientific studies. The team called this new discovery "Adik Api Toi (Indonesian "adik": younger brother). Later this lavadome was called by the Indonesians "Doro Api Bou" ("new volcano"). This lavadome probably appeared in 2011/2012 when there was an increased seismic activity and probably volcanic activity on the caldera floor (there is no exact information about the caldera floor at that time). In 2014 the same research team carried out a further expedition into the caldera and set a new record: over 12 days the investigations of 2013 were continued.
Monitoring
Indonesia's population has been increasing rapidly since the 1815 eruption. In 2010, the population of the country reached 238 million people, of which 57.5% concentrated on the island of Java. An event as significant as the 1815 eruption would impact about eight million people.
Seismic activity in Indonesia is monitored by the Directorate of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation with the monitoring post for Mount Tambora located at Doro Peti village. They focus on seismic and tectonic activity by using a seismograph. There has been no significant increase in seismic activity since the 1880 eruption. Monitoring is continuously performed inside the caldera, with a focus on the parasitic cone Doro Api Toi.
The directorate created a disaster mitigation map for Mount Tambora, which designates two zones for an eruption: a dangerous zone and a cautious zone. The dangerous zone identifies areas that would be directly affected by pyroclastic flows, lava flows or pyroclastic falls. It includes areas such as the caldera and its surroundings, a span of up to 58.7 square kilometres (14,500 acres) where habitation is prohibited. The cautious zone consists of land that might be indirectly affected, either by lahar flows and other pumice stones. The size of the cautious area is 185 square kilometres (46,000 acres), and includes Pasanggrahan, Doro Peti, Rao, Labuan Kenanga, Gubu Ponda, Kawindana Toi and Hoddo villages. A river, called Guwu, at the southern and northwest part of the mountain is also included in the cautious zone.
Images for kids
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Mount Tambora and its surroundings as seen from space
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View of Mount Rinjani from Mount Tambora. Viewing distance is 165 kilometres (103 mi).
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Plate boundaries of Indonesia, with the location of Mount Tambora to the lower right of "11"
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Sulfate concentration in ice core from Central Greenland, dated by counting oxygen isotope seasonal variations. There is an unknown eruption around the 1810s.
See also
In Spanish: Tambora para niños
