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Baitoushan Volcano - John Seach
Also known as Tianchi Volcano, Changbaishan, Baegdu or P'aektu-san.
North Korea/ China Border
41.98 N, 128.08 E
summit elevation 2744 m
stratovolcano
Baitoushan Volcano is located in NE China - North Korea border. It is an intraplate volcano.
The magnitude of the 969 ±20 AD Baitoushan eruption lies between that of Tambora (1815 AD) with 87cubic km magma and Krakatau (1883 AD) with 10 cubic km magma.
Lake Tianchi fills the 5 km wide caldera. There were possible gas emissions at Baitoushan Volcano in 1994. The eruption of Baitoushan volcano in 1054 was one of the largest eruptions in the world in the past 10,000 years.
The explosive eruption Billy Mitchell Volcano (Papua New Guinea, 1030 AD) competes with the Baitoushan eruption for the ice core data, therefore conclusive records on the effects on climate are not easily obtained.
Eruption in 969 ±20
The 969 ± 20 AD Plinian eruption of Baitoushan Volcano produced a total tephra volume of 96 ±19 cubic km. The eruption columm
reached 25 km altitude. The volcano erupted in two major phases associated with a change in magma composition from highly evolved to more mafic.
Phase 1. The bulk tephra volume (95 vol.%), erupted during the first phase, consists of Plinian and co-ignimbrite fallout and ignimbrites. Tephra fallout extended to Hokkaido (Japan) as far as 1200 km to the east-northeast. Pyroclastic flows associated with collapse of the Plinian eruption column extend more than 70 km from the crater. The tephra of phase I consists of white to gray, rhyolitic pumice.
Phase 2. Eruption materials from phase 2 consisted of dark trachytic pumice. The dark pumice lapilli are less vesicular than the white pumice from the first eruption phase.
Baitoushan Volcano Eruptions
1702, 1668, 1597, 1413, 969 ±20