Mount Oakan

Mount Oakan (雄阿寒岳, Oakan-dake) is a shield volcano located in Akan National Park in Hokkaidō, Japan.

Mount Oakan
View from the Siberian Dwarf Pine zone on Mount Oakan, looking toward Mount Meakan. (July 2008)
Highest point
Elevation1,370.4 m (4,496 ft)
ListingList of mountains and hills of Japan by height
Coordinates43°27′06″N 144°09′53″E 
Naming
Native name雄阿寒岳
Geography
LocationHokkaidō, Japan
Parent rangeAkan Volcanic Complex
Topo mapGeographical Survey Institute 25000:1 雄阿寒岳
50000:1 阿寒湖
Geology
Age of rockLate Pleistocene-Holocene
Mountain typeComposite volcano, Lava dome
Volcanic arc/beltKuril arc
Last eruption2008
Lake Akan and Mount Oakan

Geography and geology

Mount Oakan sits in the Akan caldera northeast of Lake Akan. The volcano rises some 900 metres (3,000 ft) above the surrounding terrain. The top of the volcano is 1,370 metres (4,490 ft) above sea level. The volcanic cone is some 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) in diameter. There are three explosion craters at the summit. At Kitanakahara (北中腹) at about 800 metres (2,600 ft), there is a fumarole.[1] The volcano is made mostly from non-alkali mafic volcanic rock. The main rock type is andesite and dacite.

History

Mount Oakan emerged in the Late Pleistocene dropping pumice on Minamishikata. After that, continuous lava flows formed the bulk of the volcano. In the final stages of its life, a parasitic volcano formed a lava dome at the summit.[1]

According to its name and local legend, Mount Oakan is the male counterpart to Mount Meakan on the other side of Lake Akan. [2]

Notes
  1. Saitō, Hiroshi (1996). 雄阿寒岳火山. 新版 地学事典 (in Japanese). 平凡社. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  2. Hunt, Paul (1988). "32: Climbing an Active Volcano: Meakan-dake (雌阿寒岳)". Hiking in Japan: An Adventurer's Guide to the Mountain Trails (First ed.). Tokyo and New York: Kodansha International. pp. 195–200. ISBN 0-87011-893-5.
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