On a trip several years ago, to visit part my family, I inadvertently
visited the Taal Volcano in the Philippines.
The Philippines, with 20+ volcanos, is no stranger to volcanism as it is
on the eastern edge of the Pacific tectonic plate. This area of convergent boundaries is the
home to this composite volcano. I was
taken to a Starbucks with the beautiful view (Attached picture) and my family
informed me that the large lake was actually a volcano. At the time I didn’t realize how active it
was. Although I didn’t see direct
evidence from past eruptions, aside from a lush landscape with younger trees,
there have been 6 eruptions in the recorded history of the volcano. Thinking back to the landscape I might initially
think this was a shield volcano, like what is in Hawaii, but the eruption of 1911
not only killed 1300+ people but the ash was spewed over 50 miles from the
site. It seems to be only a matter of
time before this volcano will erupt again!
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