Afghanistan's geography is dominated
by the high Hindukush mountain range (highest point in Afghanistan: Nowshak
7,485 m). Geologically, this range marks the collision zone of the Indian with
the Eurasian plate. The mostly rugged and mountainous country has only plains
north and southwest of the Hindukush.
As expected for a country in a typical collision zone, Afghanistan has only very few young volcanoes and the few potentially active ones are related to intra-plate hot spot volcanism.
Older (extinct) volcanoes in Afghanistan occur in the southwest of the country, about 300-400 km behind the weakly developed subduction zone south off the Makran coast, where the Arabian sea floor is subducting at a shallow angle to the north. Between Afghanistan and the coast is a 300-km-wide accretion prism of sediments scraped off the Arabian Sea floor to form the E-W ranges of the Makran Mountains (Pakistan), which merge into the Sistan range to the west.
Afghanistan. In contrast to the very low rate of volcanic activity, Afghanistan suffers from frequent and intense earthquakes caused by the violent tectonic forces the colliding Arabian and Indian plates into Eurasia
As expected for a country in a typical collision zone, Afghanistan has only very few young volcanoes and the few potentially active ones are related to intra-plate hot spot volcanism.
Older (extinct) volcanoes in Afghanistan occur in the southwest of the country, about 300-400 km behind the weakly developed subduction zone south off the Makran coast, where the Arabian sea floor is subducting at a shallow angle to the north. Between Afghanistan and the coast is a 300-km-wide accretion prism of sediments scraped off the Arabian Sea floor to form the E-W ranges of the Makran Mountains (Pakistan), which merge into the Sistan range to the west.
Afghanistan. In contrast to the very low rate of volcanic activity, Afghanistan suffers from frequent and intense earthquakes caused by the violent tectonic forces the colliding Arabian and Indian plates into Eurasia
Vakak (or Wakak) volcano is a field
of 18 small volcanoes 115 km WSW of Kabul. It is the northernmost of a group of
small volcanic fields in the Ghanzi region and consists of lava domes, one of
which occupies an old caldera.
The age of its last eruption is unknown, but could be relatively recent (less than 10,000 years ago).The Vakak volcanic group is located on an intraplate hot spot, which is antipodal to the Easter Island hot spot. It has been suggested that such hot spot pairs have formed in the history of the earth by oceanic large-body impacts, triggering flood basalt eruptions at the impact site and (minor) hot spot activity at the opposite (antipodal) location on the earth's sphere.
The age of its last eruption is unknown, but could be relatively recent (less than 10,000 years ago).The Vakak volcanic group is located on an intraplate hot spot, which is antipodal to the Easter Island hot spot. It has been suggested that such hot spot pairs have formed in the history of the earth by oceanic large-body impacts, triggering flood basalt eruptions at the impact site and (minor) hot spot activity at the opposite (antipodal) location on the earth's sphere.
Dacht-i-Navar volcano is a group of 15 lava domes in west-central
Afghanistan SW of Kabul.
Their age is unknown, but it is speculated that they have erupted less than 10,000 years ago and should be considered potentially active.
Their age is unknown, but it is speculated that they have erupted less than 10,000 years ago and should be considered potentially active.
The lava domes are trachyandesitic in composition and located along the southern margin of Dacht-i-Navar.
Because Afghanistan shares boarder in south
with Pakistan, it gets affected by
mud volcanoes. Mud
volcanoes are found where subsurface layers of fluidized sediments, like silt
and clay, have been pressurized by tectonic activity, such as at the boundaries
of the earth's crustal plates, or by the accumulation of hydrocarbon gases.
This pressurized sediment is forced upward, where it erupts on the earth's
surface to form conical mounds of mud.
Most of these mud volcanoes are small, from only a few inches to several feet high, but some, such as a few of those in Azerbaijan, are more than six miles in diameter and several hundred feet high. Though mud volcanoes do sometimes erupt with powerful results, they are, for the most part, harmless. Gases bubble passively from the tiny "craters" at their summit, and upwelling mud slowly oozes out to form small flows. Mud volcanoes are also different from the bubbling mud pots found in active geothermal areas, such as in Yellowstone Park. The mud that erupts from mud volcanoes is cold, or perhaps only slightly warmer than the ambient ground temperature.
When large explosions do occur, they are thought to be caused by the accumulation of hydrocarbon gases, such as methane. Spontaneous combustion of these gases can lead to devastating results. Once the pressure is released, however, the mud volcano returns to a passive state, perhaps not becoming explosive again for decades or centuries, if ever.
The mud that is extruded from mud volcanoes can rise from as deep as several miles. Because mud volcanoes are also often associated with hydrocarbons, they provide useful information on the geology and petroleum potential of deep sedimentary basins. However, since the dominant gases expelled from mud volcanoes are methane and CO2, mud volcanoes are also considered an important source of greenhouse gases. With at least 1,100 mud volcanoes on land, and perhaps as many as 100,000 more underwater, it is estimated that as much as 185 million pounds of greenhouse gases may escape from mud volcanoes each day. Though the amount is tiny when compared to industrial sources worldwide, this is still a significant amount of gas.
Growing population and the great fertility of volcanic soils encourage people to nestle close to active volcanoes. The chance of dying in an eruption is small enough that most people ignore the hazard. But in order to prevent volcanic danger, stay out of the floors of stream valleys that drain away from volcanoes. Trying to outrun a mudflow is almost certainly suicidal. Climbing up the valley side may be too far way. Several meters high safety hillocks should be built, so that people can hopefully climb above the mudflows. Warning system high in valley on the flanks of active volcanoes use temperature sensors to detect the passage of hot mudflows and pass the word downslope.
