Dar-Alages volcano

A group of six cinder and lava cones of Pleistocene-to-Holocene age is located in southern Armenia on the western slopes of the Vardeniss volcanic ridge, south of Lake Sevan.

Background:

The andesitic Dar-Alages volcano, also known as Daly-Tapa, formed in postglacial times (Sviatlovsky, 1959). The Vaiyots-Sar and Smbatassar pyroclastic cones of Holocene age (Karakhanian et al., 2002) are located in this part of the Vardeniss volcanic ridge. Vaiyots-Sar volcano lies just north of the major Areni-Zanghezour Fault, near the town of Vaik, and produced a fissure-fed lava flow several thousand years ago that dammed the Arpah River and flowed to the west for 6 km. The youthful-looking Smbatassar cinder cone is located 17 km to the NW and produced lava flows that traveled 11 and 17 km north and south, respectively.

Dar-Alages Photos:

Time to wake up and enjoy the last hour of darkness before sunrise! As usual, Gilles is already up before all others and standing at the crater rim behind, to watch the l...	In lower light, the contrast of the lava and the dark surface of the barely cooled crust becomes stronger. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)	At around 5pm, the weather starts to clear, and the dark ash cloud emitted from the crater and drifting east towards Giarre town becomes visible. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)
As it gets dark, the explosions of liquid magma from Stromboli's NE crater become very impressive. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)	A dark ash cloud rises while liquid bombs are flying in all directions. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)	The moon has set and the night becomes dark again... Bromo erupting against a star-lit sky. (Photo: Tom Pfeiffer)