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Chaîne des Puys volcano

Lava dome(s), Pyroclastic cone(s), Maar(s) 1464 m / 4802 ft
Massif Central, France, 45.78°N / 2.97°E
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5) | Reports
Chaîne des Puys volcano books
Typical eruption style: explosive, monogenetic
Chaîne des Puys volcano eruptions: approx. 6000 years ago near Besse-en-Chandesse
TimeMag. / DepthDistanceLocation
Fri, 3 Jul 2020
Fri, 3 Jul 09:57 UTCM 1.18 kmFRANCE - 4km de Clermont-Ferrand (quarry blast)
Thu, 2 Jul 2020
Thu, 2 Jul 08:50 UTCM 1.429 kmFRANCE - 22km de Riom (quarry blast)
Thu, 25 Jun 2020
Thu, 25 Jun 10:18 UTCM 1.227 kmFRANCE - 34km de Clermont-Ferrand (quarry blast)
Tue, 23 Jun 2020
Tue, 23 Jun 10:23 UTCM 1.59 kmFRANCE - 20km de Clermont-Ferrand (quarry blast)
Mon, 22 Jun 2020
Mon, 22 Jun 08:05 UTCM 1.425 kmFRANCE - 10km de Riom (quarry blast)
View all recent quakes
The Chaîne des Puys in the Massif Central of southern France is one of Europe's youngest volcanic fields. It consists of numerous cinder cones and maars roughly arranged on a N-S trending line. The last activity occurred only about 6000 years ago, which is why the volcanoes should be considered still active although there are no signs at present of any new activity to be expected in any near future.

Background:

The Chaîne des Puys form a N-S-trending chain of basaltic and trachytic cinder cones, basaltic maars, and trachytic lava domes in France's Massif Central that has been active into the Holocene.
Construction of the present-day Chaîne des Puys began about 70,000 years before present (BP), and was largely completed by the beginning of the Holocene. Holocene eruptions constructed lava domes such as the Puy de Dôme, whose growth was accompanied by pyroclastic flows, cinder cones that fed lengthy lava flows, and maars. The latest well-documented activity took place about 6000 BP near Besse-en-Chandesse and included the powerful explosions that formed the Lac Pavin maar.
The dating of younger tephras has not yet been confirmed, and reports of historical eruptions as late as 1000 BP have been discredited.


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