Cendres, Ile des

Geography & Climate

Cendres, Ile des is located in Vietnam, within the Southeast Asia Volcanic Province of the broader Eastern Asia Volcanic Regions. Situated at 10.16° N, 109.01° E in the Northern Hemisphere, the volcano lies within a tropical climate zone. With an elevation of -20 meters — below sea level — Cendres, Ile des is a submarine or submerged volcanic feature. Submarine volcanoes make up the majority of Earth's volcanic activity, though most eruptions go unobserved beneath the ocean surface. The volcanic landform is characterized as a cluster, which describes the physical shape and structure of the volcanic edifice as observed from the surface.

Geological Context

Cendres, Ile des is an intraplate volcano, meaning it formed away from any plate boundary. These volcanoes are often powered by hotspots — plumes of abnormally hot mantle material rising from deep within the Earth. Hotspot volcanoes like Cendres, Ile des tend to produce effusive eruptions with lava flows that can be relatively predictable, giving nearby communities in Vietnam more time to prepare. However, they can also produce explosive phases, particularly when magma interacts with groundwater. The dominant rock type is basalt / picro-basalt, a dark, fine-grained volcanic rock that forms from rapidly cooling, low-viscosity lava. Basaltic eruptions tend to be less explosive and produce fluid lava flows that can travel long distances. While less immediately dangerous than explosive eruptions, basaltic lava flows can destroy structures and infrastructure in their path, and volcanic gases released during these eruptions can affect air quality over a wide area.

Eruption History Summary

Cendres, Ile des has 1 recorded eruption in the geological database, spanning from 1923 CE to 1923 CE. The most powerful recorded event was an explosive event producing ash plumes up to several kilometers in 1923 CE, reaching VEI 2 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index. The most recent eruption in 1923 CE places this volcano within the modern era of volcanological observation.

GVP Reference Summary

The Ile des Cendres group of submarine volcanoes off the SE coast of Vietnam includes two submarine cones that built ephemeral islands during an eruption in 1923 and two submarine lava cones of uncertain age. The 1923 eruption produced two small islands, one about 30 m high and about 450 m long, and the other 30 m wide and 30 cm high. A third submarine cone reached to within 20 m of the surface. Additional submarine cones occur between Ile des Cendres and the Vietnam mainland (Bondarenko and Nadezhnyi, 1989). In 1880 there was a reef (named Veteran) reported about 36 km S, described as being 34 km SSE of Grand Catwick Rock (Round Island). It was not found in 1882, but was attributed to a possible volcanic eruption (Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World), and discolored water was reported in 1928.

— Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program