Rakkibetsudake [Demon]

Geography & Climate

Rakkibetsudake [Demon] is located in Japan - administered by Russia, within the Kuril Volcanic Arc of the broader Northwestern Pacific Volcanic Regions. Situated at 45.50° N, 148.86° E in the Northern Hemisphere, the volcano lies within a temperate climate zone. With a summit elevation of 1,167 meters above sea level, Rakkibetsudake [Demon] is a moderately sized peak that remains accessible to hikers and researchers for much of the year. The volcanic landform is characterized as a composite, which describes the physical shape and structure of the volcanic edifice as observed from the surface.

GVP Reference Summary

Rakkibetsudake [Demon], along with the Pleistocene Kamui volcano, forms the northern peninsula of the NW end of Iturup Island. Gorshkov (1970) wrote that the large cone was built in the Holocene, with lavas that "flooded U-shaped valleys of the second glaciation" and late activity was "an eastward-directed explosion" followed by "subsequent erosion [that] cut a large canyon through from the caldera to the shore of Vries Strait." No subsequent work is known that supports this directed-blast interpretation of the existing partially filled scarp open to the ENE, or that describes any Holocene eruptions. Unlike Moyorodake volcano on the peninsula to the S, this volcanic complex is not included in the list of active volcanoes by the Japan Meteorological Agency (2013). It is listed as late Pleistocene by Nakano et al. (2001-).

— Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program