A synthesis and review of historical eruptions at Taal Volcano, Southern Luzon, Philippines
Section snippets
Introduction and aims
The geologic setting of the Philippines in one of the most tectonically active regions in the world makes it an area of persistent volcanism. It is located at the interface of the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate (Fig. 1A). The Philippines is home to 24 of some 400 global volcanoes currently classified as active (Fig. 1B). According to the national agency, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS-DOST, 2016a), an active volcano is defined as “one that has
Tectonic and geographic setting and regional geology
In order to understand the geological processes underpinning the behavior of Taal Volcano, it is necessary to have a grasp of the regional tectonic, geological and geographical setting of the Philippines and the area in which Taal is located.
The Philippine Archipelago, located at the interface between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, was formed by the oblique convergence of the westward-subducting Philippine Sea Plate along the East Luzon Trench and the Philippine Trench, and
Eruption history and products
This section provides a brief overview of Taal's prehistoric eruption history followed by a comprehensive summary of the historical and recent eruptions of Taal between AD1572 and AD1977, as well as new interpretations of processes and products by the present authors. The historic eruptions are divided into four series covering the recorded history of the Philippines that stretches back approximately 600 years. Reports of friars and others during and since the Spanish and American occupation,
Discussion
We first provided an overview of the regional and local tectonic and geologic setting of Taal Volcano, collated and summarized from published references. There is very limited descriptive geological data available on the prehistoric eruptions and the evolution of Taal during older Quaternary eruptions. However, one important work on the evolution of Taal Caldera was published by Listanco (1994) where he identified four caldera-forming events based on four ignimbrite deposits. Others are works
Recommendations for future work
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More research is critically needed on the older Quaternary caldera-forming eruptions that produced large-volume pyroclastic deposits. These are extensively distributed and exposed and will build a better picture of the early evolution of Taal Volcano, as well as provide an estimate of recurrence rate of large eruptions from Taal Caldera.
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One especially important question is whether and how small eruptions can grow into large explosive eruptions like that of c. 5700 BP. Knowledge of any
Conclusion
With increasing population and urbanization of communities in and around Taal Volcano island, and the growing societal impact of a recurrence of a worst-case scenario at Taal Volcano similar to eruptions in AD1749, AD1754, AD1911 and AD1965, better understanding of the mechanism and dynamics of potential processes and products could provide important information for hazard and risk assessment, and emergency management.
This critical review of eruption reports provides new insights and
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the efforts done by previous authors to provide monumental descriptions of the eruptive history of Taal Volcano. This paper tried to summarize these very significant efforts, as well as provide additional interpretations of eruptive phenomena where required.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Department of Science and Technology issued PHIVOLCS Office Order No. 33, Series of 2016 which
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