Barren Island

 

About

·       Barren Island is an island located in the Andaman Sea. Which lies about 135 km south of the territory’s capital, Port Blair.

·       It is the only confirmed active volcano in the Indian subcontinent.  

·       It is a part of the Indian Union Territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

·       The 354-metre-high island is the emergent summit of a volcano that rises from a depth of 2,250 m. The small, uninhabited 3-km-wide island contains a roughly 2-km wide caldera (a volcanic crater) with walls 250-350 metres high.

·       Barren Island is a craggy rocky island, about 3 km in diameter. The first recorded eruption of the volcano dates back to 1787. Since then, the volcano has erupted more than ten times, with the most recent one being in 2020.

·       This volcanic island stands in the midst of a volcanic belt on the edge of the Indian and Burmese tectonic plates. 

·       The Barren Island is a tourist destination and surrounded by waters ideal for scuba diving and is home to a wide variety of aquatic life. The island is open to visitors, with prior permission, and as the name suggests is uninhabited and devoid of any significant vegetation.

 

Active, dormant and Extinct volcanoes ·       The volcanoes erupting fairly frequently are known as active volcanoes. Kilauea volcano of Hawaii, Etna volcano in Italy etc are examples of active volcanoes. ·       Those volcanoes in which the eruption has not taken place regularly in the recent past are known as dormant volcanoes. The volcanoes erupting after undergoing long intervals of repose are the dormant volcanoes. Examples of dormant volcanoes are the Fujiyama volcano of Japan, Krakatoa volcano of Indonesia and the Narcondam island volcano of Andaman and Nicobar islands. ·       Extinct volcanoes are those where the volcanic eruption had taken place in historic times but they are not active today. Examples of extinct volcanoes are Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador, Mount Kenya in Eastern Africa, and Popa in Myanmar etc.