Mount Ōkueyama Explained

Mount Ōkueyama
Elevation M:	1,643
Location:	Kyushu, Japan
Coordinates:	32.7378°N 131.5131°W
Type:	stratovolcano
Last Eruption:	~13.7 Ma

Mount Ōkueyama (大崩山), also known as Mount Ōkue, is a volcanic mountain on the Japanese island of Kyushu. Part of an ancient volcanic formation known as the Okueyama Volcano-plutonic Complex,^[1] Mount Ōkueyama (and possibly several nearby volcanoes) experienced a massive eruption ~13.7 million years before present (13.7 Ma); it has been postulated that this eruption measured 8 on the Volcanic Explosivity Index, making the Ōkueyama eruption larger than any eruption in recorded history.^[2] The mountain is now considered to be extinct.

In 1990, the area around the mountain was designated a Forest Ecosystem Reserve,^[3] and In 2017 Mount Ōkueyama was declared part of a UNESCO biosphere reserve, the Sobo, Katamuki and Okue Biosphere Reserve.^{[4] [5]}

The area is managed by the Forestry Agency of Japan.

See also

• List of mountains in Japan
• List of volcanoes in Japan

Notes and References

1. Takahashi, Masaki. Subsurface Structure of Miocene Large-scale Caldera Cluster: Illustrated Descriptions of Geology of the Okueyama Volcano-plutonic Complex, Southwest Japan. Received November 16, 2013

   URL: https://www.chs.nihon-u.ac.jp/institute/nature/kiyou/2014/pdf/2_11.pdf

2. Daisuke, Miura; Yutaka, Wada (2007). "Middle Miocene ash-flow calderas at the compressive margin of southwest Japan arc: Review and synthesis". The Journal of the Geological Society of Japan. 113 (7): 283–295. doi:10.5575/geosoc.113.283. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
3. Web site: Area around Mt. Sobosan, Mt. Katamukiyama, and Mt. Okueyama. Protected Planet. 2019-08-07.
4. Web site: 23 new sites added to UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves. 2017-06-14. UNESCO. en. 2019-08-07.
5. News: Two sites in Japan to be added to UNESCO biosphere reserves. 2017-06-14. The Japan Times Online. 2019-08-07. en-US. 0447-5763.