The National Science Council, working with the Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters, will set up a station to monitor volcanic activity in the Datun mountain group north of Taipei this year, NSC Deputy Minister Chen Cheng-hong said Feb. 7.
The observatory, to be located at the Jingshan Activity Center, will also display materials relating to volcanic studies, according to Chen.
Volcanic observation must be carried out continually to provide a basis for comparison, Chen said, adding that Taiwan has no such volcano observatory at present.
“Establishment of the Datun volcano monitoring system will provide relevant data, while displaying the research results serves an educational purpose,” the deputy minister said.
Chen explained that the measurements necessary for monitoring volcanic activity are chemical analysis of the gases and water emitted from the underground magma, and observation of changes in seismic activity and topographical transformations.
The Datun group lies on the edge of the Taipei Basin and is thought to be the only potentially extant volcano on Taiwan proper.
Lin Cheng-horng, a research fellow at the Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica, said that whether or not the Datun volcano group was capable of becoming active again was a scientific question worthy of further study.
“The observatory's most important objective will be to connect with existing observation facilities through the Internet to establish a real-time monitoring system,” said Lin, who will head up the Datun monitoring program.
“Whenever there is seismic or volcanic activity in the Datun Mountains, we will be able to assess it immediately.”
Lin added that at present the Datun volcano has not reached the eruption stage, so there is no need for concern.
The NSC said the observatory is expected to be inaugurated in the first half of this year. (MGC)