Late Volcano — Tonga

The 6-km-wide circular island of Late, along the Tofua volcanic arc about 55 km WSW of Vavau, contains a 400-m-wide, 150-m-deep summit crater with an ephemeral lake. The largely submerged basaltic andesite to andesitic volcano rises 1,500 m from the sea floor, with its conical summit reaching 540 m above sea level. Cinder cones are found north of the summit crater, west and north of a semicircular plateau 100-150 m below the summit, and on the NW coast. A graben-like structure on the NE flank contains two large pit craters, the lower of which is partially filled by a saltwater lake. Eruptions from the NE-flank craters produced explosive activity and possible lava flows in 1790 and 1854.