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Shikotsu-Tōya NP., Hokkaido
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In 2003, Tarumae’s B fumaroles became hot enough to melt and burn sulfur. Sand ejecta spread as far as 70 m, and the vents sometimes glowed on night cameras; JMA linked the activity to a brief rise in underground pressure.
Observers watched the dome grow while it fumed: most of Tarumae’s present lava dome formed between 17 and 23 April 1909. On 2 May, it measured 134 m high and 457°C.
In 1951, Tarumae’s B fumaroles erupted 3 times before dawn. A later blast sent fist-sized stones around the vent and a small mudflow 150 m from it.
After the 1867 eruption, fumaroles and sulfur appeared west of Tarumae’s earlier lava dome, and sulfur was mined there. The 1874 eruption then destroyed that dome.
In 2004, Chitose City recorded the G vent beneath the dome as emitting a plume that was 99% water vapor, while A crater was about 600°C—a reminder that not every plume is sulfur-rich.
Tarumae is also known as Ofui Nupuri, an Ainu name meaning “burning mountain”—an apt name for a summit whose fumaroles release heat and steam.
The lava dome beside these fumaroles is more than dramatic scenery: Hokkaido designated it a Natural Monument in 1967.
