Scientists have discovered a chamber of pressurized molten rock 12 kilometers below Taipei’s Datun Mountain. Their findings indicate that the chamber is a quarter of the size of Taipei itself, but the Central Weather Bureau shot down suggestions that Datun was an active volcano, saying it was still too early to say whether the magma was moving enough to pose a risk of eruption in the future. Scientists have brought forward new evidence showing that Datun Mountain, which last erupted an estimated 5,000 years ago, is located above a large, subterranean pool of liquid rock, or magma, suggesting it may still be an active volcano. Detected by seismic wave analysis, the magma chamber is located 12 kilometers underneath New Taipei’s Jinshan and Wanli Districts, an area with many hot springs. The magma chamber covers the equivalent of a quarter of Taipei’s land area, and the study concludes that a large eruption from Datun Mountain could cause destruction stretching from Yangmingshan National Park to Taipei’s Shilin, Tianmu, and Beitou Districts.Lin Cheng-horngAcademia Sinica Institute of Earth SciencesThe ultimate objective was to gauge the size of the eruption. A large enough eruption could affect not just Taipei but all of northern Taiwan.Prof. Chen Wen-shanNTU Department of GeosciencesIn the last million years, eruptions of either magma or volcanic ash have been confined to the area around Datun Mountain. We have not found any evidence of magma or ash eruptions in the Taipei area itself. The Central Weather Bureau said a determination over whether the magma chamber was active or dormant was yet to be made, but stated that it was premature to be discussing a volcanic eruption, given that magma levels are only considered dangerous when they rise to a depth of 10 kilometers below the earth’s surface.

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