The Pico Cão Grande is a landmark needle-shaped volcanic plug peak in São Tomé and Príncipe, in the Caué District of São Tomé Island in Parque Natural Obô de São Tomé. Its summit is 663 m (2,175 ft) above sea level, and it rises about 370 m (1,210 ft) over the surrounding terrain. The volcanic plug was formed by magma solidifying in the vent of an active volcano. The nearest village is Vila Clotilde, 3 km to the east. The district seat São João dos Angolares is 9 km to the east.
Pico Cao Grande in 2014.
Japanese climbers on their way to the summit in 1991 (Naotoshi Agata on the right, Kenichi Moriyama second from the right)
A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic object created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if rising volatile-charged magma is trapped beneath it, and this can sometimes lead to an explosive eruption. In a plinian eruption the plug is destroyed and ash is ejected.
An aerial view of the Gros Piton and Petit Piton, in St. Lucia, 2006.
Volcanic plug near Rhumsiki, Cameroon.
Roque Bentayga from the town of Artenara
Saint Michel d'Aiguilhe chapel, on top of a volcanic plug in Le Puy-en-Velay, France.
