<p>According the an Oregon State <a href="http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/chaine-des-puys" rel="nofollow noreferrer">website</a>, </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Volcanism far from the edges of tectonic plates, such as Chaine des
  Puys, is rare. Changes in the mantle may have led to volcanism at
  Chaine des Puys. Several lines of evidence indicate thinning of the
  crust and upwelling of the asthenosphere. The rising mantle "diapir"
  was probably a total of 30-60 miles (50-100 km) in diameter.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cha%C3%AEne_des_Puys" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Chain des Puys</a> is the 40km long chain of volcanic features to which Puy de Dome belongs. It sounds like the causes are not completely understood. Unfortunately, all the papers I could find on the topic are in French (understandably), so if you can read French you can try Google Scholar to see if there is more info there. </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-03-30T18:22:26.083Z
2017-03-30T18:22:26.083Z
kingledion
<p>The Puy de Dôme is an extinct volcano located pretty much smack in the middle of France. It last erupted some seven thousand years ago, which in geological terms is fairly recent - prehistoric humans might even have born witness to that eruption! What I'm wondering, though, is what drove this volcano, seeing as it is not located where tectonic plates meet? Was there a hot spot underneath central France that powered this volcano, and if so, could we witness future volcanic activity in this region?  </p>

<volcanology>
What drove the Puy de Dôme volcano?
user7793
# What drove the Puy de Dôme volcano?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-03-28)

The Puy de Dôme is an extinct volcano located pretty much smack in the middle of France. It last erupted some seven thousand years ago, which in geological terms is fairly recent - prehistoric humans might even have born witness to that eruption! What I'm wondering, though, is what drove this volcano, seeing as it is not located where tectonic plates meet? Was there a hot spot underneath central France that powered this volcano, and if so, could we witness future volcanic activity in this region?

**Tags:** volcanology


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-03-30. Score: 1

According the an Oregon State [website](http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/chaine-des-puys),

> Volcanism far from the edges of tectonic plates, such as Chaine des
> Puys, is rare. Changes in the mantle may have led to volcanism at
> Chaine des Puys. Several lines of evidence indicate thinning of the
> crust and upwelling of the asthenosphere. The rising mantle "diapir"
> was probably a total of 30-60 miles (50-100 km) in diameter.

[Chain des Puys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cha%C3%AEne_des_Puys) is the 40km long chain of volcanic features to which Puy de Dome belongs. It sounds like the causes are not completely understood. Unfortunately, all the papers I could find on the topic are in French (understandably), so if you can read French you can try Google Scholar to see if there is more info there.


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