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'''Danan''' (uncertain derivation) (1460 ft) was one of the three volcanic cones (the others being Perboewatan and Rakata) on the island of Krakatoa, in the Sunda Strait, in Indonesia. It lay in the center area of the island, and may have been a twin volcano. Danan was virtually destroyed in the eruption of 1883, only a rocky islet named 'Bootsmansrots' remains of it.

Contents

Form

Eruptions

1680-81

The 1883 Catastrophe

Bootsmansrots

References

Form

Not much can be found about Danan; reports and some sketches indicate that it may have been a twin volcano. In a woodcut made from the photograph of Perboewatan eruptiing in May 1883, another cone can be seen in the background, partially obscured by the ash cloud arising from Perboewatan. If this is Danan, it does not appear to be twinned and has a rather normal form. However, it may actually be Rakata's cone. At any rate, the background cone does not seem to be visible on published versions of the photograph itself.

Eruptions

1680-81

Danan apparently joined Perboewatan in eruption sometime after May, 1680, when Perboewatan started erupting. A returning Dutch traveler saw both cones erupting in February, 1681.

The 1883 Catastrophe

Perboewatan started erupting in May, 1883. In June, a black cloud hung over the islands for five days, and when it lifted on June 21, Danan was seen to be erupting and continued through the cataclysm of August 26-27.
R. D. M. Verbeek's reconstruction of the eruption has Danan destroyed at about 10:52 am, August 27 in the last of the great explosions.

Bootsmansrots

'Bootsmansrots' ('Bosun's Rock' in Dutch) is a small platform of rock composed of parallel slabs tilted at about a 45-degree angle to the sea surface. It probably was an extrusion dike in the flank of Danan and was stable enough to keep Danan from being destroyed in the major explosion at 10:02 am which destroyed the area to the south and the northern half of Rakata.

References

★ Furneaux, Rupert. ''Krakatoa'' (1964)