Report on Additional Reports (Unknown) — November 1994
Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 19, no. 11 (November 1994)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.
Additional Reports (Unknown) Fiji: Aerial pumice sightings; source unknown
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 1994. Report on Additional Reports (Unknown) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 19:11. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199411-600500
Additional Reports
Unknown
Lat Unknown, Unknown; summit elev. m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
S. Chandra, Fiji Meteorological Service, noted that Air Pacific FJ440 bound for Auckland from Nadi (Viti Levu) reported sighting pumice ~220-330 km out of Nadi at about 1530 on 25 November 1992.
On 2 December 1994, Mike Green of the Fiji Meteorological Service reported that the pilot of a flight from Nadi to Melbourne saw what he believed to be pumice ~130 km SSW of Nadi on a bearing of 200°. A lesser amount of pumice was seen to the left of the flight path ~240 km from the airport. The plane had been scheduled to depart at 1145, placing these observations around noon. Reply-paid telegrams were sent on 6 December to postal agents at Ono-i-Lau (southernmost Lau Group), Qalikarua (Matuku), and Daviqele (W Kadavu), asking if any pumice had arrived within the last few weeks. No reply had been received by the Fiji Mineral Resources Dept by 9 December, so it was assumed that none was seen.
Although no historical volcanism has been reported near these observation sites, the area is close to a spreading center.
Geological Summary. Reports of floating pumice from an unknown source, hydroacoustic signals, or possible eruption plumes seen in satellite imagery.
Information Contacts: P. Rodda and G. Wheller, Mineral Resources Dept, Suva, Fiji.
