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Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) — May 1996


Langila

Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 21, no. 5 (May 1996)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.

Langila (Papua New Guinea) Intermittent Vulcanian explosions produce ash-and-vapor clouds

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1996. Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 21:5. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199605-252010



Langila

Papua New Guinea

5.525°S, 148.42°E; summit elev. 1330 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Crater 2 activity continued in May as in past months (BGVN 21:04) with intermittent Vulcanian explosions producing thin-to-thick white-to-gray/brown ash-and-vapor clouds. These clouds rose several hundred meters above the rim before being blown to the N, NW, and SE and producing fine ashfalls. Occasional explosions were heard. Glows of variable intensity were seen on most nights during the first three weeks. Weak projections of incandescent lava fragments were observed on 12 and 14 May. A daily range of 10-50 explosion earthquakes was recorded at the seismic station until it became non-operational on 24 May. Crater 3 remained quiet apart from a single emission of very thin white/gray vapor on 7 May.

Geological Summary. Langila, one of the most active volcanoes of New Britain, consists of a group of four small overlapping composite basaltic-andesitic cones on the lower E flank of the extinct Talawe volcano in the Cape Gloucester area of NW New Britain. A rectangular, 2.5-km-long crater is breached widely to the SE; Langila was constructed NE of the breached crater of Talawe. An extensive lava field reaches the coast on the N and NE sides of Langila. Frequent mild-to-moderate explosive eruptions, sometimes accompanied by lava flows, have been recorded since the 19th century from three active craters at the summit. The youngest and smallest crater (no. 3 crater) was formed in 1960 and has a diameter of 150 m.

Information Contacts: D. Lolok and C. McKee, RVO.