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Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) — May 1997


Langila

Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 22, no. 5 (May 1997)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.

Langila (Papua New Guinea) Late-May eruptions send plumes up to 4.5 km elevation

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1997. Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 22:5. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199705-252010



Langila

Papua New Guinea

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Vulcanian explosions resumed in late May. During the first 3 weeks of the month Crater 2 released moderate volumes of steam. Then, an explosion on the 22nd at 1510 produced dark gray ash clouds that rose to about 4.5 km above the crater rim. Explosions on the following days of May generated ash clouds to heights of between 2 and 3.5 km. Low rumbling sounds on the 27th presumably accompanied other explosions. Only weak vapor vented at Crater 3 during May. Seismographs remained inoperative.

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: B. Talai, D. Lolok, P. de Saint-Ours, and C. McKee, RVO.