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Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) — May 2006


Langila

Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 31, no. 5 (May 2006)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.

Langila (Papua New Guinea) Moderate activity steady through March 2006

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2006. Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) (Wunderman, R., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 31:5. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN200605-252010



Langila

Papua New Guinea

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


Moderate activity took place at Langila during January 2006, including continuous ash fall, rumbling, and weak emissions of lava fragments. During 20 January to 7 February eruptive activity was characterized by thin, pale gray ash clouds. Minimal noises were heard on 26-27 February. A changing weak-to-bright glow accompanied by projections of glowing lava fragments were visible on the nights of 22-23 and 28 February, and 1-2, and 6 March. Moderate-to-thick dark gray ash clouds were reported on 1-2, 6-7, and 9 March. Ash plumes rose less than 2 km above the summit crater before drifting SW-W of the volcano. Crater 3 remained quiet.

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: Ima Itikarai and Herman Patia, Rabaul Volcano Observatory (RVO), P.O. Box 386, Rabaul, Papua New Guinea.