Logo link to homepage

Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) — December 1985


Langila

Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, vol. 10, no. 12 (December 1985)
Managing Editor: Lindsay McClelland.

Langila (Papua New Guinea) Glow and explosions on 29 December

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1985. Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) (McClelland, L., ed.). Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, 10:12. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.SEAN198512-252010



Langila

Papua New Guinea

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


"Activity was at a low level for most of December. Starting the 29th there were daily reports of rumbling sounds and light ashfalls at the observation post 10 km NW of the summit. Glow was noted from Crater 2 on the night of the 29th. Seismic activity also increased from the 29th, with several Vulcanian explosions recorded per day and some harmonic tremor.

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: J. Mori, RVO.