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Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) — December 1993


Langila

Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 18, no. 12 (December 1993)
Managing Editor: Edward Venzke.

Langila (Papua New Guinea) Moderate eruptive activity continues

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1993. Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) (Venzke, E., ed.). Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 18:12. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN199312-252010



Langila

Papua New Guinea

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


"The moderate eruptive activity . . . continued unabated in December. Both craters erupted spasmodically throughout the month, generating moderate volumes of ash. The activity may have been stronger at Crater 3 judging by the reported loud explosions there and ejections of incandescent lava-fragments that were seen on a few nights at mid-month. By contrast, Crater 2 explosions were muffled and only glow above the crater was seen at night. Seismicity was dominated by explosion events at rates of up to ~40/day."

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: C. McKee and R. Stewart, RVO.