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Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) — June 1986


Langila

Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, vol. 11, no. 6 (June 1986)
Managing Editor: Lindsay McClelland.

Langila (Papua New Guinea) Occasional explosions; light ashfalls

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 1986. Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) (McClelland, L., ed.). Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, 11:6. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.SEAN198606-252010



Langila

Papua New Guinea

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

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


"Activity in June remained at the low level established in late May. Explosion sounds were heard on only two days (11th and 20th) and no sightings of crater incandescence were made. Emissions from Crater 2 were usually white vapours at low rates, but grey or brown ash emissions were noted on 11 days in the month. Fine ashfalls took place at the Cape Gloucester airstrip . . . on two days. Seismicity was at a very low level with only a few volcanic earthquakes recorded during the month."

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, RVO.