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Report on Rabaul (Papua New Guinea) — 18 March-24 March 2009


Rabaul

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 18 March-24 March 2009
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2009. Report on Rabaul (Papua New Guinea) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 18 March-24 March 2009. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (18 March-24 March 2009)

Rabaul

Papua New Guinea

4.2459°S, 152.1937°E; summit elev. 688 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


RVO reported that during 16-20 March gray ash plumes from Rabaul caldera's Tavurvur cone rose to a maximum altitude of 1.7 km (5,600 ft) a.s.l. and drifted E. Blue vapor was visible during intervals between ash cloud emissions. Incandescence from the summit crater was seen at night, and incandescent tephra was occasionally ejected from the crater during periods of heightened activity. Light ashfall was reported in areas downwind, including in the Duke of York Islands about 20 km E.

Geological Summary. The low-lying Rabaul caldera on the tip of the Gazelle Peninsula at the NE end of New Britain forms a broad sheltered harbor utilized by what was the island's largest city prior to a major eruption in 1994. The outer flanks of the asymmetrical shield volcano are formed by thick pyroclastic-flow deposits. The 8 x 14 km caldera is widely breached on the east, where its floor is flooded by Blanche Bay and was formed about 1,400 years ago. An earlier caldera-forming eruption about 7,100 years ago is thought to have originated from Tavui caldera, offshore to the north. Three small stratovolcanoes lie outside the N and NE caldera rims. Post-caldera eruptions built basaltic-to-dacitic pyroclastic cones on the caldera floor near the NE and W caldera walls. Several of these, including Vulcan cone, which was formed during a large eruption in 1878, have produced major explosive activity during historical time. A powerful explosive eruption in 1994 occurred simultaneously from Vulcan and Tavurvur volcanoes and forced the temporary abandonment of Rabaul city.

Source: Rabaul Volcano Observatory (RVO)