Report on Home Reef (Tonga) — 13 December-19 December 2006
Smithsonian / US Geological Survey Weekly Volcanic Activity Report,
13 December-19 December 2006
Managing Editor: Sally Kuhn Sennert
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2006. Report on Home Reef (Tonga). In: Sennert, S K (ed.), Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 13 December-19 December 2006. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Home Reef
Tonga
18.992°S, 174.775°W; summit elev. -10 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
Observers from a Royal New Zealand Airforce aircraft reported venting and a sulphur smell from Home Reef on 8 December. The island was about 450 m in diameter, circular in shape, and rose to a height of 73 m (240 ft) a.s.l. The water around the island was cloudy with sediment.
Geological Summary. Home Reef, a submarine volcano midway between Metis Shoal and Late Island in the central Tonga islands, was first reported active in the mid-19th century, when an ephemeral island formed. An eruption in 1984 produced a 12-km-high eruption plume, copious amounts of floating pumice, and an ephemeral island 500 x 1500 m wide, with cliffs 30-50 m high that enclosed a water-filled crater. Another island-forming eruption in 2006 produced widespread dacitic pumice rafts that reached as far as Australia.
Source: GeoNet
