Global Volcanism Program | Sessagara Hills

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Sessagara Hills.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Sessagara Hills.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Sessagara Hills.

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

253040

1944 CE

493 m / 1,617 ft

9.5542°S
149.1278°E

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Cluster

Volcano Types
Volcanic field
Pyroclastic cone(s)

Rock Types

Major
Trachyandesite / Basaltic Trachyandesite

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Continental crust (> 25 km)

Population

Within 5 km
Within 10 km
Within 30 km
Within 100 km

61
338
10,041
137,492

Geological Summary

The small low-lying andesitic Sessagara Hills volcanic field is located near the mouth of the Uiaka River, south of Collingwood Bay and NE of the Goropu Mountains on the Papuan Peninsula of New Guinea. There are at least two small forest-covered cones, with a small cone and obvious crater ~5 km NE of them and the Waiowa cone ~6 km W. Besides Waiowa (also known as Goropu), Smith (1981) considered some other features in the field to be Holocene; other cones may be of Pleistocene age. The Waiowa pyroclastic cone was formed during 1943-44 by explosive eruptions through Paleozoic to Precambrian metamorphic rocks. Intermittent minor explosions beginning on 18 September 1943 preceded the first major explosion on 27 December. Additional large explosions occurred on 13 February and 23 July 1944, leveling 80 km² of forest. Following the final activity on 31 August, the small cone included a 500-m-wide, steep-walled crater that later became densely forested and contains a small lake.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

Baker G, 1946. Preliminary note on volcanic eruptions in the Goropu Mountains, south-eastern Papua, during the period December, 1943 to August 1944. J Geol, 54: 19-31.

Fisher N H, 1957. Melanesia. Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields, Rome: IAVCEI, 5: 1-105.

IAVCEI, 1973-80. Post-Miocene Volcanoes of the World. IAVCEI Data Sheets, Rome: Internatl Assoc Volc Chemistry Earth's Interior.

Johnson R W, 1990. (pers. comm.).

Smith I E M, 1981. Young volcanoes in eastern Papua. in Johnson R W (ed), Cooke-Ravian Volume of Volcanological Papers, Geological Survey of Papua New Guinea Memoir 10, 257-265.

Smith I E, Davies H L, 1976. Geology of the southeast Papuan mainland. Bur Min Resour Geol Geophys Bull 165: 1-86.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 1 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

1943 Sep 18 - 1944 Aug 31 Confirmed Eruption (Explosive / Effusive) VEI: 3

Episode 1 | Eruption (Explosive / Effusive)

1943 Sep 18 - 1944 Aug 31

Evidence from Observations: Reported

List of 11 Events for Episode 1

Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
- - - -	- - - -	Phreatic activity
- - - -	- - - -	Pyroclastic flow
- - - -	- - - -	Ash
- - - -	- - - -	Lapilli
- - - -	- - - -	Bombs
- - - -	- - - -	Earthquakes (undefined)	Before.
- - - -	- - - -	Lahar or Mudflow
1943 Sep 18	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)
1943 Dec 27	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)
1944 Jul 23	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Synonyms

Sesegara Hills

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Waiowa
    Goropu
    Gorupu
    Wai'oa

Pyroclastic cone

524 m

9° 33' 43.00" S

149° 4' 42.00" E

Photo Gallery

Waiowa (also known as Goropu) is an isolated tuff cone that was formed during 1943-44 by explosive eruptions through Paleozoic to pre-Cambrian metamorphic rocks. The active vents, seen here on 14 February 1944, were formed in an area without previous volcanic activity. Intermittent minor explosions began on 18 September 1943. Larger explosions occurred on 27 December 1943, 13 February, and 23 July 1944. After the final eruption on 31 August, the volcano was capped by a 500-m-wide crater that now contains a small lake.

Photo courtesy of Jim Luhr (Smithsonian Institution, published in Baker, 1946).

The vegetated Sessagara volcanic group contains several small cones, two with summit craters, seen in this Planet Labs satellite image monthly mosaic (N is at the top; this image is approximately 12 km across). The eroded topographic high to the lower right may also be a cone.

Satellite image courtesy of Planet Labs Inc., 2019 (https://www.planet.com/).

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Sessagara Hills in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

MIROVA

Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA) is a near real time volcanic hot-spot detection system based on the analysis of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. In particular, MIROVA uses the Middle InfraRed Radiation (MIR), measured over target volcanoes, in order to detect, locate and measure the heat radiation sourced from volcanic activity.

MODVOLC Thermal Alerts

Using infrared satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, scientists at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, developed an automated system called MODVOLC to map thermal hot-spots in near real time. For each MODIS image, the algorithm automatically scans each 1 km pixel within it to check for high-temperature hot-spots. When one is found the date, time, location, and intensity are recorded. MODIS looks at every square km of the Earth every 48 hours, once during the day and once during the night, and the presence of two MODIS sensors in space allows at least four hot-spot observations every two days. Each day updated global maps are compiled to display the locations of all hot spots detected in the previous 24 hours. There is a drop-down list with volcano names which allow users to 'zoom-in' and examine the distribution of hot-spots at a variety of spatial scales.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

Volcanic Hazard Maps

The IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk has a Volcanic Hazard Maps database designed to serve as a resource for hazard mappers (or other interested parties) to explore how common issues in hazard map development have been addressed at different volcanoes, in different countries, for different hazards, and for different intended audiences. In addition to the comprehensive, searchable Volcanic Hazard Maps Database, this website contains information about diversity of volcanic hazard maps, illustrated using examples from the database. This site is for educational purposes related to volcanic hazard maps. Hazard maps found on this website should not be used for emergency purposes. For the most recent, official hazard map for a particular volcano, please seek out the proper institutional authorities on the matter.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Sessagara Hills. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Sessagara Hills. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

DECADE Data

The DECADE portal, still in the developmental stage, serves as an example of the proposed interoperability between The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the Mapping Gas Emissions (MaGa) Database, and the EarthChem Geochemical Portal. The Deep Earth Carbon Degassing (DECADE) initiative seeks to use new and established technologies to determine accurate global fluxes of volcanic CO₂ to the atmosphere, but installing CO₂ monitoring networks on 20 of the world's 150 most actively degassing volcanoes. The group uses related laboratory-based studies (direct gas sampling and analysis, melt inclusions) to provide new data for direct degassing of deep earth carbon to the atmosphere.

Large Eruptions of Sessagara Hills

Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

EarthChem

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).