Global Volcanism Program

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports for Ambitle.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Ambitle.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Ambitle.

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

Feni | Anir

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Babase

Stratovolcano

200 m

4° 2' 0" S

153° 43' 0" E

Thermal

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Kapkai

Thermal

Nanum River

Thermal

4° 5' 0" S

153° 38' 0" E

Saddle

Thermal

Waramung Plantation

Thermal

4° 5' 0" S

153° 38' 0" E

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

254020

350 BCE

450 m / 1476 ft

4.08°S
153.65°E

Volcano Types

Stratovolcano
Caldera
Lava dome(s)
Maar

Rock Types

Major
Phono-tephrite / Tephri-phonolite
Trachybasalt / Tephrite Basanite
Trachyandesite / Basaltic Trachyandesite
Basalt / Picro-Basalt
Trachyte / Trachydacite

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Crustal thickness unknown

Population

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

1,643
9,195
9,779
24,367

Geological Summary

Ambitle is the larger of two adjacent islands forming the Feni Islands, which are located near the SE end of an island chain north and east of New Ireland. This dominantly Pliocene-to-Pleistocene stratovolcano is characterized by a variety of alkalic rocks types. A 3-km-wide central caldera was constructed over Tertiary marine limestone deposits and is occupied by late-Pleistocene trachytic lava domes. A maar on the eastern side of the domes formed about 2300 years ago. Several thermal areas, consisting of hot and boiling springs, mud pools, and low-temperature fumaroles, are found on the western side of the caldera floor and near the western edge of the central lava dome. Shallow-water hydrothermal venting also occurs in a coral reef environment just off the western coast of the island. Babase Island, immediately to the NE of Ambitle, is composed of a Pleistocene stratovolcano and lava dome connected by a narrow isthmus.

References

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

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

Licence P S, Terrill J E, Fergusson L J, 1987. Epithermal gold mineralization, Ambitle Island, Papua New Guinea. Proc Pacific Rim Cong 1987, 1: 273-278.

Pichler T, Dix G R, 1996. Hydrothermal venting within a coral reef ecosystem, Ambitle Island, Papua New Guinea. Geology, 24: 435-438.

Wallace D A, Johnson R W, Chappell B W, Arculus R J, Perfit M R, Crick I H, 1983. Cainozoic volcanism of the Tabar, Lihir, Tanga, and Feni Islands, Papua New Guinea: geology, whole-rock analyses, and rock-forming mineral compositions. Aust Bur Min Resour Geol Geophys Rpt, 243: 1-62.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 1 Holocene eruptive periods.

Start Date	Stop Date	Eruption Certainty	VEI	Evidence	Activity Area or Unit
0350 BCE ± 100 years	Unknown	Confirmed		Radiocarbon (uncorrected)	East side of caldera

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Ambitle.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Ambitle.

Photo Gallery

Ambitle (left center) is the larger of two adjacent islands forming the Feni Islands. The 13-km-long island is dominantly Pliocene-to-Pleistocene with a 3-km-wide central caldera. A maar on the E side of post-caldera lava domes formed about 2,300 years ago. Thermal areas are active within the caldera and just off the W coast. Babase Island, immediately to the NE of Ambitle, is a Pleistocene volcano and lava dome connected by a narrow isthmus.

NASA Space Shuttle image STS88-706-56, 1998 (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/).

GVP Map Holdings

The maps shown below have been scanned from the GVP map archives and include the volcano on this page. Clicking on the small images will load the full 300 dpi map. Very small-scale maps (such as world maps) are not included. The maps database originated over 30 years ago, but was only recently updated and connected to our main database. We welcome users to tell us if they see incorrect information or other problems with the maps; please use the Contact GVP link at the bottom of the page to send us email.

Title: Sol-I Region, Topo of the
Publisher: USGS-CCOP/SOPAC S. Pacific Project
Country: Solomon Is
Year: 1983
Map Type: Bathymetric
Scale: 1:1,800,000

Title: Konogaiang
Publisher: Natl Mapping Bureau, Royal Australian Survey Corps
Country: PNG
Year: 1975
Series: T601
Map Type: Topographic
Scale: 1:100,000

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

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

External Sites

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.

Sentinel Hub Playground

Sentinel Hub EO Browser

The Sentinel Hub Playground provides a quick look at any Sentinel-2 image in any combination of the bands and enhanced with image effects; Landsat 8, DEM and MODIS are also available. Sentinel Hub is an engine for processing of petabytes of satellite data. It is opening the doors for machine learning and helping hundreds of application developers worldwide. It makes Sentinel, Landsat, and other Earth observation imagery easily accessible for browsing, visualization and analysis. Sentinel Hub is operated by Sinergise

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 Ambitle. 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 Ambitle. 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.

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.

Large Eruptions of Ambitle

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).