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Billy Mitchell

Photo of this volcano
  • Country
  • Volcanic Region
  • Landform | Volc Type
  • Last Known Eruption
  • 6.0898°S
  • 155.2254°E

  • 1,544 m
    5,066 ft

  • 255011
  • Latitude
  • Longitude

  • Summit
    Elevation

  • Volcano
    Number

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Billy Mitchell.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Billy Mitchell.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Billy Mitchell.

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.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 2 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

1580 ± 19 years Confirmed Eruption VEI: 6

Episode 1 | Eruption
1580 ± 19 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)
 A Plinian explosive eruption producing about 4 km3 of tephra and 10 km3 of pyroclastic flows is 14C dated to 370 ± 19 BP and may have resulted in formation of the present caldera (McKee et al., 1990).

List of 6 Events for Episode 1

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Pyroclastic flow
   - - - -    - - - - Ash
   - - - -    - - - - Pumice
   - - - -    - - - - Caldera Explosion
1580 ± 20 years    - - - - VEI (Explosivity Index)

1032 ± 23 years Confirmed Eruption VEI: 5

Episode 1 | Eruption
1032 ± 23 years - Unknown Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)
 Plinian airfall deposits 14C dated at 918 ± 23 years BP are widely distributed over northern Bougainville Island (McKee et al., 1990).

List of 4 Events for Episode 1

Start Date End Date Event Type Event Remarks
   - - - -    - - - - Explosion
   - - - -    - - - - Ash
   - - - -    - - - - Pumice
1030 ± 25 years    - - - - VEI (Explosivity Index)
Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Billy Mitchell.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Billy Mitchell.

Photo Gallery

The caldera lake of Billy Mitchell in front of the unvegetated Bagana volcano. The Solomon Sea can be seen in the distance to the SW. Two major explosive eruptions from Billy Mitchell, one about 900 and the other about 370 years ago, produced ashfall that covered most of the N half of Bougainville Island and pyroclastic flow and surge deposits that extend 25 km to the E coast. The younger eruption may have been responsible for formation of the summit caldera.

Photo by Wally Johnson, 1988 (Australia Bureau of Mineral Resources).
Billy Mitchell truncated by a 2-km-wide caldera containing a lake. It is seen here from the north, with the eroded, forested Reini volcano on the center horizon and neighboring Bagana volcano at the top right. Billy Mitchell has been the source of some of the largest Holocene eruptions of Papua New Guinea. Two major explosive eruptions, one about 900 years ago and the other about 370 years ago, produced ashfall across most of the N half of Bougainville Island.

Photo by Wally Johnson, 1989 (Australia Bureau of Mineral Resources).
Tore volcano is in the Emperor Range on NW Bougainville Island. The Tore massif lies to the left of Balbi volcano, which is the light-colored area at the center of the image. Two Pleistocene ignimbrites from Tore formed a broad fan that extends the coastline to the W (lower left). The dark-colored caldera lake of Billy Mitchell volcano is at the right, above a plume originating from Bagana volcano. N is to the upper left of this NASA image.

NASA International Space Station image ISS001-358-32, 2001 (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/).
Billy Mitchell has produced some of the largest Holocene eruptions in Papua New Guinea, including the activity that produced the caldera in the center of this May 2018 Planet Labs satellite image monthly mosaic (N is at the top; this image is approximately 13 km across). Large eruptions around 900 and 370 years ago emplaced pyroclastic-flow and tephra deposits that reach 25 km away. Lava flows on the flanks of Bagana are to the lower left.

Satellite image courtesy of Planet Labs Inc., 2018 (https://www.planet.com/).
GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

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.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

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

External Sites