Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) — January 1979
Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, vol. 4, no. 1 (January 1979)
Managing Editor: David Squires.
Langila (Papua New Guinea) Frequent ash ejection continues
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 1979. Report on Langila (Papua New Guinea) (Squires, D., ed.). Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, 4:1. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.SEAN197901-252010
Langila
Papua New Guinea
5.525°S, 148.42°E; summit elev. 1330 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
Frequent ash ejection continued through January. Aerial inspections on 4, 15, and 29 January showed that the lava dome discovered in December has risen to the rim of Crater 2 without overflowing. By the end of January, a new craterlet had formed in the fresh lava surface.
Geological Summary. Langila, one of the most active volcanoes of New Britain, consists of a group of four small overlapping composite basaltic-andesitic cones on the lower E flank of the extinct Talawe volcano in the Cape Gloucester area of NW New Britain. A rectangular, 2.5-km-long crater is breached widely to the SE; Langila was constructed NE of the breached crater of Talawe. An extensive lava field reaches the coast on the N and NE sides of Langila. Frequent mild-to-moderate explosive eruptions, sometimes accompanied by lava flows, have been recorded since the 19th century from three active craters at the summit. The youngest and smallest crater (no. 3 crater) was formed in 1960 and has a diameter of 150 m.
Information Contacts: R. Cooke, RVO.
