Report on Gaua (Vanuatu) — 28 April-4 May 2010
Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 28 April-4 May 2010
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2010. Report on Gaua (Vanuatu) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 28 April-4 May 2010. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.
Gaua
Vanuatu
14.281°S, 167.514°E; summit elev. 729 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
Based on information from the Vanuatu Geohazards Observatory, the Wellington VAAC reported that on 29 April and 2 May ash plumes from Gaua were seen on satellite imagery drifting W and NW at an altitude of 3 km (10,000 ft) a.s.l.
Geological Summary. The roughly 20-km-diameter Gaua Island, also known as Santa Maria, consists of a basaltic-to-andesitic stratovolcano with an 6 x 9 km summit caldera. Small vents near the caldera rim fed Pleistocene lava flows that reached the coast on several sides of the island; littoral cones were formed where these lava flows reached the ocean. Quiet collapse that formed the roughly 700-m-deep caldera was followed by extensive ash eruptions. The active Mount Garet (or Garat) cone in the SW part of the caldera has three pit craters across the summit area. Construction of Garet and other small cinder cones has left a crescent-shaped lake. The onset of eruptive activity from a vent high on the SE flank in 1962 ended a long period of dormancy.
