The Garbuna Group of

volcanoes A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

consists of three volcanic peaks, Krummel, Garbuna, and Welcker, atop a

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a warrior's shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more vi ...

. They are located at the southern end of the Willaumez Peninsula, just to the west of the town of

Kimbe Kimbe is the capital of the province of West New Britain in Papua New Guinea, and the largest settlement on the island. The bustling town of Kimbe is the third largest port in Papua New Guinea and is the fastest growing city in the South Pacific. T ...

, in West New Britain,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Garbuna contains a large thermal field, probably Papua New Guinea's largest. Until recently, it was assumed that the Garbuna volcano was probably dormant, or perhaps extinct. The last eruption was believed to have occurred around 1300 AD, or 700 years ago. Evidence from past eruptions indicates large amounts of tephra and lava were produced. However, on 17 October 2005 the Garbuna volcano erupted without warning. Ash was reported 4,000 m above the summit. An ash warning for aircraft was distributed by the Darwin office of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology on 19 October, by which time a second new vent had appeared. Ash was apparently drifting to the north-west on 19 October and had contaminated some village water supplie

Eruptions continued into November 2005, although less violently. By January 2006, the main activity was limited to volumes of white vapour being discharged from the new vents. Garbuna is less than 20 km to the west of

, the main urban centre of West New Britain and the location of an important palm oil industry. In August 2002, the Pago (Papua New Guinea), Pago volcano to the east of

erupted and caused 12,000 people to seek refuge in care centres. The Hoskins airport was closed for some time due to ash falls. This volcano was previously active in 1990.

References

* Volcanoes of New Britain Active volcanoes Stratovolcanoes of Papua New Guinea {{PapuaNewGuinea-geo-stub

See also

References