Mount Giluwe

Mount Giluwe is the second highest mountain in Papua New Guinea at (Mount Wilhelm being the highest), and the fifth highest peak on the island of New Guinea. It is located in the Southern Highlands province and is an old shield volcano with vast alpine grasslands. Ancient volcanic plugs form its two summits, with the central peak the highest and an east peak about away at . Giluwe has the distinction of being the highest volcano on the Australian continent and Oceania, and is thus one of the Volcanic Seven Summits.

Geology

The original volcano on the site of Mount Giluwe formed roughly 650,000–800,000 years ago, probably as a stratovolcano of similar height to the current peak. Extensive Pleistocene glaciation eroded away much of the peak, leaving a series of volcanic plugs which form the present-day summits. A renewed episode of extensive volcanic eruptions formed the shield-like bulk of the current mountain between 220,000 and 300,000 years ago, and there is evidence that some of the lava erupted subglacially. During the last glaciations of the Ice Age, the upper slopes were covered by a massive ice cap over 150 m (500 ft) thick, from which only the main and east peaks protruded as nunataks above the ice surface. At its maximum extent, the ice cap was over 15 km (9 mi) across and covered an area greater than 100 km² (40 mi²). Outlet glaciers extended down as low as 3,200–3,500 m (10,500–11,500 ft), leaving a variety of deposits including glacial till and moraines. Although the glaciers are now long gone, numerous cirques and U-shaped valleys remain visible. The present-day climate on the summit plateau above roughly is cold enough for nightly frosts and occasional snowfall.

History

Australian explorers Mick Leahy, and his brother Dan, were the first Westerners to reach the area and to discover and climb Mount Giluwe. However, another explorer Jack Hides also laid claim to be the first to discover Mount Giluwe after viewing the peaks from the west in 1935. Hides aptly named them the Minaret Mountains. However the name did not stick after Leahy went to London in 1935 and set up a hearing into the two opposing claims at the Royal Geographical Society. Leahy delivered his address on 21 November 1935 and the following year Leahy was awarded a grant from the Society and published his discoveries in their journal.

Being a part of the Volcanic 7 Summits, Mt Giluwe has attracted mountaineers from across the world. Satyarup Siddhanta became the first from India to climb Mt Giluwe as a part of his Volcanic 7 Summits journey. He is the youngest in the world to climb the Seven Summits and the Volcanic Seven Summits. This peak has been climbed by many climbers like James Stone who keeps a track of climbers who climbed the volcanic 7 summits in his blo
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He is the first Briton to climb the volcanic 7 summits. Theodore Fairhurst climbed this peak too and he is the oldest person to climb all the 7 summits and volcanic 7 summits.

Flora and fauna

The slopes of Mt. Giluwe exhibit a number of different biomes. Between and is the lower montane rainforest dominated by ''Nothofagus'' and ''Elaeocarpus'' with large ''Pandanus'' including the climbing ''Freycinetia'', climbing bamboo, many gingers, orchids, ferns, herbs and shrubs including ''Begonia''. Avian fauna include the endemic dwarf cassowary. Above this is the upper montane rainforest or moss forest, with stunted moss-shrouded trees such as ''Quintinia'' and conifers including ''Papuacedrus'' and ''Podocarpus''. The ground is covered in ferns of all types including ''Blechnum'', filmy ferns and the world's largest moss (''Dawsonia superba'') up to tall. ''Rhododendrons'' grow as epiphytes in the trees as do specialised cloud forest orchids.

At , the moss forest opens into subalpine grassland. This transition marks the extent of glaciation during the last glacial maximum. The grassland is inhabited by towering endemic tree ferns. Tiny wildflowers grow amongst the tussock grasses including '' Veronica'', ''Viola'' and ''Gaultheria''. Streams flow in beds once scoured by glaciers, and wet bogs contain frog species found nowhere else on earth. This is also the domain of the endemic woolly ground cuscus, a species of possum. Patches of relict subalpine rainforest cling to the sheltered areas where frost is lessened. Scarlet ''Rhododendron'' and ''Dimorphanthera'' abound in the gnarled dwarf forest and white beard lichen'', cushion plants and mosses can be found near the numerous tarns, along with alpine blueberries (''Vaccinium'') and asters in rockier areas.

See also

* Mount Giluwe Rural LLG
* List of highest mountains of New Guinea
* List of volcanoes in Papua New Guinea
* Lists of volcanoes
* Volcanic Seven Summits

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Giluwe, Mount
Southern Highlands Province
Shield volcanoes of Papua New Guinea
Volcanic Seven Summits
Volcanic plugs of Asia
Pleistocene shield volcanoes
Mountains of Papua New Guinea
Hiking in Papua New Guinea
Polygenetic shield volcanoes
Four-thousanders of New Guinea