Rabaul caldera

Subsidiary features

• Stratovolcanoes
  • Tavurvur – 223 meters (732 feet)
  • Rabalanakaia – 88 meters (289 feet)
• Pumice cones
  • Vulcan – 243 meters (797 feet)

Eruptions

Main article: Extreme weather events of 535–536, Plague of Justinian

• 535 AD: There is evidence of a large eruption at Rabaul, that may be the event recorded in chronicles of the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I as ruining the climate and helping to bring on the Middle Ages. But it is not certain, as there are other possible culprits, including Ilopango in El Salvador in Central America.
• 683 AD ± 2 years: There was a VEI force 6 eruption at Rabaul, dated by corrected radiocarbon; there is an opinion that that eruption formed the Rabaul Caldera sea-inlet.
• 1808: It could be the source of the 1808 mystery eruption.
• 1878: Vulcan cone nearby was formed during a large eruption in 1878.
• 1937: Tavurvur and Vulcan erupted, killing 508 people. For more information, see Rabaul#Rabaul (Tavurvur) volcano: 6 June 1937 eruption.
• 19 September 1994: Tavurvur and Vulcan erupted, destroying Rabaul airport and covering most of Rabaul town with heavy ashfall. Vulcan has remained quiet since. For more information see Rabaul#1994 eruption.
• 1994 to 1995: Last eruptions of Vulcan.
• 7 October 2006: Tavurvur erupted again, and an initial blast broke windows up to 12 kilometers away and sent an ash plume 18 km into the stratosphere. Winds blew most of the ash away from Rabaul.
• 2009: An eruption of Tavurvur was filmed by a BBC crew for the three-part nature documentary series Lost Land of the Volcano produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. The programme also looked at the wildlife living around the volcano and in its ash field, including brahminy kites, rhinoceros beetles, megapode birds and land crabs.
• 1 January to 8 April 2010 (BGVN 35:02): Tavurvur was quiet.

July 2010 eruptions

• 23 July 2010: Eruptions at Tavurvur volcano resumed after nearly seven months without ash emissions.
• 2–8 April 2010: Seismicity was low and variable amounts of white vapor rose from Tavurvur cone.
• 9 April 2010: The Rabaul Volcano Observatory (RVO) reported that deformation measurements at Rabaul caldera during the previous 3–4 months had shown an inflationary trend with a total of 4 cm of uplift.
• 22 July 2010: RVO detected increased seismicity (likely beneath Tavurvur cone), as a few small hybrid earthquakes, followed by small low-frequency earthquakes, then continuous volcanic tremor starting at time 1034.
• 23 July 2010: Tavurvur cone erupted, starting at time 1300. The eruption began with discharge of diffuse white plumes, followed by pink-gray fumes with low ash content. A strong odor of hydrogen sulfide was noted, and a diffuse cloud rose 1 km and drifted NW. A few hours later, observers saw billowing gray clouds, accompanied by roaring and rumbling noises. Ashfall was reported in areas to the cone's NW and NNW.
• 23–26 July 2010: RVO reported that seismicity was variable. Ash emissions and ashfall continued in areas to the northwest. Visibility remained poor in Rabaul town (3–5 km NW of Tavurvur) due to ash made airborne by moving vehicles. Ash emissions ceased on 25 July. Later that day and into 26 July only diffuse brown-tinted vapor plumes were emitted and seismicity was very low.

After this eruption, GPS data showed deflation of Tavurvur cone. Seismicity was very low, and diffuse white plumes were emitted during 26–30 July.

2013–14 eruptions

• January 2013: Tavurvur began to smolder.
• March 2014: Tavurvur became quiet.
• August 2014: Tavurvur woke and smoldered.
• 29 August 2014: Tavurvur started a VEI 3 eruption, around 3:30–4:00 AM local time (28 August 2014, 17:30–18:00 UTC) prompting concerns over disruption of flights in Australian airspace due to the large ash clouds (up to 15 km. Communities near the volcano were evacuated, while residents of the town of Rabaul were advised to remain indoors to avoid falling ash, according to a statement from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The VEI of this eruption was 3–4.

References

Images

File:Volcanic Ash Dunes.jpg|Dunes of volcanic ash near Tavurvur File:Tavurvur.png|Tavurvur (right) and Rabalanakaia (left), as seen from space File:Vulcan-Volcano.png|Vulcan, as seen from space File:Tavurvur volcano edit.jpg|Ash cloud from Tavurvur's 2009 eruption, as seen from the Solomon Sea Image:Rabaul Volcano - STS064.jpg|Ash cloud from the September 1994 eruption, as viewed from the Space Shuttle Image:NASA RabaulVolcano PIA01767.jpg|A space radar image of the Rabaul Volcano

References

1. {{cite gvp
2. Simons, Paul. (May 8, 2008). "Dirty thunderstorm shoots lightning from volcano". Times Online.
3. Perkins, Sid. (March 4, 2015). "Flash glass: Lightning inside volcanic ash plumes create glassy spherules". American Association for the Advancement of Science.
4. Sample, Ian. (3 December 2015). "Sky lights up over Sicily as Mount Etna's Voragine crater erupts".
5. "Rabaul Volcano, New Britain". NASA Earth Observatory.
6. "Global Volcanism Program | Rabaul".
7. (2 August 2011). "Rabaul".
8. (1994-09-23). "The Rabaul Eruption". USGS.
9. (September 2010). "09/2010 (BGVN 35:09) After Months of Quiet, Ash-Bearing Eruptions on 23–25 July 2010". www.volcano.si.edu.
10. "Global Volcanism Program | Rabaul".
11. (2014-08-29). "PNG volcano Tavurvur eruption may disrupt Australian flights". news.com.au.
12. (2014-08-29). "Papua New Guinea's Tavurvur Volcano Erupts; Locals Evacuate, Flights Disrupted". abcnews.go.com.