Giant Rats, Parrots, and Frogs with Fangs..OH MY!

In light of the lack of recent activity in the Papua New Guinea region, I wanted to share a fun fact about one of the island’s volcanoes. Mount Bosavi is described as an “eroded volcanic cone, with a caldera.” Mount Bosavi is located within Papua New Guinea’s lush rainforest, tucked away from the untrained researcher. The volcano is 2.7 kilometers high and the crater is one kilometer deep and   four kilometers wide. The last eruption of Mount Bosavi was 200,000 years ago. This volcano is not active, but within it life has been discovered.

The British Broadcasting Channel (BBC) sent a film crew and biologists from Oxford University, the London Zoo, and the Smithsonian Institute on an expedition to Papua New Guinea in 2009. This was set in motion after many of PNG’s rain forests began to fall into danger  Over forty new species, including giant rats, frogs with fangs, and a new species of bat! The Bosavi wooly rat is one of the largest rats in the world weighing 1.5 kilograms and measuring 82 centimeters long. A multitude of species of rats and mice live in Papua New Guinea due to the fact that predators like big cats and monkeys are few in number. Other species like  the camouflaged gecko, a net-dropping spider, and the world’s smallest parrot were also found upon investigation of Mount Bosavi.

Papua New Guinea is one of the least explored places on the face of this earth, but as this blog post reveals, the beautiful island and its volcanoes have a lot to offer the world!

Thanks for Reading!

Get More Information Here:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2009/09/08/biology-papua-new-guinea-species.html

http://earth.esa.int/applications/data_util/SARDOCS/spaceborne/Radar_Features/Land_Features/mount_bosavi.htm

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Activity Spotted at Rabaul

If readers recall, the first blog that I posted about Papua New Guinea highlighted two of the region’s infamous volcanoes. One of those volcanoes, Rabaul has recently been observed by the Darwin VAAC. On March 29, 2011 an ash plume was spotted coming from the caldera Tavurvur. The plume ascended to approximately 10,000 feet.

Sources:

http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/#rabaul

Ulawun Stratovolcano

In light of there being little information on volcanic activity in the Papua New Guinea region this post will be focusing on another volcano in the region.

Ulawun is the highest volcano of the Bismarck arc as well as Papua New Guinea’s most active. Nicknamed the “North Son”, Ulawun sits above the North Coast of New Britain (opposite the “South Son”- Bamus). 1,000 meters of the 2,334 meter-high volcano has no vegetation. The activity of Ulawun dates back to the start of the 18th century.  Until 1967, eruptions were mild, but after 1970 larger eruptions produced lava flows and basaltic pyroclastic flows.

More information to come! Thanks for Reading!

Source: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/PapuaNewGuinea/description_papua_new_guinea.html

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is comprised of the most active volcanoes in the South West Pacific. These volcanoes stretch from the North coast of New Guinea (near the border of Indonesia) to Bougainville Island in the East. The most noted and active volcanoes are Manam, Karkar, Lamington, Langila, Ulawun, Rabaul, and Bagana.

For this entry, I have chosen to highlight Rabaul and Manam. Rabaul is one of the most active volcanoes in Papua New Guinea and also noted as one of the most dangerous. Rabaul has had major eruptions 3500 and 1400 years ago. The most famous eruption, however, was only 17 years ago in 1994. The 1994 eruption of Rabaul  destroyed Rabaul City, the largest town on New Britain Island. The most recent eruptions in 2008 and 2009 affected Matupit Island and forced most of the island’s inhabitants to relocate. Manam Volcano is located just off the Papua New Guinea coast. Manam is a stratavolcano composed of alternating layers of ash and sediment from previous eruptions. It is one of Papua New Guinea’s most active volcanoes and has been the cause of death for inhabitants in the years of 1996, 2004, and 2007. One noted burst of activity was the 2009 plume spotted from Manam that led to no eruption or severe damage.

Thanks for Reading!

Find the information here:

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/PapuaNewGuinea/framework.html

http://geology.com/nasa/manam-volcano/

http://www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/archives/secondary/casestud/png/4/volcanoes.html

http://www.geo.mtu.edu/volcanoes/rabaul/

http://www.solarviews.com/cap/volc/rabaul.htm

Brittane Maddox, February 21, 2011