Lolobau Island, PNG

Lolobau Island from the air. Intra-caldera Lake Namor clearly visible. Southern and eastern caldera scarps clearly visible. Most recent Lolobau Mountain visible in the center of the photo with clouds to its south. Image courtesy Brendan McCormick Kilbride, Twitter, May 2019

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Two Too Tall Guys – ULAWUN & BAMUS, P.N.G.

On the volcanic front of the New Britain Island Arc: from left to right, Ulawun, Lolobau in the foreground, and Bamus volcanoes in New Britain. (© Richard Arculus, via Flickr)

Ulawun stratovolcano is a very steep and 2334 m-high mountain on the central-north coast of New Britain, P.N.G. Bamus stands 2248 m tall beside him, and both have a problem – they’re growing too high. Both Ulawun and Bamus are more than 400 m taller than all other stratovolcanoes in the 1000-km-long Bismarck Volcanic Arc. Given existing faults and scarps of historical events, concerns are that flank failure is in the cards for both volcanoes. Locally the three volcanoes Ulawun, Bamus (to the SW of U.) and Likuruanga (to the NE of U.) are better known as the “Father group”: After myths told by the Nakanai people these three are named Father, South Son and North Son.