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Tuluman Volcano | John Seach
St Andrew Strait, Admiralty Islands, Manus Province,
Papua New Guinea
2.38 S, 147.35 E
summit elevation 270 m
complex volcano
St Andrew Strait is about 45 km southsoutheast of Lorengau on Manus Island. Most of the islands border the southeastern side of the Strait, where they comprise a prominent 30 km chain.
Tuluman Volcano lies in an area of infrequent earthquakes and is not directly associated with a tectonic plate boundary. It can be considered an intraplate volcano. Tuluman volcano emerged above sea level during eruptions which began in 1953. Six vents were active during the eruptions, and two islands were formed.
Vent 1. Located 1.3 km SSE of Lou Island.
Emerged above the surface for two months, but as reduced to a submarine
mound by wave action.
Vents 2,4,5. These three vents combined to form
an island, 2km south of Lou Island. The island reached a maximum length
of 1km.
Vent 3. Located 1.3 km south of Lou Island.
The irregular shaped island reached a maximum length of 400m.
Vent 6. Vent 6 is submerged and located 300m
south of vent 5
Lou Island
Located a few km north of Tuluman volcano, and is one of the main sources of obsidian trading for the Lapita peoples of ancient melanesia.
Lou obsidian has been traced to Malaysia and Santa Cruz Island in Melanesia. Lou island erupted in 350 AD and 240 BC). The rocks are high in silica. There are 12 eruptive centres on the island. Each volcano on the island has a summit crater filled by a lava flow.
1953-57 Eruptions of Tuluman
An eruption of Tuluman volcano began in June 1953. Eruptions of the volcano has been linked to the tides.
Further reading
Reynolds, M.A., 1980. 1953-57 eruption of Tuluman volcano: Rhyolitic volcanic activity in the northern Bismarck Sea (Vol. 7). Geological Survey of Papua New Guinea.
Tuluman Volcano Eruptions
Tuluman 1883, 1953-57
Lou island 240 BC, 350 AD