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Tavui Volcano: neighbour of Rabaul and likely source of the Middle Holocene penultimate major eruption in the Rabaul area

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Abstract

A major, geologically youthful, submarine caldera volcano, Tavui, was discovered in the Rabaul area of Papua New Guinea in 1986. Tavui Volcano has lateral dimensions of 9 to 10 km, slightly smaller than those of Rabaul Volcano, but Tavui’s caldera is much deeper than the nested caldera complex at Rabaul, and in general, its escarpment walls are very steep. The two caldera systems are essentially silicic and are separated by a zone of dominantly basalt-andesite stratovolcanoes. Rock samples dredged from Tavui have low- to medium-K contents, in contrast to the medium- to high-K rocks of Rabaul, indicating that the two systems have evolved separately and that the chemical, and perhaps physical, conditions within these neighbouring systems are different. Tavui is the likely source of the 6.9 ka BP Raluan Ignimbrite, the penultimate major eruption deposit in the Rabaul area. The Raluan Ignimbrite is rhyolitic and has geochemical characteristics incompatible with those of products from Rabaul Volcano. On the other hand, there is a close match between the geochemistry of the Raluan Ignimbrite and that of rhyolitic samples dredged from Tavui Caldera. The much older (≈79 ka) Tokudukudu Ignimbrite, which is also rhyolitic, is slightly more K-rich than both the Raluan Ignimbrite and rhyolites dredged from Tavui Caldera, but in general, its geochemical characteristics are similar to those of Tavui rhyolites and, therefore, is considered to be a possible product of Tavui. The recognition that Tavui was the likely source of the penultimate major eruption and of at least one other significant eruption in the Rabaul area markedly changes the perceptions of local volcanic hazard. In addition, Tavui’s potential for generation of tsunami is acknowledged, not just in association with volcanic eruptions but also from earthquake-related and possibly spontaneous collapse of parts of the steep caldera walls. The presence of Tavui greatly increases the net geologic hazard in the Rabaul area.

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Acknowledgments

The Tavui study was initiated by exchanges with David Wallace (deceased), formerly of Geoscience Australia, who participated in the Sonne 68-OLGA II research cruise that visited the Tavui area in 1990 and made the first collection of dredge rock samples from Tavui. Prof. Hugh Davies of the Earth Sciences Department, University Papua New Guinea is gratefully acknowledged for thoughtful reviews of several versions of the manuscript and for mineralogical assistance. Dr R. Wally Johnson formerly of Geoscience Australia helped to shape an early version of the manuscript. Chemical analyses of some of the dredge samples from Tavui were kindly supplied by Prof. Werner Tufar of Philipps University, Marburg, Germany. Chemical analyses of four samples from the Raluan Ignimbrite were kindly supplied by Dr Stephen Eggins of the Australian National University Canberra, Australia. The manuscript was improved significantly following reviews by Prof. John Sinton, University of Hawaii, and Prof. James Mori, Kyoto University. Marissa Sari of Port Moresby Geophysical Observatory helped with word processing of the manuscript. Sonick Taguse of Papua New Guinea’s Mineral Resources Authority prepared the line diagrams. COM publishes with the permission of the Secretary, Department of Mineral Policy and Geohazards Management, Papua New Guinea.

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Correspondence to Chris O. McKee.

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McKee, C.O. Tavui Volcano: neighbour of Rabaul and likely source of the Middle Holocene penultimate major eruption in the Rabaul area. Bull Volcanol 77, 80 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-015-0968-1

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