Dredging rocks from a large volcanic flow in the Bismarck volcanic arc, Papua New Guinea

University Of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA

Investigators

Abstract

The PI has imaged a massive submarine flow that defies ready identification on the flanks of an island caldera in Papua New Guinea. Its size (~14 km3) underscores its importance in understanding arc volcanic processes and stratigraphic records. A few dredge samples could go a long way in understanding this feature, and the PI will use 1.5 days (plus 1.5 transit days) on a transit of the R/V Melville from Guam to Fiji to carry out 4 dredge hauls and local multibeam bathymetric study along this flow. The samples will allow the PI to determine how the flow might have formed (i.e., whether lava flow, pyroclastic low, pumice/ash fall, debris flow or a composite flow). He will carry out four 14C dates and Ra/Th dating on at least one these samples. The will involve both a US graduate student and a scientist from the Geological Survey of Papua New Guinea.