Significance and timing of the mid-17th-century eruption of Long Island, Papua New Guinea

dc.contributor.authorBlong, Russell
dc.contributor.authorFallon, Stewart
dc.contributor.authorWood, Rachel
dc.contributor.authorMcKee, Chris
dc.contributor.authorChen, Keping
dc.contributor.authorMagill, Christina
dc.contributor.authorBarter, Peter
dc.date.accessioned2021-12-02T22:34:12Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.date.updated2020-11-23T11:54:19Z
dc.description.abstractTibito Tephra was first recorded in the central highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) in 1971. By the late 1970s, the tephra had been mapped across tens of thousands of square kilometres, traced to its source on Long Island in the Bismarck Sea, and linked to pyroclastic density currents in the Matapun Beds on the island. With a tephra fall volume >10 km3, this eruption was clearly one of the 10 largest globally in the past 600 years. Although almost certainly in the AD 17th or 18th centuries, determining just when this VEI 6 eruption occurred has proved difficult. Whether this eruption occurred before or after William Dampier sailed past, named, described and drew a profile of Long Island has been debated also. Dating the Long Island eruption has implications for assessing the rate of revegetation of the island, recolonisation of the island and caldera lake, Jared Diamond’s theory of ‘supertramp’ birds, correlations between major eruptions and ice core chronologies, the constant rate of supply model of 210Pb concentration in lake sediments, reservoir effects in Lake Kutubu in the southern highlands of PNG, the timing of a prehistoric phase of agriculture in the Western Highlands and the longevity of oral histories recording a taim tudak (time of darkness) when sand fell from the sky, houses collapsed, crops were ruined and people died. This paper reviews early dates based on radiocarbon, 210Pb and paleosecular magnetic variation, historical reports and genealogical dates from oral histories, and speculation based on tree ring and ice core evidence. Analyses of 10 new radiocarbon dates from the Matapun Beds on Long Island are reported. Our best estimate places the eruption between 1651 and 1671 AD with a 95.4% probability and between 1655 and 1665 AD with a 68.2% probability.en_AU
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen_AU
dc.identifier.issn0959-6836en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1885/254490
dc.language.isoen_AUen_AU
dc.publisherSage Publications Incen_AU
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2017en_AU
dc.sourceHoloceneen_AU
dc.subjecteruption implicationsen_AU
dc.subjectLong Islanden_AU
dc.subjectoral historyen_AU
dc.subjectPapua New Guineaen_AU
dc.subjectradiocarbon datingen_AU
dc.subjectvolcanic forcingen_AU
dc.titleSignificance and timing of the mid-17th-century eruption of Long Island, Papua New Guineaen_AU
dc.typeJournal articleen_AU
local.bibliographicCitation.issue4en_AU
local.bibliographicCitation.lastpage544en_AU
local.bibliographicCitation.startpage529en_AU
local.contributor.affiliationBlong, Russell, Macquarie Universityen_AU
local.contributor.affiliationFallon, Stewart, College of Science, ANUen_AU
local.contributor.affiliationWood, Rachel, College of Science, ANUen_AU
local.contributor.affiliationMcKee, Chris, Geophysical Observatoryen_AU
local.contributor.affiliationChen, Keping, BigData Earth Pty Ltden_AU
local.contributor.affiliationMagill, Christina, Macquarie Universityen_AU
local.contributor.affiliationBarter, Peter, Melanesian Tourist Services Ltden_AU
local.contributor.authoremailu5042027@anu.edu.auen_AU
local.contributor.authoruidFallon, Stewart, u9708405en_AU
local.contributor.authoruidWood, Rachel, u5042027en_AU
local.description.embargo2099-12-31
local.description.notesImported from ARIESen_AU
local.identifier.absfor040314 - Volcanologyen_AU
local.identifier.absfor040604 - Natural Hazardsen_AU
local.identifier.absfor210106 - Archaeology of New Guinea and Pacific Islands (excl. New Zealand)en_AU
local.identifier.ariespublicationa383154xPUB9518en_AU
local.identifier.citationvolume28en_AU
local.identifier.doi10.1177/0959683617735589en_AU
local.identifier.scopusID2-s2.0-85042922616
local.identifier.uidSubmittedBya383154en_AU
local.publisher.urlhttp://www.uk.sagepub.com/journals/Journal201812en_AU
local.type.statusPublished Versionen_AU

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