Mount Papandayan

Mount Papandayan
Elevation 2,665 m (8,743 ft)[1]
Listing Ribu
Location
Mount Papandayan

Garut, West Java, Indonesia

Coordinates 7°19′S 107°44′E / 7.32°S 107.73°ECoordinates: 7°19′S 107°44′E / 7.32°S 107.73°E
Geology
Type Stratovolcanoes
Last eruption November to December 2002

Mount Papandayan is a complex stratovolcano, located in Garut Regency, to the southeast of the city of Bandung in West Java, Indonesia. It is about 15 km to the southwest of the town of Garut. At the summit, there are four large craters which contain active fumarole fields. An eruption in 1772 caused the northeast flank to collapse producing a catastrophic debris avalanche that destroyed 40 villages and killed nearly 3,000 people. The eruption truncated the volcano into a broad shape with two peaks and a flat area 1.1 km wide with Alun-Alun crater in the middle, making the mountain appear as a twin volcano; one of the peaks is called Papandayan and the other Mount Puntang.[1]

Since 1772, only small phreatic eruptions were recorded before an explosive eruption that began in November 2002. More recently, the volcano has been quite active. On August 13, 2011 the volcano's early warning status was lifted from Level II, "Vigilant" (Indonesian: Waspada) to Level III, "Alert" (Siaga) following the swarm of long-period events, the increase of volcano tectonic earthquake rate, and an extremely high percentage (100%) of measured carbon dioxide gas in the ground at the summit crater.[2] People, including tourists, were urged to remain at least 2 kilometers (1.2 mi) from the yellow craters on the 2,665-meter (8,743-foot) Mount Papandayan.[3] On Friday September 2, 2011, the Indonesian Volcanology and Geophysical Disaster Mitigation Center reported that numerous shallow volcanic earthquakes had been recorded along with other indications of volcanic activity. A spokesperson for the Indonesian National Disaster Management Agency noted that if Mt Papandayan erupted, over 170,000 people living in five nearby subdistricts (kecamatan) and in twenty villages could be affected.[4] Of the people likely to be affected, it was expected that perhaps as many as 11,500 people might need to be evacuated.

Volcanism

Fumaroles at Papandayan
Video of volcanic activity at Mount Papandayan

Mount Papandayan is a large composite volcano. It is constructed of alternating layers of lava and ash, and other fragmental volcanic rock debris formed by explosive eruptions over the past several hundred years. A large horseshoe-shape crater extended to the northeast resulting in an avalanche deposit consisted of intermixed volcanic debris and alternated rocks, Kawah Manuk and many other with solfataras emitting smoke and hot fumes from its inner sides.[5]

Tourism

The Mount Papandayan area is a popular tourist site.[6] Tourists can walk across the crater and view phenomena such as bubbling mud pools, steam vents, and sulfur deposits. Papandayan Crater (Kawah Papandayan), a bubbling yellow crater, is a popular sight.[5] There are various other volcanic craters in the area to the south of Bandung as well. Another volcanic crater with easy access in the same region is Kawah Putih; it is in the nearby Bandung District to the west of Mt Papandayan.

Above the crater is an elfin forest and several meadows with Javanese Edelweiss.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Papandayan". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2006-12-21.
  2. ↑ Syahbana, D. K., Caudron, C., Jousset, P., Lecocq, T., Camelbeeck, T., Bernard, A., & Surono, 2014. 'Fluid dynamics inside a “wet” volcano inferred from the complex frequencies of long-period (LP) events: An example from Papandayan volcano, West Java, Indonesia, during the 2011 seismic unrest', Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 280(76-89). .
  3. ↑ "Indonesia Warns Tourists away from Smoking Volcano". August 14, 2011.
  4. ↑ Adianto P. Simamora, 'Increased activity at 22 volcanoes, alert raised', The Jakarta Post, September 3, 2011. The five kecamatan subdistricts listed by the National Disaster Management Agency were Cisurupan, Pamulihan, Bayongbong, Pakenjeng, and Sukaresmi.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Mountain Tourism: Mount Papandayan, "The Beauty of Elfin Woodland". Jakarta: Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 2009.
  6. ↑ Useful details are at the Gunung Bagging website for Papandayan. Information about Gunung Bagging activities is at Imogen Badgery-Parker, 'Climb ev'ry mountain', The Jakarta Post, December 6, 2009.

External links

Media related to Mount Papandayan at Wikimedia Commons