Report on Dukono (Indonesia) — June 2006
Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, vol. 31, no. 6 (June 2006)
Managing Editor: Richard Wunderman.
Dukono (Indonesia) Ongoing emissions continue during 2004-2005 in decades-long eruption
Please cite this report as:
Global Volcanism Program, 2006. Report on Dukono (Indonesia). In: Wunderman, R (ed.), Bulletin of the Global Volcanism Network, 31:6. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.BGVN200606-268010.
1.693°N, 127.894°E; summit elev. 1229 m
All times are local (unless otherwise noted)
During 2004 and 2005, Dukono continued to emit ash plumes as it has for many decades. This report first summarizes available reports from Indonesia's Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM).
David Rothery and Charlotte Saunders previously discussed MODIS thermal alerts up to April 2004 in our last report (BGVN 29:06). Since that time, and as recently as 1 August 2006, the only MODIS thermal alerts were detected on 4 October 2004.
CVGHM observations, 2004-2005. During this interval, the volcano's hazard status stood at Level 2 (Yellow).
During 31 May to 31 August 2004 small explosions were accompanied by rumbling sounds and the release of white to gray-black ash. The emissions occurred at a relatively constant frequency and intensity. The ash-bearing clouds reached up to ~ 500 m above the summit. Ash discharges and rumbling were constant.
Eruptive behavior continued throughout 2005. From 24 to 30 January explosions often ejected ash, and dark gray ash plumes reached 200-600 m above the summit. On 9 May an ash eruption was accompanied by an explosive sound repeated 27 times. Ejections the week of 26 September-2 October contained ash and, occasionally, larger pyroclastic material. Explosions occurred about 15 times a day, sending plumes 100-400 m high. Thousands of explosions were documented during the next two weeks (table 1). Ash columns rose 100-950 m above the summit.
|26 Sep-02 Oct 2005||27||18||146||22|
|03 Oct-09 Oct 2005||42||32||1,471||5|
|10 Oct-16 Oct 2005||10||1||2,068||3|
Aviation reports, 2004-2006. A large table contains aviation observations from 31 December 2003 through 12 January 2006 from the Darwin VAAC (table 2), although not all the VAAC's original reports were inspected. Some of the reported eruptions during that time generated plumes visible on satellite imagery to distances as far as 200 km. Plumes often rose to ~ 3 km altitude.
|Dates||Event(s)||Plume characteristics (heights above sea level)|
|31 Dec 2003-06 Jan 2004||low-intensity eruptions||low levels, extended to ~185 km SE|
|07 Jan 2004-13 Jan 2004||low-intensity eruptions||low levels, extended to ~120 km SSW|
|20 Feb 2004-22 Feb 2004||--||thin ash plumes visible on satellite, extended predominately E to max. of 90 km|
|25 Feb 2004-27 Feb 2004||--||thin ash plumes visible on satellite, extended max. of 160 km E at height of ~3 km|
|14 Mar 2004||--||ash plume visible on satellite imagery at height of ~4.6 km, extended SE|
|17 Mar 2004-01 Jun 2004||--||ash plumes sometimes visible on satellite imagery reaching max. height of ~3 km; on 24 Mar one plume extended ~185 km E|
|07 Jun 2004||--||thin ash plume visible in satellite imagery extended ~75 km ESE at ~3 km|
|08 Jun 2004||--||thin ash plume seen in satellite imagery extended ~65 km ESE at altitude of ~2 km|
|09 Jun 2004-15 Jun 2004||--||low-level plumes occasionally emitted, visible on satellite imagery|
|01 Sep 2004||--||thin ash plume visible on satellite imagery at height of ~3 km, drifting NW|
|26 Sep 2004||eruption||satellite imagery showed plume extended WNW at a height of ~3 km|
|24 Jan 2005-30 Jan 2005||ash explosions||ash plumes rose 200-600 m above summit|
|21 May 2005||--||satellite data showed thin ash plumes; height not reported|
|29 May 2005-31 May 2005||--||small low-level ash plumes visible on satellite imagery|
|01 and 04 Jun 2005||--||ash plumes visible on satellite imagery|
|20 Jun 2005-21 Jun 2005||--||ash visible on satellite imagery, drifting NW; height not reported|
|02 Sep 2005||--||plume observed on satellite imagery, height of ~3 km, extended NW|
|26 Sep 2005-09 Oct 2005||explosive activity||ash rose 100-950 m above the summit and mostly drifted ENE|
|10 Oct 2005-16 Oct 2005||explosions, pyroclastic ejections||ash columns rose 100-950 m above summit and mainly drifted SE|
|19 Oct 2005||--||thin low-level plume visible on satellite imagery extended to the ENE|
|27 Oct 2005||--||ash plume visible on satellite imagery extended to NNW|
|12 Jan 2006||--||ash visible on satellite imagery at height of ~3 km, extended SW|
Geologic Background. Reports from this remote volcano in northernmost Halmahera are rare, but Dukono has been one of Indonesia's most active volcanoes. More-or-less continuous explosive eruptions, sometimes accompanied by lava flows, occurred from 1933 until at least the mid-1990s, when routine observations were curtailed. During a major eruption in 1550, a lava flow filled in the strait between Halmahera and the north-flank cone of Gunung Mamuya. This complex volcano presents a broad, low profile with multiple summit peaks and overlapping craters. Malupang Wariang, 1 km SW of the summit crater complex, contains a 700 x 570 m crater that has also been active during historical time.
Information Contacts: Center of Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (CVGHM), Jalan Diponegoro 57, Bandung 40122, Indonesia (URL: http://www.vsi.esdm.go.id/); Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) (URL: http://www.bom.gov.au); HIGP Thermal Alerts Team, Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology (HIGP) / School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), University of Hawai'i, 2525 Correa Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA (URL: http://modis.higp.hawaii.edu/).