The Dakataua

Caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcano eruption. When large volumes of magma are erupted over a short time, structural support for the rock above the magma chamber is ...

is located at the northern tip of the

Willaumez Peninsula The Willaumez Peninsula is located on the north coast of New Britain in the West New Britain Province. It was named after Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez (7 August 1763 – 17 May 1845) was a French sailor, ...

, New Britain,

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. The peninsula includes the 350 m high

andesitic Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomin ...

Mount Makalia stratovolcano. The last major collapse of Dakataua was during the

Holocene The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...

around 800 CE. The most recent eruption on the caldera's rim was Mount Makalia in 1890, producing lava flows and cinder cones.

Caldera lake

Dakataua caldera lake is about 76 m above sea level, has total surface area , and the maximum depth approximately 120 m. It is horseshoe shaped, roughly bisected by a peninsula. It is a freshwater lake that is alkaline with a pH of up to 8.2. It is presumed to be formed by rainwater gradually filling in the caldera. While the lake supports various kinds of life, it does not support any species of fish.

Migo the Lake Monster

There is a folk legend that a monster called the migo (or masali) inhabits the lake. In 1993 a Japanese film crew led by Tetsuo Nagata captured what they claimed to be the migo on film. It is presumed that the creature in the video is actually a

saltwater crocodile The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been list ...

from the ocean surrounding the lake.

References

Volcanoes of New Britain Stratovolcanoes of Papua New Guinea VEI-6 volcanoes Holocene stratovolcanoes {{Volcanology-stub