Long Island is a volcanic island in

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 ...

. It is located north of the island of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

, separated from it by the Vitiaz Strait.

Geography

Two stratovolcanoes are located on the island: Mount Reaumur and Cerisy Peak. The summit of the volcanic complex collapsed during at least three major explosive eruptions, about 16,000, 4000, and 300 years ago. These produced a large

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 ...

10 x 12.5 km in size, now filled with a freshwater

crater lake Crater Lake ( Klamath: ''Giiwas'') is a volcanic crater lake in south-central Oregon in the western United States. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fill ...

, Lake Wisdom. In 1953-1954 and 1968, volcanic activity created Motmot Island on the crater lake, 200 x 200 m in size. The 1660 eruption was one of the largest in Papua New Guinea's recent history with an estimated air-fall volume in excess of 11 cu km, comparable to the 1991 eruption of

Mount Pinatubo Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano in the Zambales Mountains, located on the tripoint boundary of the Philippine provinces of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga, all in Central Luzon on the northern island of Luzon. Its eruptive histor ...

, but the Global Volcanism Program gives a much higher estimate of 30 cu km. This cataclysmic event prompted legends of a "Time of Darkness". The most recent (and a smaller) eruption occurred in 1993. The crater holds water at a much higher level than the surrounding sea water. Aircraft surveying inside the crater with radar altimeters estimate the height of the water to be approximately 600-700' higher than the water outside suggesting there is no channel or means of water transfer to Lake Wisdom.

History

The first sighting by Europeans of Long Island was by the Spanish navigator Iñigo Órtiz de Retes on 12 August 1545 when on board of the carrack ''San Juan'' he tried to return from

Tidore Tidore ( id, Kota Tidore Kepulauan, lit. "City of Tidore Islands") is a city, island, and archipelago in the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia, west of the larger island of Halmahera. Part of North Maluku Province, the city includes the island ...

to New Spain.Coello, Francisco "Conflicto hispano-alemán" ''Boletín de Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid'', t.XIX. 2º semestre 1885, Madrid, p.371. Long Island was charted in 1643 by

Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first known European explorer to reach New ...

but he mistook it for part of the New Guinea mainland. Long Island was utilised as a barge staging area by the

Imperial Japanese The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. On December 26, 1943, D Company of the 592d Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment, 2d Engineer Special Brigade,

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, landed on Long Island to prepare a

radar station Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, wea ...

as part of the

Battle of Cape Gloucester The Battle of Cape Gloucester was fought in the Pacific theater of World War II between Japanese and Allied forces on the island of New Britain, Territory of New Guinea, between 26 December 1943 and 16 January 1944. Codenamed Operation Backhan ...

. The

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

No. 338 Radar Station was set up at Matfum Point and became operational on April 6, 1944, and was to remain until March 1945.

References

External links

* Islands of Papua New Guinea Stratovolcanoes of Papua New Guinea Active volcanoes Calderas of Papua New Guinea Volcanic crater lakes 17th-century volcanic events Complex volcanoes VEI-6 volcanoes Pleistocene calderas Holocene calderas Pleistocene stratovolcanoes Holocene stratovolcanoes {{PapuaNewGuinea-geo-stub

Geography

History

See also

References

External links