Perboewatan (also spelled Perbuatan; apparently a

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

word of uncertain derivation) was one of the three main

volcanic cone Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and ...

s (the others being Danan and

Rakata Rakata ( ), also called Greater Krakatau, is a partially collapsed stratovolcano on the Indonesian island of Krakatoa ( id, Krakatau) in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Sumatra and Java. Standing tall, it was the largest and southernmo ...

) on the island of

Krakatoa Krakatoa (), also transcribed (), is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. The caldera is part of a volcanic island group (Krakatoa archipelago) comprising four islands. Tw ...

(or Krakatau), in the

Sunda Strait The Sunda Strait ( id, Selat Sunda) is the strait between the Indonesian islands of Java island, Java and Sumatra. It connects the Java Sea with the Indian Ocean. Etymology The strait takes its name from the Sunda Kingdom, which ruled the weste ...

, in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It was the lowest (400 ft) and northernmost of the cones. Perboewatan was completely destroyed during the 1883 eruption; the

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 approximately deep at its former location.

Form

Photographed on May 27, 1883 by visitors to the island, Perboewatan is the only cone on Krakatoa of which quality pre-1883 photographs exist. In the photos, it appears to be a low hill with a flat top. Climbers reported the erupting crater to be about across at the top, narrowing to at the bottom and 500–800 ft deep. Samples were collected, revealing upon analysis a

silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one ...

(SiO₂) content of 65%.

Eruptions

1680–81

In February 1681, two individuals traveling through the Straits witnessed the eruption of Krakatoa.

Johann Wilhelm Vogel Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

, a mining assayer, was told that the eruption began in May 1680. Since they were passing to the north of the island, it was apparent that the cone they witnessed was Perboewatan. This is backed up by Verbeek's visit in 1880, during which he took samples from a "fresh-looking"

lava flow Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or und ...

on the northern coast. The flow was unweathered, with little vegetation, indicating recent origin.

1883

Perboewatan began erupting on 20 May 1883, On 27 May 1883, the '' General Governor Loudon'' took a sight-seeing group of about 90 to Krakatoa, landing on the northern end of the island, just below Perboewatan. Several in the party climbed up to the crater, which was still erupting. As the ship was leaving, a photographer took several photos of the erupting volcano. In

Rogier Verbeek Rogier Diederik Marius Verbeek (7 April 1845, Doorn – 9 April 1926, The Hague) was a Dutch geologist and natural scientist. His journal ''Krakatau'', which was edited in 1884 and 1885 by order of the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indi ...

's reconstruction of the eruption, Perboewatan is thought to have been the first cone destroyed, at about 4:40 am on 27 August.

References

*{{cite book , last=Furneaux , first=Rupert , title=Krakatoa , url=https://archive.org/details/krakatoa00furn , url-access=registration , year=1964 , publisher=Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall Volcanic cones Sunda Strait Krakatoa