[?]ologists Examine BSIP
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Tential Mt.
Mington
[?]ologists Examine BSIP Volcano
MING on top of the recent announcement of the discovery of more thermal springs on dalcanal, the geological report avo, issued in October, made it that there is a lot besides hot till bottled up in BSIP.
Norman Fisher, Chief Dgist to the Australian Bureau mineral resources, and Mr. Jack npson, Senior geologist of New lea, who recently mad? a brief to the Protectorate, investiga- Savo with Solomons geologist i Grover on August 25. le party found coastal beaches higher than atmospheric )erat: res, steaming waterfalls, ng mud fountains, and thermal igs where temperatures of 215 •enheit were recorded, te visit confirmed that Savo, niles NW of Honiara, is an e, though at present quiescent mo of the Mount Lamington Whilst stating that there is mmediate danger of eruption, Grover said that eruptions of glowing-cloud type could occur ae future. [ring his stay in Honiara, Dr.
Fisher lectured the British Solomon Islands Society on this type of evplosion, which gives little warning in its final stages and consists of the release of super-heated gases which eject particles with incredible force in all directions.
Evidence of two previous glowing cloud eruptions was found on Savo, bearing out native legends which tell of the destruction of the population long ago. Savo was active during Mendana’s visit and the last known eruption was in the 1840’s.
In a Pidgin broadcast from Honiara on September 5 Mr Grover called on the native population of Savo and adjacent island groups to give information on any signs of unusual activity so that early warning may be given of an impending eruption. Mr.
Grover concluded his talk by stating that geologists had “good reasons to take Savo seriously at this stage” but added that the effects of a glowing-cloud type eruption will be
limited to Savo, and will not affect the mainland of Guadalcanal in any way. Government is to make evacuation-plans for evacuation all native population, and the Geological Survey team will tram natives to observe significant
phenomena. pondent.
Honiara Corres-
t Dr. M. G. Candau, Director-Gen eral of the World Health Organisa tion, and Dr. I. C. Fang, Regional Director of WHO, Western Pacific Region, visited Sydney in October.
En route from America they stopped two days in Fiji and visited the CMS at Suva, where WHO has two lecturers—one in biology and one in physiology. t The radio station at Nukulaelae Island, Ellice Islands, has, since August 10, been available for gen eral public traffic. The station formerly handled only official radio traffic.