Melbourne, Sep 21 (Inditop.com) A significant volcano eruption in Australia is ‘well overdue’ and emergency authorities must better prepare themselves and the wider community to respond to it, the recipient of the prestigious Geological Society of Australia (Victoria Division) Selwyn Medal for 2009 has warned.
Internationally-respected Melbourne geologist and Geological Society of Australia member, Associate Professor Bernie Joyce will receive the Selwyn Medal Thursday at the Geological Society of Australia’s (Victoria Division) annual Selwyn Symposium 2009.
“We can’t say with 100 percent certainty that a significant volcano will strike tomorrow, next week, next year, or even 100 years down the track – but these geo-hazards are real and they must be given much more focus by emergency management authorities,” Joyce said.
“There are around 400 volcanoes stretching from the Western District of Victoria into the Western Uplands around Ballarat and to the north of Melbourne around Kyneton and Kilmore, in some parts of the Eastern Uplands such as to the north of Benambra, and across to the South Australian border near Mt Gambier. A volcanic eruption in the Western Uplands could potentially see lava flows and ash falls impacting on Melbourne.
“There is also similar volcano risk present in various provinces in Far North Queensland, stretching from south-west of Townsville to near Cairns and up to Cooktown in the Far North. There are more than 380 volcanoes in total across this part of Queensland.
“A future eruption in any of these regions would be unlikely to come from an existing volcano (as the volcanoes there are generally considered to be ‘once only’ erupters). Rather, future eruptions would occur at new sites nearby. The geological record shows that new volcanoes in these areas have erupted perhaps every 2000 years in the past 40,000 years – and given there has not been a major eruption there for the past 5000 years, a significant eruption seems well overdue.
“While any future volcanoes may discharge only small amounts of lava and ash, the real possibility remains that there could be a significant eruption – and it makes sense that the population centres potentially affected should be well-prepared for that worst-case scenario. To this end, eruption response plans should be developed and publicised by the emergency management authorities,” Joyce said.
