Italy's Stromboli volcano erupts at night. Australia is not typically a place you think of as being geologically active, but that perception is wrong say geologists.
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SYDNEY: Three Australian states are at risk from a major volcanic eruption which geological history indicates is "well overdue" an expert warned this week.
University of Melbourne geologist Bernie Joyce said the threat of volcanic eruption in Victoria, South Australia and Queensland should be given more attention by emergency management authorities.
"The geological record shows that new volcanoes in these areas have erupted perhaps every 2,000 years in the past 40,000 years — and given there has not been a major eruption there for the past 5,000 years, a significant eruption seems well overdue," he said.
Melbourne in the firing line
A volcanic eruption in Victoria's Western Uplands could potentially see lava flows and ash falls impacting on Melbourne, Joyce told Cosmos Online.
"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," said Joyce, who will receive the Selwyn Medal for significant contributions in the Earth Sciences tomorrow at the Geological Society of Australia's annual Selwyn Symposium.
Joyce said that research at the University of Melbourne had given new dates to some of the volcanic deposits in Victoria. These findings pointed to 20 or so young volcanoes in a cluster near the Victoria border and there could be a new eruption in this area, he said.
Worst-case scenario
"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," he said.
"To this end, eruption response plans should be developed and publicised by the emergency management authorities."
In New Zealand, there is a greater focus on the need to educate the public about volcano risk, Joyce said. Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, sits on an active hot spot, while nearby plate tectonics drives active volcanoes such as Mt Ruapehu.
