Takuan Group

The Takuan volcano group in southern Bougainville Island consists of three closely spaced, NW-SE-trending andesitic-dacitic stratovolcanoes. Two of these are relatively uneroded and have probably been active during the Holocene, and a third, extensively eroded volcano is probably Pleistocene in age (Blake and Meizitis, 1967). Along with Loloru volcano, the Takuan volcanoes are post-caldera cones constructed along the rim of the Pleistocene Laluai caldera. The 2210-m NW-most volcano, Mount Takuan, is the highest of the group and is a lava cone that has fed viscous lavas flows to the south, similar to those at Bagana volcano. The central volcano contains a large lava dome in its breached summit crater; this dome may represent the most recent activity of the Takuan volcano group. Older, but still well-preserved lava flows are found on the flanks of this volcano.