Willaumez Peninsula

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Willaumez Peninsula
Bola volcano above stetsin bay.jpg
The Bola Volcano on the Willaumez Peninsula
Geographical location
Willaumez Peninsula (Papua New Guinea)
Willaumez Peninsula
Coordinates 5 ° 15 '47 "  S , 150 ° 0' 51"  E Coordinates: 5 ° 15 '47 "  S , 150 ° 0' 51"  E
Waters 1 Bismarck lake

The Willaumez Peninsula ( Admiral Peninsula , Villamuez , Willaumez Peninsula ) is a northern part of the island of New Britain (formerly New Pomerania ) in Papua New Guinea, which belongs to the Bismarck Archipelago in the Pacific . Your area belongs to the province of West New Britain . The peninsula was named after the French admiral Jean-Baptiste Philibert Willaumez , who was a participant in a French war expedition led by Joseph Bruny d'Entrecasteaux in the late 18th century , which acted to secure French claims in the South Seas and English trade interests in Southeast Asia fought.

Topography, geology

The peninsula protrudes into the Bismarck Sea as an elongated headland and is of volcanic origin. It owes its creation to an elongated arrangement of eruption sites, which, due to their proximity to one another, created a land bridge. The volcanic nature of the landscape makes the peninsula particularly fertile.

The northernmost point is called Cape Hollmann. In this region are the water-filled Dakataua Caldera and Mount Benda. This caldera has an extension of 9.3 km in north-south and 11.8 km in west-east direction. It forms the Dakataua Lake, which is filled with fresh water and whose water level is about 50 meters above the nearby sea level. The area is under protection.

The volcano Bola (also Wangore ) rises south of this area . This mountain is a stratovolcano made of andesite , which reaches a height of 1155 meters. In modern times only fumaroles and no other volcanic activity can be observed.

The area of ​​the peninsula can include the island of Garua (Garua Island), which is located off the east coast in front of Garua Bay. Here is the Garua lava field with lava domes and ash cones . On the mainland there are fumaroles, mud bubbles and three geyser fields. The main geyser with a significant sintering cone is named after Robert Koch .

In the southern region, the peaks of the Krummel, Garbuna and Welcker form the Garbuna group, an isolated volcanic area made of basaltic and Dacitic rock.

On its eastern flank, the curved coastline to the island of New Britain delimits Kimbe Bay (formerly Szczecin Bay ) with the town of Kimbe , where the administrative seat of the province of West New Britain is located. The area of ​​Kimbe Bay is an important coral reserve with a high species diversity.

On the western side is the Riebeck Bay, which here forms the coastal arc to the coastline that continues from New Britain. The transition to the main part of New Britain is occupied by a low plain through which the strongly meandering Kulu River runs.

Natural space and agriculture

The vegetation consists predominantly of tropical rainforest , as long as the plantings did not have to give way . Oil palms are cultivated in the plantations . The flora of the peninsula is of great importance for the biodiversity in the Bismarck Archipelago and is the subject of scientific research.

In the shelf areas to the east there are significant coral reefs, which is why a marine reserve was established here. The Mahonia na Dari Research and Conservation Center in the city of Kimbe is dedicated to researching this habitat as well as public information work on marine ecology . There are multiple fringing reefs along the entire coastline .

These plantings are of great importance to Papua New Guinea and are mainly operated by New Britain Palm Oil Limited (NBPOL). Here are palm oils produced for the food industry and for cosmetic applications. The palm kernel oils obtained are also used to produce chemical raw products such as glycerol , fats , alcohols , amines and amides and emulsifiers . Another form of use are substances that can be used medicinally, for example antithrombotics such as prostacyclin .

history

Early cultures around 3900 to 1600 BC BC left behind obsidian tools and carved lydite objects, which were the focus of archaeological research in modern times.

From the period 1600 BC Numerous ceramics of the Lapita style have been preserved up to the beginning of the era and have been recovered during excavations.

The discoveries of Joseph Bruny d'Entrecasteaux in 1793 in the Bismarck Archipelago, the peninsula was sighted.

Georg von Schleinitz , at that time the first governor of the German New Guinea Company , did not determine the peninsula character of the area until 1887 and gave it the name Admiral Peninsula .

In November 1908 the Hamburg Scientific Foundation explored the geyser field near Garua Harbor. During these field studies, water and rock samples were taken, photographic and cinematographic recordings were made and cartographic recordings were made.

The industrial extraction and processing of palm oil begins on the Willaumez peninsula in 1935.

During the Second World War, the peninsula belonged to the Japanese-occupied territory of New Britain. The 5th US Marine Division landed in Garua Bay on the peninsula in 1944 and expanded the existing small port into a base for torpedo boats. This landing was part of Operation Dexterity around Cape Gloucester . The Talasea settlement became part of the military area.

The growing expansion of the oil palm plantations towards the end of the 20th century required archaeological emergency excavations , as there are interesting prehistoric settlement areas here. Employees from the Australian Museum were involved in the research .

Residents

Early settlements can already be identified in pre-Christian times. Larger volcanic eruptions with their devastating effects have caused multiple interruptions in the history of settlement on the peninsula. The majority of the indigenous population of recent history belong to the Nakanai . In addition to English, the indigenous languages Bola and Bulu are spoken.

literature

  • Joachim Graf Pfeil: Studies and Observations from the South Seas . Braunschweig (Friedrich Vieweg and son) 1899
  • Robin Torrence / John Grattan: Natural disasters and cultural change . London, New York (Routledge Chapman & Hall) 2002, pp. 298-299 ISBN 0-415-21696-6
  • Hans Vogel: A research trip in the Bismarck Archipelago . Hamburg (L. Friederichsen & Co.) 1911
  • VE Neall / RC Wallace / R. Torrence: The volcanic environment for 40,000 years of human occupation on the Willaumez Isthmus, West New Britain, Papua New Guinea . Sydney 2008. In: Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research (Vol. 176, Issue 3) pp. 330–343.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Keyword Admiral Peninsula. In: Heinrich Schnee (Ed.): German Colonial Lexicon. Quelle & Meyer, Leipzig 1920, Volume III, p. 711 ( online ).
  2. ↑ http://www.nps.gov/archive/wapa/indepth/extcontent/usmc/pcn-190-003128-00/sec10.htm Bernard C. Nalty: Cape Gloucester: The Green Inferno

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