Crater Mountain Research Articles

Investigation of colonial-era architecture style on modern architecture design style in Aden city

This study investigated the lasting influence of British colonial architecture (129 years) on contemporary building design in Aden, Yemen. The initial focus was on the perception of British Neo-Classical architecture as a symbol of superiority, overshadowing Aden's rich architectural history. This research explored Aden's architectural transformation from pre-colonial to colonial periods, analyzing the impact of colonial-era building facades on modern design practices. Through observation and interviews with built environment professionals, the study examined the broader social, political, and economic effects of British colonialism. The findings reveal a significant influence of British colonial architecture on the design of building facades in Aden. This influence is evident in structures like the repurposed church on Crater Mountain, which now serves as a government building. The influx of British administrators, soldiers, and workers from diverse backgrounds (Indian, Somali, Jewish) during the colonial period contributed to Aden's architectural diversity by constructing churches, temples, and government buildings. Unfortunately, the ongoing war in Yemen has damaged or destroyed many of these structures. This study also found that classical architectural elements from British colonial buildings like the Military Museum in Crater, the Heritage Museum, and the Tax Office continue to influence modern design. These elements and the miniature Big Ben clock in Al-Tawahi stand as prominent symbols of British influence in Aden. However, the Yemeni government's restoration efforts for these colonial-era buildings have been slow and largely ineffective. The research further explored the enduring influence of Neo-classical architectural ideals in Aden. The study highlights the formal guidelines, specific modules, and proportions used in designing arches and columns, particularly in residential buildings. These elements contribute to the aesthetic qualities of these structures. While the British incorporated classical elements during their rule, architectural advancements and new materials have led to the incorporation of novel elements in contemporary design.

Paleomagnetically defined brief lifespans for two large shield volcanoes in the Cascades Arc

Mafic to intermediate shield volcanoes with multi-cubic-kilometer eruptive volumes are common in the Cascades Volcanic Arc, but little is known about their eruptive histories as either singular or sustained episodes, or the total time required for their construction. Paleomagnetic data were collected from the lava flows of Ash Creek Butte (17 sites) and Crater Mountain (14 sites) in northern California; both volcanoes are large shields with total volumes of ∼11 km3 each. Tightly clustered paleomagnetic results at both volcanoes, when coupled with analysis of geomagnetic secular variation, suggest that each edifice was built in only a few centuries, possibly in as little time as 50–90 years, indicating sub-century to century scale eruptive durations for two sizeable regional shield volcanoes within the Cascades Arc. These rapidly built shield volcanoes are substantially larger than typically defined monogenetic volcanoes, yet both are wholly formed within a single ‘episode’ at the limits of temporal resolution. Paleomagnetic methods provide a high-resolution tool that can be applied to understanding the tempo of regional volcanism in arcs.

Temporal relationship between the Lassen volcanic center and mafic regional volcanism

A new set of 17 unspiked K-Ar and five 40Ar/39Ar ages, together with previously published radiometric ages for the volcanic region around Lassen volcanic center (LVC) in the Southern Cascades, USA, shows that eruptive periods at LVC have occurred in close temporal relationship with mafic eruptive sequences within the broader Lassen region, up to 50 km from the LVC. The back-arc Caribou volcanic field (CVF, ~ 800–15 ka) and fore-arc volcanoes, active simultaneously with the LVC, are characterized by eruptive sequences that each persisted for 20–40 ky, with the most recent eruptions occurring during the last glacial episode (< 15 ky). Crater Mountain, a relatively young (282–395 ka) shield volcano spatially close to the CVF, confirms the presence of localized higher fluxes of mantle-derived melts that persisted for hundreds of thousands of years in the back-arc region. Crater Mountain eruptions overlap in time with LVC and CVF eruptions. Cumulatively, during the past 3.5 Ma, periods of intense regional mafic activity have occurred simultaneously with eruptive sequences at the silicic LVC. This link in eruption timing between the LVC and regional mafic volcanoes suggests that a broadly distributed increase in heat flux triggered spatially dispersed mantle-derived melt injections. The increase in regional melt injections triggered rejuvenation of crystal mushes beneath LVC, explaining the coincidence in eruption timing.

The Crater Mountain Deposit, Papua New Guinea: Porphyry‐related Au–Te System

AbstractOre mineralization and wall rock alteration of Crater Mountain gold deposit, Papua New Guinea, were investigated using ore and host rock samples from drill holes for ore and alteration mineralogical study. The host rocks of the deposit are quartz‐feldspar porphyry, feldspar‐hornblende porphyry, andesitic volcanics and pyroclastics, and basaltic‐andesitic tuff.The main ore minerals are pyrite, sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and moderate amounts of tetrahedrite, tennantite, pyrrhotite, bornite and enargite. Small amounts of enargite, tetradymite, altaite, heyrovskyite, bismuthinite, bornite, idaite, cubanite, native gold, CuPbS2, an unidentified Bi‐Te‐S mineral and argentopyrite occur as inclusions mainly in pyrite veins and grains. Native gold occurs significantly in the As‐rich pyrite veins in volcanic units, and coexists with Bi‐Te‐S mineral species and rarely with chalcopyrite and cubanite relics.Four mineralization stages were recognized based on the observations of ore textures. Stage I is characterized by quartz‐sericite‐calcite alteration with trace pyrite and chalcopyrite in the monomict diatreme breccias; Stage II is defined by the crystallization of pyrite and by weak quartz‐chlorite‐sericite‐calcite alteration; Stage III is a major ore formation episode where sulfides deposited as disseminated grains and veins that host native gold, and is divided into three sub‐stages; Stage IV is characterized by predominant carbonitization. Gold mineralization occurred in the sub‐stages 2 and 3 in Stage III. The fS2 is considered to have decreased from ∼10−2 to 10−14 atm with decreasing temperature of fluid.

Do Palm Cockatoos (Probosciger aterrimus) have long enough lifespans to support their low reproductive success?

As an order, Parrots (Psittaciformes) are both the longest lived birds and among the most endangered. Palm Cockatoos (Probosciger aterrimus) have an extremely slow life history, including one of the lowest rates of breeding success reported for parrots. Here we use population viability analysis (PVA) to examine whether populations of Palm Cockatoos are viable in the long term with such low rates of reproduction. We built PVA models for two field sites with robust data on reproductive success and availability of nest-hollows: Iron Range on Cape York Peninsula (Queensland, Australia) and Crater Mountain (Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea). Our Iron Range models incorporate a fluctuating resource base of nest-hollows resulting from natural losses from fire, wind and tree decay and natural replenishment through tree breakages in tropical cyclones. The number of females allowed to breed each year in the simulations was limited by the availability of hollows. Our Iron Range models suggest that the population is only viable if juvenile and adult mortality rates are very low, and that at least some birds in the population live to 100 years old. Based on known maximum lifespans in the Cacatuidae, we conclude that Palm Cockatoos at Iron Range are unlikely to live for long enough on average to support their low rates of reproduction, and highlight the possibility that the population may be in decline. At Crater Mountain, where nestlings are harvested for food by local people, the models suggest that the reported current rate of 40% of nestlings taken is not sustainable.

Home Ranges, Movement, and Den Use in Long-Beaked Echidnas,Zaglossus bartoni, From Papua New Guinea

Long-beaked echidnas (Zaglossus), which are endemic to New Guinea, are the largest and least-studied of the 3 extant genera of monotremes. Zaglossus is listed as endangered by the World Conservation Union and data regarding the natural history of long-beaked echidnas are critical to efforts to protect these animals. However, no detailed studies of the ecology of this genus have been published. From 2000 to 2005, I captured 22 Zaglossus bartoni in the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area in Simbu Province, Papua New Guinea. Mean body masses for these animals were 6.5 kg 6 1.4 SD (n ¼ 15, range: 4.2–9.1 kg) for adults and 4.3 6 7.4 kg (n ¼ 6, range: 3.2–5.1 kg) for juveniles. Eleven of the adults captured were followed via radiotelemetry for 1–12 months. The home ranges for these individuals varied in size from 10 to 168 ha. Home-range size was not correlated with body mass, age, or sex. Long-beaked echidna dens were most commonly located in underground burrows, although individual echidnas favored different types of den sites. Mean burrow length was 2.7 m 6 1.8 SD (n ¼ 5, range: 1.3–4.9 m) and mean den depth was 0.48 m 6 7.8 SD (n ¼ 5, range: 0.42–0.57 m) below the soil surface. Animals were never found foraging in daylight. Although no animals were found with eggs or young in the pouch, 1 individual was lactating when captured in April 2002 and again in April 2005. The data generated by this study provide valuable insights into echidna biology that will facilitate efforts to conserve populations of these unusual mammals.

Tourism as Science and Science as Tourism

The experience of villagers in Maimafu, in the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area of the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea, calls attention to two forms of social interaction between rural people and outsiders that have been little examined in the anthropological literature. One of these is scientific research and the other is scientific tourism, a form of ecotourism that is linked not to science but to self-fashioning and individual gain. Scientific tourists may be seeking an educational adventure that they can turn into symbolic capital on their return home, a way into the world of science, or an experience that can be turned into economic capital through publication in popular magazines. For both researchers and scientific journalists, New Guinea combines the exotic, the about-to-be-lost, the primitive, the untouched, and the spectacular and is therefore a powerful space for imaginary and representational practice.

Late Pleistocene slip rate along the Owens Valley fault, eastern California

The Owens Valley fault zone (OVF) is one of the primary structures accommodating dextral shear across the Eastern California shear zone (ECSZ). Previous estimates of the Holocene slip rate along this structure rely on paleoseismic data and yield rates 2–3 times lower than those implied by geodetic velocities. Using displaced lava flows along the flank of Crater Mountain, we present the first estimate of slip rate along the OVF during the late Pleistocene. Subsurface characterization of the flow margin using a ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) allows for relatively precise determination of dextral displacement, and terrestrial cosmogenic 36Cl exposure ages of samples from the flow surface yield slip rates between ∼2.8 – 4.5 mm/yr over the past 55–80 kyr. Our results suggest either that paleoseismic slip‐rate estimates underestimate the long‐term slip rate or that rates of strain release have not been steady during the latter part of the Quaternary.

Conservation Is Our Government Now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea (review)

Reviewed by: Conservation Is Our Government Now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea Alex Golub Conservation Is Our Government Now: The Politics of Ecology in Papua New Guinea, by Paige West. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2006. ISBN cloth, 0-8223-371206; paper, 0-8223-3749-5; xxx + 320 pages, tables, maps, photographs, appendixes, abbreviations and acronyms, notes, bibliography, index. Cloth, US$79.95; paper, US$22.95. The year 2006 was a stellar one for the anthropology of Papua New Guinea. Major publishers produced monographs that demonstrate the continuing ability of Melanesianists to produce important and original works. Conservation Is Our Government Now is a fine example of this trend; detailed and yet accessible, it is an excellent book that deserves to be widely read by anthropologists, students, and development and conservation professionals. Conservation examines the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area, [End Page 626] a biodiversity project that was active in the late 1990s. The argument could easily go down the well-worn path of examining the "impact" of "global" forces on "local" people. Instead, West chooses the more ambitious goal of examining how Crater Mountain is imagined as a place by multiple stakeholders, and how that imagination affects the political economy of Papua New Guinea. West's approach is shaped by work in political ecology, the critical geography of Neil Smith and David Harvey, and, most surprisingly, Vincent Crapanzano's literary-philosophical anthropology. In my opinion, much of this literature hinders rather than helps the work of understanding what are already extremely complex issues. However, West makes the best out of what might not be the most promising literature. For this reason Conservation will be of great interest to those concerned with issues of scale-making discussed in the literature on economic and political geography. West's grasp of the literature in her field is excellent. The bibliography of Conservation is remarkably deep and demonstrates a thorough knowledge of dissertations and the published literature as well as the enormous "grey literature" of reports, conference papers, and unpublished studies that are so central to contemporary conservation. However, most of the citations, along with technical notes, are relegated to footnotes in order to keep up the pace of the narrative. This is a kindness to nonspecialists, but academics will want to be sure to consult the end matter closely since it often contains important parts of her argument. Although the theoretical stakes of this work are high, the strength of Conservation is its ethnography. West's writing is itself an example of the activity she examines, and issues of reflexivity are inescapable. Additionally, she speaks to multiple audiences: other anthropologists (including the senior scholars who have worked in her area), her Papua New Guinean informants, and conservation biologists. This problematizes any easy ethnographic authority. Luckily West avoids narcissistic postmodern reflection and solves the problem by adopting a simple, almost confessional style. In her remarkable opening chapter, for instance, West cuts across time and space recounting episodes of her life in order to demonstrate the multiple connections between Crater Mountain and Manhattan. Here West manages to downplay her expertise while quietly demonstrating a sure-handedness with the data that leaves no doubt as to the extent and depth of her knowledge. She also minimizes her own authority by quoting at length. At one point when West's husband visits her in the field, she receives advice from her adopted mother about the importance of observing menstrual taboos—a speech that is printed verbatim. The end of the book also includes an appendix featuring the demands of dissatisfied residents of Crater Mountain, a move that allows West to keep her promise to them to make their voices heard. This is a difficult line to walk and West's prose is not particularly sophisticated or literary—this is Hemingway, not Henry James. At times West's heart-on-sleeve style threatens to veer into naïveté, and I suppose not every [End Page 627] reader will be charmed by the picture of her and her informant recreating scenes from the 1975 documentary, The Ax Fight. On the whole, however, I think this sort of thing is delightful and opens the ethnography...

Conservation is our government now: the politics of ecology in Papua New Guinea

A significant contribution to political ecology, Conservation Is Our Government Now is an ethnographic examination of the history and social effects of conservation and development efforts in Papua New Guinea. Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted over a period of seven years, Paige West focuses on the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area, the site of a biodiversity conservation project implemented between 1994 and 1999. She describes the interactions between those who ran the program—mostly ngo workers—and the Gimi people who live in the forests surrounding Crater Mountain. West shows that throughout the project there was a profound disconnect between the goals of the two groups. The ngo workers thought that they would encourage conservation and cultivate development by teaching Gimi to value biodiversity as an economic resource. The villagers expected that in exchange for the land, labor, food, and friendship they offered the conservation workers, they would receive benefits, such as medicine and technology. In the end, the divergent nature of each group’s expectations led to disappointment for both. West reveals how every aspect of the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area—including ideas of space, place, environment, and society—was socially produced, created by changing configurations of ideas, actions, and material relations not only in Papua New Guinea but also in other locations around the world. Complicating many of the assumptions about nature, culture, and development underlying contemporary conservation efforts, Conservation Is Our Government Now demonstrates the unique capacity of ethnography to illuminate the relationship between the global and the local, between transnational processes and individual lives.

The response of a New Guinean avifauna to conversion of forest to small‐scale agriculture

In comparison with other tropical forest land uses such as selective logging, little is known of the impacts on wildlife of the many forms of small‐scale agriculture practised across the tropics. We present density estimates, derived using a point count distance sampling method, for 31 bird species in primary forest, old abandoned gardens and active/recently abandoned gardens at two altitudes in the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area (CMWMA), Papua New Guinea. There were clear habitat differences between the six habitat/altitude categories, with, for example, clines in tree sizes and canopy cover from highest values in primary forest to lowest values in current gardens. At lower altitudes, primary forest held highest densities of most species, whereas at higher altitudes, old abandoned gardens had greater densities of many birds, especially insectivores. canoco was used to ordinate bird species with respect to major habitat gradient axes. Major axes were associated with differences in bird responses to forest conversion as well as altitudinal differences in species composition. Most important was that several insectivores (especially monarchs, fantails, etc.) formed a cluster of species associated with intact, high‐biomass forest. We suggest that most species reacted moderately to habitat changes currently occurring, and this may be due in part to the fact that only a small proportion of the landscape at CMWMA has been converted to agriculture (around 13% may be current or recently abandoned gardens). There were, however, species with comparatively low densities in agricultural habitats and these included several insectivores, the terrestrial Blue Jewel‐babbler Ptilorrhoa caerulescens, and three out of four birds of paradise.

Abundance and habitat associations of parrots at a hillforest site in Papua New Guinea

Despite New Guinea's importance for parrot species, there is an almost total lack of quantitative data on abundances or habitat associations of parrots on the island. We present such data for 15 parrot species within the species-rich (21 species) Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area, Papua New Guinea. The four most abundant parrot species made up 70% of all parrots recorded in primary forest and 76% in old gardens. Several species had estimated densities of 10?60 birds per km2 and we suggest that the most abundant species on New Guinea are at least as common as those on the surrounding islands. Two species of particular conservation importance, Palm Cockatoo Probosciger aterrimus and Pesquefs Parrot Psittrichas fulgidus had estimated densities of just one bird per km2, while several other notably rare species included Dusky Lory Pseudeos fuscata and the fig-parrots Cyclopsitta diopthalma and Psittaculirostris desmarestii. Most parrot species were strongly associated with the lower and flatter areas of the site, where mature secondary forest dominated. Again, this is a pattern shared with parrots on nearby islands, and the finding emphasizes the importance of protecting lower-altitude mature forests within the region.

Geophagy in birds of Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area, Papua New Guinea

AbstractNumerous New Guinea birds, mostly psittaciforms and columbiforms, have been recorded feeding on soil. This study documents geophagy in the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area (CMWMA) in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea. We present the first documented case of geophagy in the palm cockatoo Probosciger aterrimus and in up to 11 other species. Soil from the site where geophagy by palm cockatoos was recorded was highly weathered and acidic, with a mixture of kaolin, gibbsite, goethite and illite in the clay fraction. Analyses may support the hypothesis that soil is ingested to counterbalance the effects of toxic compounds in fruit. We suggest that the accessibility of the site (an exposed bank), rather than the nature of the soil itself, prompted its use by birds. At another site, a blue‐coloured soil on which cassowaries fed was rich in vivianite (an iron phosphate) and contained an iron‐rich smectite, and some kaolin and mica in the clay fraction. Why cassowaries feed on this particular soil is unclear, but they may obtain trace elements from it, or take advantage of its high iron or phosphorus content. Obtaining other elements, in particular calcium and sodium, may also be important. Alternatively, there may simply be an attraction to its blue colour, which also attracted the interest of local people and folklore. Birds were also reported to drink salt water within the CMWMA. Taken together, there may be quite different reasons for ingestion of minerals/soils among as many as 23 bird species from five families.

A preliminary evaluation of the sustainability of cassowary (Aves: Casuariidae) capture and trade in Papua New Guinea

AbstractWildlife capture and trade for traditional use in Papua New Guinea has led to the extirpation of cassowary in some areas and increasing pressure for trade from areas where they remain. We tested a village‐based monitoring programme to evaluate sustainability of wildlife capture and trade by households in the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area. We monitored the type and number of wildlife species captured and traded. For the most heavily traded species, dwarf cassowary, we compared estimated annual offtake of live cassowary to maximum sustainable offtake and also compared change in hunter effort over time. We found that live offtake rates of 0.06–0.07/km2 were unsustainable in one village catchment and on the threshold of unsustainable use in another. Extirpation of cassowary will probably occur in the management area unless the location or quantity of the harvest can be restricted and the husbandry of captive birds improved. Results indicate that village monitoring of cassowary offtake is feasible when done in collaboration with outside, trained observers. Such monitoring should be encouraged as a means for landowners and management agencies to collectively evaluate the sustainability of the cassowary harvest in Papua New Guinea. This study provides an example of how scientists working with local communities in tropical forests can contribute to systematic monitoring and evaluation of wildlife offtake for sustainable use.

Low-Frequency Vocalizations by Cassowaries (Casuarius Spp.)

Abstract Although some birds can detect wavelengths in the infrasound range, there has been litle evidence that birds produce very low frequencies. We made nine recordings of a captive Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius benneti) and one recording of a wild Southern Cassowary (C. casuarius) near Crater Mountain, Papua New Guinea. Both species produced sounds near the floor of the human hearing range in their pulsed booming notes: down to 32 Hz for C. casuarius and 23 Hz in C. benneti. Recordings of C. benneti indicate four levels of harmonics with the 23 Hz fundamental frequency. Such low frequencies are probably ideal for communication among widely dispersed, solitary cassowaries in dense rainforest. The discovery of very low-frequency communication by cassowaries creates new possibilities for studying those extremely secretive birds and for learning more about the evolution of avian vocalizations.

LOW-FREQUENCY VOCALIZATIONS BY CASSOWARIES (CASUARIUS SPP.)

Abstract Although some birds can detect wavelengths in the infrasound range, there has been litle evidence that birds produce very low frequencies. We made nine recordings of a captive Dwarf Cassowary (Casuarius benneti) and one recording of a wild Southern Cassowary (C. casuarius) near Crater Mountain, Papua New Guinea. Both species produced sounds near the floor of the human hearing range in their pulsed booming notes: down to 32 Hz for C. casuarius and 23 Hz in C. benneti. Recordings of C. benneti indicate four levels of harmonics with the 23 Hz fundamental frequency. Such low frequencies are probably ideal for communication among widely dispersed, solitary cassowaries in dense rainforest. The discovery of very low-frequency communication by cassowaries creates new possibilities for studying those extremely secretive birds and for learning more about the evolution of avian vocalizations.

A New Species of Callulops (Anura: Microhylidae) from Papua New Guinea

We describe a new species of Callulops from the vicinity of Crater Mountain Biological Station in south-central Papua New Guinea. The species may be distinguished from its congeners by its unique dorsal color pattern, moderately expanded digital disks bearing circummarginal grooves, smooth skin, relatively long legs, and relatively short snout. The species is currently known only from the type locality, and its nearest relatives remain obscure.

Postglacial paleoecology and inferred paleoclimate in the Engelmann spruce–subalpine fir forest of south-central British Columbia, Canada

Pollen, charcoal, and plant macrofossil analyses reveal five postglacial vegetation periods at Crater Lake, Crater Mountain, British Columbia. The first period, beginning ca. 11 400 14C yr BP was characterized by Artemisia steppe-tundra. At 9700 14C yr BP, Pinus parkland developed, and by 6700 14C yr BP was replaced by fire-successional Pinus-dominated Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir forest (ESSF). At 3800 14C yr BP, Picea became a more important element of the forest, and modern forest structure and composition developed by 1600 14C yr BP. Comparison of the fossil vegetation and fossil midge data derived from several ESSF sites in the southern interior reveals (1) similar late-Pleistocene vegetation and climate at all sites, (2) three distinct Holocene climatic stages: warm/dry, warm/moist, and cool/moist, (3) confirmation of the warm/moist period as a distinct climatic period, and (4) distinct differences in Holocene vegetation change among the sites. The driest and warmest site was most sensitive to climatic change, whereas cooler, moister sites were less sensitive. The present east–west climate gradient originated with postglacial warming at the beginning of the Holocene. Vegetation response to climate change and natural disturbance in these sites is strongly controlled by local site characteristics. These characteristics may have implications for forest, environment, and resource management.

SELECTION OF INCUBATION MOUND SITES BY THREE SYMPATRIC MEGAPODES IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Abstract I report nonrandom selection of sites for incubation mounds and interspecific sharing of mounds by three sympatric megapodes (Wattled Brush-turkey [Aepypodius arfakianus], Brown-collared Talegalla [Talegalla jobiensis] and New Guinea Megapode [Megapodius decollatus]) in the Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area in the eastern highlands of Papua New Guinea. Talegallas used mounds concurrently with New Guinea Megapodes, and renovated brush-turkey mounds after the latter species had finished breeding. New Guinea Megapodes and brush-turkeys did not use the same mounds. Analysis of 18 environmental variables at 80 mound sites and 91 random points showed that (1) mound sites of the three species differed significantly from random points. Mounds were associated with large trees and in less disturbed habitat, characteristics which contribute to the functioning of the mound. (2) Mound sites of the three species differed from each other. Brush-turkey sites were steeper, and had fewer and smaller trees i...

Geology and Mineralogy of Crater Mountain deposit, Papua New Guinea

Geology and Mineralogy of Crater Mountain deposit, Papua New Guinea