Geological Hazards Research Unit, University of Wales, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK (Newsletter editor). Telephone 44-1792-295522. Facsimile 44-1792-205556.
s.j.freeth@swan.ac.ukInstitute for Study of the Earth's Interior, Okayama University, Misasa, Tottori-ken 682-01, Japan (Secretary). Telephone 81-858-43-1215. Facsimile 81-858-43-3450.
kusakabe@misasa.okayama-u.ac.jp
The Commission on Volcanic Lakes was set up initially as the International Working Group on Crater Lakes (WGCL) in the aftermath of the Lake Nyos disaster (Cameroon) in which 1700 people were killed when a cloud of toxic gas was released from the lake in August 1986. The magnitude and unexpected nature of the Lake Nyos disaster so shocked many of the scientists who participated in the initial investigation, that a decision was made in March 1987 (during a conference convened in Yaounde by the Cameroonian Government) to set up an international working group. The primary purpose of this Working Group was to foster contact between a very diverse group of scientists with backgrounds in many different disciplines and to this end there was discussion of a regular Newsletter and the possibility of convening a further meeting in a couple of years time. The first formal meeting of the IWGCL was held in Nancy in September 1990. The latest results from Lake Nyos were presented at that meeting and it became clear to all concerned that the lake was being recharged with gas at an alarming rate, so much so that there was a real possibility of another major disaster within the next few years. This gave further impetus to the Group which decided to set itself up on a more formal basis and to seek affiliation with IAVCEI and with other relevant bodies, such as IAHS. The Group also decided to extend its membership to all scientists with an interest in Crater Lakes.
The main objectives of the Commission, then, are a reflection of its origins. They are: (1) to encourage international and inter-disciplinary collaboration, (2) to facilitate the rapid communication of results and ideas between members and (3) to prepare a definitive catalogue of lakes in volcanic areas (partly with a view to identifying potentially hazardous lakes).
The Commission on Volcanic Lakes has 96 members from 22 countries on its current mailing list. The interests of the members are exceedingly varied. There are members who are primarily geophysicists, oceanographers, palynologists, sedimentologists, chemists, physicists, zoologists, engineers, toxicologists or anthropologists, although many members also would regard themselves as geochemists, volcanologists, or limnologists
The Commission has a Newsletter, now in its 10th year, which is distributed once a year (in March). Its purpose is to provide a means whereby reports on work in progress and the initial results obtained from field studies can be circulated to members in an informal form. It also contains reports on recent meetings together with news of future events and of other matters of common concern. There is a two-yearly fee of US $20.00 used to support the production and distribution of the newsletter, which can be paid in any convertible currency to either the editor or the secretary.
The Commission's 3rd meeting was organized by S. Fazlullin and held in Vladivostok, Russia, as part of the 8th International Symposium on Water-Rock Interaction (WRI-8) during the period from 15 to 26 August 1995, followed by a field trip to crater lakes in Kamchatka. Altogether 11 papers were presented in one of the WRI-8 sessions "Physical-chemical processes in crater lakes". The Extended Abstracts volume of WRI-8 was published as Proceedings of WRI-8 (Y.K. Kharaka and O.V. Chudaev, eds.) from A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, in 1995. The meeting report can be seen in our Newsletter No. 9, 1996.
The fourth meeting was organized by J.C. Varekamp and G.L. Rowe and held in Crater Lake, Oregon from 4 to 9 September 1996, as part of a multidisciplinary Chapman Conference supported by AGU. The meeting was attended by 68 members with presentations in geochemistry, hydrology, limnology, microbiology, economic geology, and volcanology. After the meeting, some participants visited northern California to observe acidic fluids produced by geothermal activity at Lassen Volcanic Park, while others examined hyper-acidic mine drainage at Iron Mountain. The conference report can be seen in EOS, 78, 237-238 (1997), contributed by the organizers. A special issue for the papers presented during the meeting and related papers is being edited by the organizers of the meeting as "Crater Lakes and Related Topics" in Jour. Volcano. Geotherm. Res.
The fifth official meeting of the Commission will be synchronized with the 2000 IAVCEI General Assembly in Indonesia.