Volcano Type: Stratovolcano
Volcano Status: Historical
Last Known Eruption: 2010 (continuing)
Summit Elevation: 915 m 3,002 feet
Latitude: 16.72°N 16°43’0″N
Longitude: 62.18°W 62°11’0″W
Montserrat’s Soufrière Hills volcano is a typical subduction volcano. Its existence is due to the subduction of the Atlantic under the Caribbean plate. Its first historic eruption started in 1995 and is still ongoing. During this eruption, the former capital of the island, Plymouth, as well as a large sector of the southern part of the island including its former airport have been devastated by pyroclastic flows and much of it is now buried beneath a thick layer of ash and mud.
Lava Flow
The complex, dominantly andesitic Soufrière Hills volcano occupies the southern half of the island of Montserrat. The summit area consists primarily of a series of lava domes emplaced along an ESE-trending zone. English’s Crater, a 1-km-wide crater breached widely to the east, was formed during an eruption about 4000 years ago in which the summit collapsed, producing a large submarine debris avalanche. Block-and-ash flow and surge deposits associated with dome growth predominate in flank deposits at Soufrière Hills. Non-eruptive seismic swarms occurred at 30-year intervals in the 20th century, but with the exception of a 17th-century eruption that produced the Castle Peak lava dome, no historical eruptions were recorded on Montserrat until 1995. Long-term small-to-moderate ash eruptions beginning in that year were later accompanied by lava-dome growth and pyroclastic flows that forced evacuation of the southern half of the island and ultimately destroyed the capital city of Plymouth, causing major social and economic disruption.
Montserrat Eruption
Soufriere Hills volcano is a dominantly andesitic structure located on the small Caribbean island of Montserrat which is located in the north section of the Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc. The summit of the volcano had a pre-eruption height of 915m and is composed of the remains of a series of lava domes emplaced by previous eruptions over the last 300,000 years. The base of the volcanic complex is nearly 1km below sea level and has a diameter of over 25km. No historical activity had been documented, apart from the 17C eruption which emplaced Castle Peak lava dome. Increased volcanoseismic activity damaged buildings in the 1890s, 1930s and 1960s.
Originally posted 2010-08-13 04:04:50.
