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Report on Soufriere Hills (United Kingdom) — 1 April-7 April 2009


Soufriere Hills

Smithsonian Institution / US Geological Survey
Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 1 April-7 April 2009
Managing Editor: Sally Sennert.

Please cite this report as:

Global Volcanism Program, 2009. Report on Soufriere Hills (United Kingdom) (Sennert, S, ed.). Weekly Volcanic Activity Report, 1 April-7 April 2009. Smithsonian Institution and US Geological Survey.

Weekly Report (1 April-7 April 2009)

Soufriere Hills

United Kingdom

16.72°N, 62.18°W; summit elev. 915 m

All times are local (unless otherwise noted)


MVO reported that during 27 March-3 April activity from the Soufrière Hills lava dome was at a low level. On 1 April, a small pyroclastic flow traveled E down the Tar River Valley. The Hazard Level remained at 3. On 6 April, the Washington VAAC reported that an ash plume drifting at altitudes of 2.7-4.9 km (9,000-16,000 ft) a.s.l. was seen by a pilot flying from Antigua to Beef Island, 200-300 km NW. Ash was not seen on satellite imagery.

Geological Summary. 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. The volcano is flanked by Pleistocene complexes to the north and south. English's Crater, a 1-km-wide crater breached widely to the east by edifice collapse, was formed about 2000 years ago as a result of the youngest of several collapse events producing submarine debris-avalanche deposits. Block-and-ash flow and surge deposits associated with dome growth predominate in flank deposits, including those from an eruption that likely preceded the 1632 CE settlement of the island, allowing cultivation on recently devegetated land to near the summit. Non-eruptive seismic swarms occurred at 30-year intervals in the 20th century, but no historical eruptions were recorded 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.

Sources: Washington Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC), Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO)