Soufriere Hills is formed by a convergent plate boundary; where the Atlantic Plate is subducting under the Caribbean plate. In the plate tectonics, a convergent boundry is a deforming region where two or more tectonic plates of lithosphere move toward each other and collide. What caused the Soufriere Hills volcano to erupt? Molten rock or magma gathers under the volcano until the pressure is so great that it is forced up through a vent towards the surface of the earth.
How was Soufriere Hills formed? The stratovolcano of Soufriere Hills is part of the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc, formed by the subduction of the North Atlantic plate under the Caribbean plate. This region has several active volcanoes, many of which erupting causing significant disruption in the twentieth century.
Montserrat is part of the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc, which is formed by the subduction of the Atlantic tectonic plate below the Caribbean plate. Most of the islands in the arc have andesitic volcanoes, which tend to produce explosive eruptions and lava domes.
Montserrat, a tiny volcanic island barely km2 in area, is part of a chain of volcanic islands making up the Lesser Antilles in the eastern part of the Caribbean basin. The islands form an arc just west of the convergent part of the plate boundary separating the Caribbean plate and the North American plate.
A major eruption in killed 19 people, devastating the south of the island and burying the capital, Plymouth. More than half the population left. Once an economic mainstay, tourism was badly hit and Montserrat has relied heavily upon British and EU aid, with a new airport inaugurated in Jamaica is believed to be the product of prehistoric volcanoes.
The central ridge of the Blue and John Crow Mountains range comprises metamorphic rock that has pushed through surrounding limestone during the land ascent from the sea floor. Its existence is due to the subduction of the Atlantic under the Caribbean plate. Its first historic eruption started in and is still ongoing. A faint, tan plume of ash drifted west from the Soufriere Hills Volcano on. Located on the Caribbean Island of Montserrat, the volcano had been quiet since until it erupted spectacularly starting on.
Many homes and buildings have been destroyed, including the only hospital, the airport and many roads. The destroying of the south forced people north which as an LEDC was not as developed and did not have the essential services to suit the amount of people living in the settlement.
What was the impact of the eruption? The cloud moves at speeds of mph, obliterating and incinerating everything in its path. Montserrats population have had their lives completely changed. Their economic,administrative and cultural capital lies in ruins like a modern Pompeii.
Jobs,schools and community activities have been disrupted. At one point 5, people were living in temporary shelters in the north, in some cases for over two years. The north of the island had few settlements of any size and found it difficult to cope with the influx from the south.
Salem is now being repopulated and is being developed together with St Johns as new population centres. The following are some of the problems :.
Once the volcano was deemed dangerous to life. Evacuaions plans and Hazard maps were put into place. The maps contained areas of increasing risk including the highest risk area- the exclusion zone. As the eruption progressed the zones were modified until the southern two thirds of the island was delcared an excluson zone. Why not try our other Montserrat entry, World volcano section or volcanic hazards page. When was this eruption? Eruption Style The volcano is a strato-volcano.
Residents allowed to return during quiet phase. March—Sept First pyroclastic flows down the Tar River valley, creating a new delta in the sea. April South of island evacuated. Plymouth abandoned. In this part of the exercise you will compare the Soufriere Hills with Mount St.
First, let's take a closer look at the island, and it's tectonic setting. Below, you can examine a larger-scale map of the tectonic setting, and a cross-section. The scale is the same as the scale used for the maps and cross-sections of Mount St. Helens and the Island of Hawaii. Earthquakes in the vicinity of Montserrat originate at depths of about 70 km, near the top of the westward-subducting North American plate.
The volcanic material making up Montserrat is mainly andesite. Montserrat actually consists of three main volcanic centers, 1 a northern center, which appears as the bit of high ground near the northern tip of the island, 2 the Central Hills, and 3 the Soufriere Hills.
Only the Soufriere Hills are currently active. The flanks of the Soufriere Hills consist of various pyroclastic materials and remobilized pyroclastic material landslides, lahars. The lava dome produced in the most recent eruption, and surrounding older lava domes, consist of obsidian and pumice.
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