Montserrat, Cradle of Volcanology for the New Millennium

Simon Young, Steve Sparks, Barry Voight, Gill Norton, Peter Dunkley and MVO Staff

Introduction

Volcanology is a young science which advances not steadily but in jumps
The raw material of volcanology is an eruption, and eruptions are relatively few and far between
Well-monitored eruptions are even more unusual – due to access problems, short duration or financial constraints

A brief history

Volcanology was born as a science after the 1902 eruption of Mt Pelee on Martinique, which killed about 30,000 people
Frank Perret was a pioneer field volcanologist, taking measurements and making observations on erupting volcanoes in the 20s and 30s (including several years spent on Montserrat)

More history

Apart from Etna and Hawaii, few volcanoes were studied closely enough during eruptions to produce major forward steps in scientific understanding
Mt St Helens in 1980 changed all that – and proved a turning point in the development of monitoring techniques
The 1991 eruption of Mt Pinatubo in the Philippines proved the benefit of good monitoring

Soufrière Hills erupts

Driven by a desire to better understand the volcano and thus enhance the basis for crisis management decisions, monitoring and research during the SHV eruption has continued at a high level
Modern monitoring equipment and rapid evolution of new ideas testable at the SHV laboratory have combined to make the eruption a landmark event for the science of volcanology

The evolution of lava domes

Key findings have been made in this area as follows:

degassing and crystallisation of ascending magma controls eruption style
cyclic dome growth is controlled by viscosity and pressure changes in the upper conduit
geophysical signals give insight to important conduit processes

Pyroclastic flows and surges

Documentation of hundreds of pyroclastic flows and surges from dome collapse and explosive fountain collapse has led to increased understanding of formation, travel and deposition processes
New phenomenon of secondary pyroclastic flows formed by rapid sedimentation of surges has been recognized

Sector collapse and ‘blast’

Documentation of increasing edifice instability and eventual collapse is first such example at a small scale, relevant to many volcanoes around the world
Associated debris avalanche and pyroclastic density current were studied within hours of emplacement and much has been learnt

The bigger picture

The triggering of the SHV eruption by influx of hot basaltic magma into a crystal-rich andesitic chamber has become the type example of this sort of behaviour
The escalation of the eruption over the first 2½ years and then sudden shutdown prompted re-evaluation of some basic assumptions about eruption processes

More to come

As the eruption continues, so does the scientific progress
Established monitoring techniques have a longer baseline and are thus more useful
New techniques are being developed in-house (e.g. continuous gas monitoring)
New borehole observatory will provide even better seismic and deformation information

An important place in volcanology

In addition to the important science that has taken place on Montserrat, the benefits of MVO’s partnerships with researchers around the world is seen in the dissemination of scientific and hazard management information
MVO-based research has produced almost 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and around 250 conference presentations in the past 6 years – a enviable record

The future

Scientific interest will continue long after the eruption is over
However, partnerships must be fostered between MVO and overseas academic institutions to ensure full value of scientific research for Montserrat
The experience in hazard and risk management is as important as the scientific strides, and should be more widely pursued and published

© Simon Young, Steve Sparks, Barry Voight, Gill Norton, Peter Dunkley and MVO Staff, 2003.

HTML last revised 14 February, 2003.

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