Skip to main content
← Back to map
⇄ Compare

L'Échelle

Soufriere Guadeloupe

Stratovolcano · France · 1467m

La Soufrière volcano, the highest in the West Indies, is a complex stratovolcano that dominates the southern end of Basse-Terre, the western half of the butterfly-shaped island of Guadeloupe. A steam-and-ash column rises above the summit in this October 1976 view from the NE at Pointe-a-Pitre, on the isthmus connecting the island segments. The peak at the left (above the sailboat), l'Echelle, is a young cinder cone; the summit itself is a 500-year-old lava dome, and remnants of older collapsed volcanoes are located to its right.
La Soufrière volcano, the highest in the West Indies, is a complex stratovolcano that dominates the southern end of Basse-Terre, the western half of the butterfly-shaped island of Guadeloupe. A steam-and-ash column rises above the summit in this October 1976 view from the NE at Pointe-a-Pitre, on the isthmus connecting the island segments. The peak at the left (above the sailboat), l'Echelle, is a young cinder cone; the summit itself is a 500-year-old lava dome, and remnants of older collapsed volcanoes are located to its right. · Photo: Photo by Richard Fiske, 1976 (Smithsonian Institution). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Stratovolcano
Country
France
Region
Middle America-Caribbean Volcanic Regions / Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc
Elevation
1467m
Coordinates
16.044, -61.664
Last eruption
1977
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite
Geological summary

La Soufrière de la Guadeloupe volcano occupies the southern end of Basse-Terre, the western half of the island of Guadeloupe. Construction of the Grand Découverte volcano about 200,000 years ago was followed a Plinian eruption and caldera formation about 100,000 years later, and then by construction of the Carmichaël volcano within the caldera. Two episodes of edifice collapse and associated large debris avalanches formed the Carmichaël and Amic craters about 11,500 and 3,100 years ago, respectively. The present volcano subsequently grew within the Amic crater. The summit consists of a flat-topped lava dome, and several other domes occur on the southern flanks. Six phreatic explosive eruptions since 1690 opened radial fractures across the summit lava dome. The phreatic eruptions in 1976-77 caused severe economic disruption when Basse-Terre, the island's capital city immediately below the volcano, was evacuated.

From Wikipedia

Citerne is a French volcano located in Guadeloupe, on the southeast flank of La Grande Soufrière.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
7490 BCE~7174 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?6543 BCE~6228 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?3388 BCE~3073 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?2126 BCE~1810 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1810 BCE~1495 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1495 BCE~1179 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 31179 BCE~864 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?864 BCE~548 BCE · 2 eruptions · max VEI 383~398 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1345~1660 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 41660~1976 · 8 eruptions · max VEI 27490 BCE5281 BCE2757 BCE548 BCE1660

Detailed timeline

  1. 1976VEI 2Observed
    1976-07-08 – 1977-03-01
    SE side of summit (Gouffre Tarissan)
  2. 1956VEI 1Observed
    1956-10-19 – 1956-10-27
    ESE side, Napoléon Crater
  3. 1903VEI 2Geological estimate
    1903 – Ongoing
    SE side summit dome
  4. 1836VEI 2Observed
    1836-12-03 – 1837-02-12
    SE to NW sides of summit dome
  5. 1812VEI 1Observed
    1812-04 – 1812-05-10
    E-W fissure on summit dome
  6. 1797VEI 2Observed
    1797-09-29 – 1798-04-26
    NNW side of summit dome
  7. 1696VEI 1Observed
    1696-04 – Ongoing
    North side of summit dome
  8. 1690VEI 1Observed
    1690-04-05 – Ongoing
    Gouffre Dupuy, Gouffre Tarissan
  9. 1530 (±30 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    1530 – Ongoing
    La Soufrière
  10. 370 (±75 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    370 – Ongoing
    La Citerne and L'Eschelle cones
  11. 580 BCEVEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 580 – Ongoing
    South flank (Morne Lenglet)
  12. 820 BCE (±100 yrs)VEI 3Geological estimate
    BCE 820 – Ongoing
    Morne Amic ?
  13. 980 BCE (±200 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 980 – Ongoing
  14. 1310 BCE (±150 yrs)VEI 3Geological estimate
    BCE 1310 – Ongoing
    Morne Amic
  15. 1810 BCE (±150 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 1810 – Ongoing
  16. 2050 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 2050 – Ongoing
  17. 3310 BCE (±150 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 3310 – Ongoing
    South flank (Gros Fougas)
  18. 6450 BCE (±150 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 6450 – Ongoing
  19. 7490 BCE (±150 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 7490 – Ongoing

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.