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Mount Pelée

Pelee

Stratovolcano · France · 1372m

Mount Pelée towers above the city of St. Pierre in northern Martinique a century after the catastrophic eruption that destroyed the city in 1902. Pelée is the most active volcano of the Lesser Antilles arc, with more than 20 major eruptions during the past 5000 years. Lava domes formed during the 1902 eruption and one in 1929 form the present summit, which was constructed within a large scarp visible on the lower left horizon that formed when the volcano collapsed about 9000 years ago.
Mount Pelée towers above the city of St. Pierre in northern Martinique a century after the catastrophic eruption that destroyed the city in 1902. Pelée is the most active volcano of the Lesser Antilles arc, with more than 20 major eruptions during the past 5000 years. Lava domes formed during the 1902 eruption and one in 1929 form the present summit, which was constructed within a large scarp visible on the lower left horizon that formed when the volcano collapsed about 9000 years ago. · Photo: Photo by Lee Siebert, 2002 (Smithsonian Institution). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Stratovolcano
Country
France
Region
Middle America-Caribbean Volcanic Regions / Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc
Elevation
1372m
Coordinates
14.809, -61.166
Last eruption
1932
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Oceanic crust (< 15 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite
Geological summary

Montagne Pelée forms the northern end of the island of Martinique. Three major edifice failures since the late Pleistocene, the last about 9,000 years ago, have left large scarps open to the SW inside which the modern volcano has been constructed. More than 20 large eruptions have occurred here during the past 5,000 years. Extensive pyroclastic-flow deposits, incised by steep-walled ravines, mantle the slopes of the volcano. The l'Etang Sec summit crater is filled by two lava domes emplaced during the 1902 and 1929 eruptions. Moderate phreatic or phreatomagmatic eruptions in the Upper Rivière Claire valley were recorded in 1792 and 1851-52. The catastrophic 1902 eruption, which destroyed the city of St. Pierre, became the type-example of Pelean eruptions and marked the onset of modern volcanological studies of pyroclastic density currents.

From Wikipedia

Mount Pelée or Mont Pelée is an active stratovolcano at the northern end of Martinique, an island and French overseas department in the Lesser Antilles Volcanic Arc of the Caribbean. Its volcanic cone is composed of stratified layers of hardened ash and solidified lava. Its most recent eruption was in 1932.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
8210 BCE~7872 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 47872 BCE~7534 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?7534 BCE~7196 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?7196 BCE~6858 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?6858 BCE~6520 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 46520 BCE~6182 BCE · 2 eruptions · max VEI 45844 BCE~5506 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?5506 BCE~5168 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 44830 BCE~4492 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?4154 BCE~3816 BCE · 2 eruptions · max VEI 43816 BCE~3478 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 43478 BCE~3140 BCE · 3 eruptions · max VEI 43140 BCE~2803 BCE · 2 eruptions · max VEI ?2803 BCE~2465 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 42465 BCE~2127 BCE · 4 eruptions · max VEI 42127 BCE~1789 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1451 BCE~1113 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1113 BCE~775 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?775 BCE~437 BCE · 5 eruptions · max VEI 4437 BCE~99 BCE · 2 eruptions · max VEI 499 BCE~239 · 4 eruptions · max VEI 4239~577 · 3 eruptions · max VEI 4577~915 · 4 eruptions · max VEI 4915~1253 · 1 eruptions · max VEI ?1253~1591 · 4 eruptions · max VEI 41591~1929 · 5 eruptions · max VEI 48210 BCE5844 BCE3140 BCE775 BCE1591

Detailed timeline

  1. 1929VEI 3Observed
    1929-09-16 – 1932-12-01
  2. 1902VEI 4Observed
    1902-04-23 – 1905-10-05
    Rivière Blanche and summit crater
  3. 1851VEI 2Observed
    1851-08-05 – 1852-02-01
    Upper Rivière Claire valley (900 m elevation)
  4. 1792VEI 1Observed
    1792-01-22 – 1792-04
    Upper Rivière Claire valley
  5. 1635VEI ?Observed
    1635 – Ongoing
  6. 1460 (±20 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    1460 – Ongoing
  7. 1370VEI ?Geological estimate
    1370 – Ongoing
  8. 1340 (±50 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    1340 – Ongoing
  9. 1260 (±20 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    1260 – Ongoing
  10. 1190VEI ?Geological estimate
    1190 – Ongoing
  11. 910VEI ?Geological estimate
    910 – Ongoing
  12. 890 (±100 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    890 – Ongoing
  13. 720VEI ?Geological estimate
    720 – Ongoing
  14. 650VEI ?Geological estimate
    650 – Ongoing
  15. 450VEI 4Geological estimate
    450 – Ongoing
  16. 350 (±75 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    350 – Ongoing
  17. 300VEI 4Geological estimate
    300 – Ongoing
  18. 220 (±75 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    220 – Ongoing
  19. 130VEI 4Geological estimate
    130 – Ongoing
  20. 50VEI 4Geological estimate
    50 – Ongoing
  21. 10 (±50 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    10 – Ongoing
  22. 200 BCEVEI 4Geological estimate
    BCE 200 – Ongoing
  23. 300 BCE (±100 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 300 – Ongoing
  24. 440 BCEVEI 4Geological estimate
    BCE 440 – Ongoing
  25. 590 BCE (±200 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    BCE 590 – Ongoing
  26. 600 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 600 – Ongoing
  27. 620 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 620 – Ongoing
  28. 730 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 730 – Ongoing
  29. 890 BCE (±50 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 890 – Ongoing
  30. 1390 BCE (±150 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 1390 – Ongoing
  31. 2100 BCE (±200 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 2100 – Ongoing
  32. 2280 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 2280 – Ongoing
  33. 2360 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 2360 – Ongoing
  34. 2430 BCEVEI 4Geological estimate
    BCE 2430 – Ongoing
  35. 2460 BCE (±100 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 2460 – Ongoing
  36. 2660 BCE (±200 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    BCE 2660 – Ongoing
  37. 3020 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 3020 – Ongoing
  38. 3120 BCE (±200 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 3120 – Ongoing
  39. 3250 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 3250 – Ongoing
  40. 3290 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 3290 – Ongoing
  41. 3430 BCE (±75 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    BCE 3430 – Ongoing
  42. 3500 BCE (±200 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    BCE 3500 – Ongoing
  43. 3820 BCEVEI 4Geological estimate
    BCE 3820 – Ongoing
  44. 3930 BCE (±100 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 3930 – Ongoing
  45. 4510 BCE (±500 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 4510 – Ongoing
  46. 5500 BCE (±200 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    BCE 5500 – Ongoing
  47. 5800 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 5800 – Ongoing
  48. 6220 BCE (±200 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    BCE 6220 – Ongoing
    Vent slightly south of present summit
  49. 6450 BCEVEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 6450 – Ongoing
    Vent slightly south of present summit
  50. 6610 BCE (±150 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    BCE 6610 – Ongoing
  51. 7050 BCE (±1000 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 7050 – Ongoing
    ESE flank (Sans Nom lava dome)
  52. 7320 BCE (±1730 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 7320 – Ongoing
  53. 7750 BCE (±500 yrs)VEI ?Geological estimate
    BCE 7750 – Ongoing
    ESE flank (Aileron lava dome)
  54. 8210 BCE (±200 yrs)VEI 4Geological estimate
    BCE 8210 – Ongoing

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.