Qualibou

The Qualibou caldera on the SW side of St. Lucia provides the setting for the Pitons, two steep-sided pre-caldera lava domes that form one of the scenic highlights of the West Indies. The 3.5 x 5 km caldera formed about 32-39,000 years ago in conjunction with the eruption of the Choiseul Tuff. A larger depression has been interpreted to have formed by edifice collapse, and bathymetry has identified large submarine debris-avalanche deposits off the west coast of the island. This depression and associated volcanic vents and geothermal areas is also known as the Soufrière volcanic centre. Numerous resurgent post-caldera lava domes fill the caldera floor. The latest dated magmatic eruptions took place about 20,000 years ago, but younger undated lava domes and explosion craters are present. The only known Holocene eruptive activity was a minor phreatic eruption in the Sulfur Springs geothermal area in 1766 CE that ejected a thin ash layer over a wide area. A volcanic earthquake swarm centered 6 km ESE of the caldera occurred in 1990.