montserrat volcanic eruption

Montserrat volcanic eruptionLO: to produce a case study of the

causes, effects (long and short term) and responses to the eruption

What to include in your case study1. Describe the location of Montserrat- you could include a sketch map2. What caused the eruption? 3. List the Primary and Secondary hazards of the Soufriere Hills volcano4. Which part of the island was evacuated first, and when did this take

place ? 5. What is a pyroclastic flow ? 6. Describe the long and short term effects of the eruption7. How is the hazard of the volcanic activity 'managed' ? 8. Why is the fact that the south of the island has been most badly hit a

particular problem for the people of Montserrat ? 9. What role did the British have to play in the evacuation of the island?

• The Soufriere Hills volcano began to erupt in 1995 following a long period of inactivity (hadn't erupted for 350 years). Until the eruptions it was 'The Emerald Isle' of the Caribbean. The eruptions forced the evacuation of the capital Plymouth and the part of the island that was actually the most densely population - and for good reason as it had the best advantages for settlement. Pyroclastic flows killed some of the people who returned against advice, and have also created an area of new land as the debris has been deposited off the coast. In some places, the flows travelled out over the ocean for some distance before stopping.

"Hot, hot, hot" the Soca anthem by Montserratian Arrow, now takes on a new meaning.....

Photograph by Adam Goss http://people.cornell.edu/pages/arg32/watson/montserrat.html and used with permission

What is the future for Montserrat?


In August of 1997, a series of pyroclastic flows and lahars (mudflows) destroyed the capital city of Plymouth


Photographs from MVO http://www.mvo.ms/ and used with permission

Coral reefs have been damaged and fish stocks affected

Most of the islands small businesses have been forced to close

Photograph from MVO http://www.mvo.ms/ and used with permission

Nearly 8,000 people out of a total population of 12,000 left the island for nearby Antigua, some went to the USA and Britain.

Today, Montserratians are rebuilding their country with help from the British Government. Slowly, people are moving out of the shelters or back from abroad to resettle in developments constructed in the North.


The north of the island remains untouched by the volcano.



What would this Montserrat resident have to say about the future?

Think about …

Social problems

Economic problems

Environmental issues

What are the short term priorities?

What are the long term needs?

What to include in your case study1. Describe the location of Montserrat- you could include a sketch map2. What caused the eruption? 3. List the Primary and Secondary hazards of the Soufriere Hills volcano4. Which part of the island was evacuated first, and when did this take

place ? 5. What is a pyroclastic flow ? 6. Describe the long and short term effects of the eruption7. How is the hazard of the volcanic activity 'managed' ? 8. Why is the fact that the south of the island has been most badly hit a

particular problem for the people of Montserrat ? 9. What role did the British have to play in the evacuation of the island?

What to include in your case study1. Describe the location of Montserrat- you could include a sketch map2. What caused the eruption? 3. Which part of the island was evacuated first, and when did this take

place ? 4. What is a pyroclastic flow ? 5. Describe the long and short term effects of the eruption6. How is the hazard of the volcanic activity 'managed' ? 7. Why is the fact that the south of the island has been most badly hit

a particular problem for the people of Montserrat ? 8. What role did the British have to play in the evacuation of the

island?

KEY FACTS

Think of these as 'bullet points' - a useful REVISION technique is to try to reduce any topic down to just 10 bullet points which contain the main aspects of what it is you want to get across....

KEY FACTS

• Montserrat is a British colony, part of the Antilles Island Arc of the Caribbean. It is at the border of the North and South American plates with the Caribbean plate

• On 18th July 1995, the Soufriere Hills volcano came back to life and started erupting, threatening everyone on the 12km x 8km island

• Pyroclastic flows and ash falls started to threaten the capital city of Plymouth, and the surrounding area. The southern half of the island (previously the most populated area) had to be evacuated - over 8000 people left the island.

• The eruptions occur because the area is a place where 3 plates meet. The North American plate is subducted beneath the Caribbean plate. The molten rock rises to the surface. Domes formed in the crater of the Chance's Peak volcano, and when these collapsed, pyroclastic flows flowed down the Tar River valley.

• Hazards from the volcano included pyroclastic flows, lahars (rapidly moving slurry of ash and water from volcanic debris), ash and tephra fall, earthquakes and volcanic gases (including carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide)

• The capital was abandoned and the airport had to be closed. The tourist trade declined. • The theoretical risk from the volcano can be expressed as RISK = PEOPLE, PROPERTY x HAZARD x

VULNERABILITY• Instruments were put in place around the volcano to give advance warning of earth movements, and tiltmeters

were put in place to check for pressure building inside the volcano; gas detectors were put in place • People were evacuated from the highest risk area: the Exclusion Zone • There were devastating effects on the population: the evacuation of the capital city meant the island lost all the

main services, such as schools, hospitals and government offices, tourists stopped coming, the rice processing industry collapsed, unemployment rose from less than 10% to 50%, people suffered psychological problems, skills shortage as people left

montserrat volcanic eruption

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