VolcanicDegassing

St Vincent

Why does it always rain (ash) on me?

May 2, 2018
Why does it always rain (ash) on me?
Volcanic ash samples collected on Barbados, deposited after eruptions of St Vincent in 1812 (small vial) and 1902. British Geological Survey Archives.

On May 1st, 1812, a remarkable weather system reached Barbados. ‘At half-past twelve AM a heavy dark cloud obscured the heavens completely. [..]  at half past one a sandy grit began to fall in small quantities‘. Through the night there was the sound of explosions and thunder, and by late afternoon, Barbados had been blanketed in several centimetres depth of ash. The origin of the ̵ ...[Read More]

There’s (volcanic) dust in the archives

August 14, 2014
There’s (volcanic) dust in the archives
Volcanic ash samples collected on Barbados, deposited after eruptions of St Vincent in 1812 (small vial) and 1902. British Geological Survey Archives.

There’s not much that beats the thrill of discovery.. particularly when it turns up in your own backyard.  This summer, I have been on the hunt for records and reports of the 1902 eruptions of St Vincent, a lush volcanic island in the Eastern Caribbean. There are indeed many reports from this eruption, carefully documented in official records from the time. But, more surprisingly, there are ...[Read More]

Friday Field Photo – St Vincent, 1902

May 30, 2014

Today’s field photo is by Tempest Anderson, of the ‘Roseau Dry River flowing with Boiling Mud’, a picture taken in the aftermath of the May 1902 eruptions of the Soufrière of St Vincent.  The full published caption explains the origins of this boiling mud – a phenomenon we now call a lahar: ‘This is a small stream in the Wallibu Basin. When the water undermines the ba ...[Read More]

The destruction of St Pierre, Martinique: 8 May, 1902

May 8, 2014

May 8th marks the anniversary of one of the worst volcanic disasters on record: the destruction of St Pierre, Martinique, in 1902, at the climax of the eruption of Mont Pelée. Below are a snapshot of images from one of the contemporary accounts of the disaster, ‘The volcano’s deadly work‘, written by Charles Morris in 1902. This eruption followed just one day after a similarly de ...[Read More]