La Soufrière (volcano)

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La Soufrière (Vincentian Creole: Soufray) ("The Sulfurer") or Soufrière Saint Vincent is an active volcano on the island of Saint Vincent in the Windward Islands of the Caribbean. Many volcanoes in the Caribbean are named Soufrière (French: "sulphur outlet"). These include Soufrière Hills on Montserrat and La Grande Soufrière on Guadeloupe, the subject of Werner Herzog's 1977 film La Soufrière.

Geography and structure

At 1,234 m (4,049 ft), La Soufrière is the highest peak on Saint Vincent as well as the highest point in the island country of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.[1] Soufrière is a stratovolcano with a crater lake and is the island's youngest and northernmost volcano.

Eruptive history

Volcanic dust from Mount Soufriere, 1902

La Soufrière violently erupted in 1718, 1812, 1902, 1971, and 1979. The Saint Vincent eruption of 6 May 1902, just hours before the eruption of Mount Pelée on Martinique, killed 1,680 people. The death zone, where almost all persons were killed, was close to entirely Carib. This last large remnant of Carib culture was destroyed,[2] the island of Dominica's Carib Territory being much smaller in comparison at that time.

The last recorded eruption was in April 1979; due to advance warning there were no casualties.

A famous painting by J. M. W. Turner of the eruption on 13 April 1812 belongs to the Victoria Gallery & Museum, University of Liverpool.[3] [4] [5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "La Soufrière" on Peakbagger.com Retrieved 1 October 2011
  2. ↑ Frederick Albion Ober, Our West Indian Neighbors: The Islands of the Caribbean Sea, " America's Mediterranean", 2010 republish of 1908 book by Nabu Press ISBN 978-1-145-31194-7 book
  3. ↑ Victoria Art Gallery Archived 21 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine. on view July 2015
  4. ↑ ‘The Eruption of the Souffrier Mountains, in the Island of St Vincent, at Midnight, on the 30th of April, 1812, from a Sketch Taken at the Time by Hugh P. Keane, Esqre’, Joseph Mallord William Turner, exhibited 1815 | Tate
  5. ↑ The Eruption of the Soufrière Mountains in the Island of St Vincent, 30 April 1812 | Art UK


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