Table of Contents
What shape is Mount Pelee?
cone
Situated 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Fort-de-France, it reaches an elevation of 4,583 feet (1,397 metres). Pelée, whose name is a French term meaning “Bald,” consists of layers of volcanic ash and lavas. Its gently sloping cone is scored with ravines and supports luxuriant forests.
What plate boundary is Mount Pelee on?
Mount Pelee is the result of a subduction zone. It lies in Martinique where the Caribbean Plate and the South American Plate form a convergent boundary. This is the result of compression. The boundary near Mount Pelee is an oceanic:oceanic convergent plate boundary.
How is Mount Pelee monitored?
The seismic network of the OVSM – IPGP used for monitoring Mount Pelée. Eight long-period (LP) earthquakes were detected in December 2020 during the stronger increase in volcanic seismic activity.
Is Mount Pelée active today?
Current status The volcano is currently active. A few volcano tectonic earthquakes occur on Martinique every year, and Mount Pelée is under continuous watch by geophysicists and volcanologists (IPGP). Relatively minor phreatic (steam) eruptions that occurred in 1792 and 1851 were evidence that the volcano was active.
Is Mount Pelée a shield volcano?
Mount Pelee is a common stratovolcano, composted of many layers of lava flows and fragmented volcanic debris. The current cone formed in the last 3000 years after a previous cone collapsed in an eruption similar to Mount St. Helens. They’re some of the most dangerous eruptions in the world.
How tall was the Tower of Mount Pelee after the eruption?
The tower of Mount Pelée rose after the eruption, eventually reaching 350 meters above the crater rim. Credit: Angelo Heilprin, public domain. Throughout the summer of 1902, Pelée’s unrest continued.
What are the different phases of Mount Pelee?
Geological history. Volcanologists have identified three different phases in the evolution of Mount Pelée volcano: initial, intermediate, and modern. In an initial phase, called the “Paléo-Pelée” stage, Mount Pelee was a common stratovolcano.
Where is Mount Pelee in the Lesser Antilles?
Mount Pelée (pronounced /pəˈleɪ/; French: Montagne Pelée meaning “bald mountain” or “peeled” mountain”) is an active volcano at the northern end of Martinique, an island and French overseas department in the Lesser Antilles island arc of the Caribbean. In an initial phase, called the “Paléo-Pelée” stage, Mount Pelee was a common stratovolcano.
What kind of volcano is Mt Pelee in Martinique?
Mt. Pelee, a stratovolcano made mostly of pyroclastic rocks, is on the north end of the island of Martinique. Martinique is part of the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc. The arc is formed by the subduction of the North American Plate under the Caribbean Plate.