The following condenses a scientific report of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) for 4-18 January when low volcanic and seismic activity prevailed but dome growth continued.

Visual observations. Activity was dominated by small rockfalls and pyroclastic flows from the new dome growing in the scar left after the 26 December 1997 collapse (BGVN 22:12). Rockfalls were generally located in the upper part of the White River, but some were seen in the Tar River valley; talus accumulated in a depression near the remains of Galway's Wall. The rockfalls produced dilute ash clouds that generally drifted W.

Heavy rain on 11 January generated hot mudflows on the NW flank (Belham River valley). Logs up to 6 m long and rocks up to 60 cm in diameter were transported in the muddy water. The water temperature ~1 hour after the peak in activity was 27.4°C, only about 9°C above air temperature; however, rocks from the main flow on the golf course were still steaming and hot to the touch. Small ash clouds were produced near Molyneaux as recent deposits on the sides of the river valley collapsed.

A helicopter flight around the SW flank on 12 January allowed observation of the 26 December collapse scar, where a new dome with a steep front face and extensive talus slope had grown. Clear weather on 12 and 13 January revealed continuous ash and steam venting; the ash columns rose 2.4-3.0 km.

Seismicity. During 4-18 January seismicity was relatively low and dominated by rockfall signals. Occasional isolated hybrid swarms and one small volcano-tectonic earthquake swarm occurred, but they were not followed by any noticeable increase in surface activity. Short intervals of increased seismic amplitude 6-24 hours apart were recorded on all stations even when no events were being recorded; however, most rockfall signals were recorded during these intervals.

Ground deformation. The GPS network BIGNET (Harris, Whites, Long Ground, Windy Hill, and Broderick's) continued to show slow movements at Long Ground and Whites to the NE and N, respectively. The Harris-Windy Hill baseline has had two lengthening-shortening cycles since measurements began in June 1996. The first cycle, which ended in mid-May 1997, involved a lengthening and shortening of 2 cm. The second cycle involved lengthening and shortening by almost 4 cm; the line was close to its May 1997 length during 4-18 January. Long occupations of the stations at Hermitage and Tar River were made while running a base station at Harris. Hermitage showed continued movement NNE at ~0.3 cm/week. Since 6 March 1997 the Tar River station had moved 5 cm NNE. No clear trends were found in the data for LEESNET (Old Towne, Waterworks, St Georges Hill, and Lees Yard).

26 December 1997 deposits. Inspection of the 26 December deposits were reported in the MVO Special Scientific Report 6. The 26 December dome collapse severely damaged the settlements of Trials and Fairfield (~2 km SW of the summit). In Trials, most buildings had collapsed roofs or fire damage, but remained standing. In Fairfield, some houses had collapsed roofs due to heavy ashfall, but there was little fire damage, indicating that the pyroclastic surge probably did not reach this area. The villages of St. Patrick's and Morris' were almost completely destroyed with only a few foundations remaining.

The 26 December deposits were of three main types: debris avalanche, pyroclastic flow, and ash cloud including co-ignimbrite ash, and blast deposits. There was also considerable erosion of some surfaces, particularly due to the surge. The relationships between these deposits, emplaced in ~15 minutes, were not simple, but it appeared that a sector collapse occurred first.

The edifice that supported the dome complex was fractured, weak, and hydrothermally altered in places. The sector collapse involved slippage of material from around Galway's Soufriere and part of Galway's Wall, and incorporated both new talus and dome rock. This triggered a comparatively large dome collapse with associated pyroclastic flows and ash-cloud surges, and culminated in an energetic lateral blast.

Survey of the 26 December deposits in the upper reaches of the White River Valley on 4 and 17 January revealed a total volume of 46 x 10⁶ m³. Included in this total is the surge component which covered an area of 9.1 km² and consisted of an estimated 1.8-3.2 x 10⁶ m³. The DRE equivalent volume was 44.5 x 10⁶ m³.

Two scars were formed during the Boxing Day collapse. Scar volumes were estimated using data generated from cross-sections, assuming relatively simple geometries. Material lost during the collapse of 26 December comprised 20 x 10⁶ m³ of hydrothermally altered Galway's Soufriere rock, 5 x 10⁶ m³ of Galways wall material, 26 x 10⁶ m³ of the November lava dome, and 26 x 10⁶ m³ of dome talus. Thus, the estimated scar volumes total about 77 x 10⁶ m³. The DRE equivalent volume for collapsed material was 64 x 10⁶ m³. This suggests that about 20 x 10⁶ m³of material came to rest in the sea, a volume consistent with the size of the tsunami that was generated as a result of the collapse.

Thus, the conservative volume of the 26 December collapse deposits (a DRE of 44 x 10⁶ m³ of dome material) is 4-5x larger than previous events. The largest single prior event, on 21 September 1997 (BGVN 22:10), contained of 9 x 10⁶ m³ of material. In an earlier overview Young and others (1997) summarized the extrusive history from 1 November 1995 through early 1997; they provided an annotated plot of volume versus time. Because they show both total extruded volume and dome volume their plot clearly illustrates the pattern of ongoing extrusion and the effect of dome collapses.

Reference. Young, S., Sparks, S., Robertson, R., Lynch, L., and Aspinal, W., 1997, Eruption of Soufriere Hills volcano in Montserrat continues: Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, v. 78, no. 38 (23 September 1997), p. 401.

Geological Summary. The complex, dominantly andesitic Soufrière Hills volcano occupies the southern half of the island of Montserrat. The summit area consists primarily of a series of lava domes emplaced along an ESE-trending zone. The volcano is flanked by Pleistocene complexes to the north and south. English's Crater, a 1-km-wide crater breached widely to the east by edifice collapse, was formed about 2000 years ago as a result of the youngest of several collapse events producing submarine debris-avalanche deposits. Block-and-ash flow and surge deposits associated with dome growth predominate in flank deposits, including those from an eruption that likely preceded the 1632 CE settlement of the island, allowing cultivation on recently devegetated land to near the summit. Non-eruptive seismic swarms occurred at 30-year intervals in the 20th century, but no historical eruptions were recorded until 1995. Long-term small-to-moderate ash eruptions beginning in that year were later accompanied by lava-dome growth and pyroclastic flows that forced evacuation of the southern half of the island and ultimately destroyed the capital city of Plymouth, causing major social and economic disruption.

Information Contacts: Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO), c/o Chief Minister's Office, P. O. Box 292, Plymouth, Montserrat (URL: http://www.mvo.ms/).