Global Volcanism Program

The Global Volcanism Program has no activity reports available for Morne Watt.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Weekly Reports available for Morne Watt.

The Global Volcanism Program has no Bulletin Reports available for Morne Watt.

This compilation of synonyms and subsidiary features may not be comprehensive. Features are organized into four major categories: Cones, Craters, Domes, and Thermal Features. Synonyms of features appear indented below the primary name. In some cases additional feature type, elevation, or location details are provided.

Synonyms

Watt Mountain

Cones

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Anglais, Morne

Stratovolcano

1123 m

15° 17' 0" N

61° 20' 0" W

Grande Soufrière Hills

Stratovolcano

15° 18' 0" N

61° 17' 0" W

Domes

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

John, Morne

Dome

15° 17' 0" N

61° 19' 0" W

Thermal

Feature Name

Feature Type

Elevation

Latitude

Longitude

Boiling Lake

Hot Spring

750 m

15° 19' 0" N

61° 18' 0" W

Desolation, Valley of
Grand Soufrière

Thermal

790 m

15° 18' 0" N

61° 18' 0" W

Basic Data

Volcano Number

Last Known Eruption

Elevation

Latitude
Longitude

360101

1997 CE

1,224 m / 4,016 ft

15.307°N
61.305°W

Morphology

Volcano Landform
Composite

Volcano Types
Stratovolcano(es)
Lava dome(s)

Rock Types

Major
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite
Basalt / Picro-Basalt

Tectonic Setting

Subduction zone
Oceanic crust (< 15 km)

Population

Within 5 km
Within 10 km
Within 30 km
Within 100 km

1,818
35,821
63,178
545,352

Geological Summary

Morne Watt (Watt Mountain) volcano lies SE of the Trois Piton/Micotrin lava-dome complex in SE Dominica, E of the capital city of Roseau. The two best-known volcanic features on Dominica, the Valley of Desolation and the Boiling Lake thermal areas, lie on the flank; both are major tourist attractions within the national park. Morne Anglais stratovolcano lies 4 km SW of Morne Watt. Soufrière Hills volcano, with dated pyroclastic-flow producing eruptions ~10,000 years ago, lies 3 km E. A major eruption from Morne Watt producing pyroclastic flows occurred ~1300 years ago. A moderately large phreatic explosion took place at the Valley of Desolation thermal area NE of Morne Watt in 1880, when ash fell over a 4-km-wide sector at the coast, 10 km from the vent. A smaller phreatic explosion occurred in July 1997, when ashfall was confined to the Valley of Desolation area. These mark the only known historical eruptions on the island.

References

The following references have all been used during the compilation of data for this volcano, it is not a comprehensive bibliography.

Lindsay J M, Smith A L, Roobol M J, Stasiuk M V, 2005. Dominica. In: Lindsay J M, Robertson R E A, Shepherd J B, Ali S (eds). Volcanic Hazard Atlas of the Lesser Antilles, Trinidad and Tobago, Seismic Res Unit, Univ West Indies, p 1-47.

Lindsay J M, Trumbull R B, Siebel W, 2005. Geochemistry and petrogenesis of late Pleistocene to Recent volcanism in southern Dominica, Lesser Antilles. J. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., 148: 253-294.

Robson G R, Tomblin J, 1966. West Indies. Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields, Rome: IAVCEI, 20: 1-56.

Seismic Research Unit, 2001. Seismo-volcanic activity in Dominica (updated July 11, 2001). Seismic Res Unit, Univ West Indies (http://www.uwiseismic.com/dominica.html).

Shepherd J B, 1989. Eruptions, eruption precursors and related phenomena in the Lesser Antilles. In: Latter J H (ed), Volcanic Hazards - Assessment and Monitoring, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, p 292-311.

Shepherd J B, 2001. Volcanoes of the eastern Caribbean: past activity and future hazards. Paper presented at the Workshop on Volcanic and Seismic Hazards in the eastern Caribbean, May 28- June 1, 2001, 57 p.

Eruptive History

There is data available for 5 confirmed Holocene eruptive periods.

1997 Jul 15 - 1997 Jul 15 Confirmed Eruption VEI: 1

Episode 1 | Eruption

NE of Watt Mtn (Valley of Desolation)

1997 Jul 15 - 1997 Jul 15

Evidence from Observations: Reported

List of 3 Events for Episode 1 at NE of Watt Mtn (Valley of Desolation)

Start Date	End Date	Event Type
- - - -	- - - -	Phreatic activity
- - - -	- - - -	Ash
1997 Jul 15	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

1880 Jan 4 - 1880 Jan 4 Confirmed Eruption VEI: 2 (?)

Episode 1 | Eruption

NE of Watt Mtn (Valley of Desolation)

1880 Jan 4 - 1880 Jan 4

Evidence from Observations: Reported

List of 4 Events for Episode 1 at NE of Watt Mtn (Valley of Desolation)

Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
- - - -	- - - -	Phreatic activity
- - - -	- - - -	Ash	weak or small
- - - -	- - - -	Lahar or Mudflow
1880 Jan 4	- - - -	VEI (Explosivity Index)

0640 ± 150 years Confirmed Eruption

Episode 1 | Eruption

West flank of Morne Watt

0640 ± 150 years - Unknown

Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)

List of 5 Events for Episode 1 at West flank of Morne Watt

Start Date	End Date	Event Type
- - - -	- - - -	Explosion
- - - -	- - - -	Pyroclastic flow
- - - -	- - - -	Bombs
- - - -	- - - -	Blocks
- - - -	- - - -	Lahar or Mudflow

0950 BCE ± 300 years Confirmed Eruption

Episode 1 | Eruption

NE of Watt Mtn (Valley of Desolation)

0950 BCE ± 300 years - Unknown

Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)

List of 2 Events for Episode 1 at NE of Watt Mtn (Valley of Desolation)

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	- - - -	- - - -	Phreatic activity
	- - - -	- - - -	Ash

1800 BCE ± 100 years Confirmed Eruption

Episode 1 | Eruption

NE of Watt Mtn (Valley of Desolation)

1800 BCE ± 100 years - Unknown

Evidence from Isotopic: 14C (uncalibrated)

List of 2 Events for Episode 1 at NE of Watt Mtn (Valley of Desolation)

	Start Date	End Date	Event Type	Event Remarks
	- - - -	- - - -	Phreatic activity
	- - - -	- - - -	Ash

Deformation History

There is no Deformation History data available for Morne Watt.

Emission History

There is no Emissions History data available for Morne Watt.

Photo Gallery

Steam rises from Boiling Lake, a geothermal area on the NE flank of Morne Watt volcano. This phreatomagmatic explosion crater is filled by a bubbling lake about 85 x 75 m wide, with a typical depth of about 10-15 m. Both water level and temperature have varied widely during historical time. The lake was almost empty following the 1880 phreatic eruption, and again temporarily almost emptied in December 2004, when water levels dropped 10 m or more below the high-water mark.

Photo by Paul Jackson, 1998 (Seismic Research Unit, University of West Indies).

Fumarolic clouds mark the Valley of Desolation and Boiling Lake thermal areas, NE of Morne Watt (Watt Mountain) volcano in SE Dominica. The Valley of Desolation and the Boiling Lake are major tourist attractions within the national park east of Roseau. A major eruption from Morne Watt produced pyroclastic flows about 930 years ago. The only historical eruptions on the island of Dominica were a moderately large phreatic explosion at the Valley of Desolation thermal area in 1880 and a smaller phreatic explosion in July 1997.

Photo by Paul Jackson, 1998 (Seismic Research Unit, University of West Indies).

Steep-sided Morne Watt, seen here from the NW, is a lava-dome complex surrounded by block-and-ash flow deposits. The 1224-m-high volcano was constructed south of the Wotten Waven caldera and is flanked by Morne Anglais (4 km to the SW) and the Grand Soufrière Hills volcano, 3 km to the east. The renowned Valley of Depression geothermal area cuts the NE flank of Morne Watt and lies out of view to the left.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 2002 (Smithsonian Institution).

GVP Map Holdings

Maps are not currently available due to technical issues.

Smithsonian Sample Collections Database

There are no samples for Morne Watt in the Smithsonian's NMNH Department of Mineral Sciences Rock and Ore collection.

External Sites

Copernicus Browser

The Copernicus Browser replaced the Sentinel Hub Playground browser in 2023, to provide access to Earth observation archives from the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem, the main distribution platform for data from the EU Copernicus missions.

MIROVA

Middle InfraRed Observation of Volcanic Activity (MIROVA) is a near real time volcanic hot-spot detection system based on the analysis of MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) data. In particular, MIROVA uses the Middle InfraRed Radiation (MIR), measured over target volcanoes, in order to detect, locate and measure the heat radiation sourced from volcanic activity.

MODVOLC Thermal Alerts

Using infrared satellite Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data, scientists at the Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, University of Hawai'i, developed an automated system called MODVOLC to map thermal hot-spots in near real time. For each MODIS image, the algorithm automatically scans each 1 km pixel within it to check for high-temperature hot-spots. When one is found the date, time, location, and intensity are recorded. MODIS looks at every square km of the Earth every 48 hours, once during the day and once during the night, and the presence of two MODIS sensors in space allows at least four hot-spot observations every two days. Each day updated global maps are compiled to display the locations of all hot spots detected in the previous 24 hours. There is a drop-down list with volcano names which allow users to 'zoom-in' and examine the distribution of hot-spots at a variety of spatial scales.

WOVOdat
   Single Volcano View
   Temporal Evolution of Unrest
   Side by Side Volcanoes

WOVOdat is a database of volcanic unrest; instrumentally and visually recorded changes in seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission, and other parameters from their normal baselines. It is sponsored by the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) and presently hosted at the Earth Observatory of Singapore.

GVMID Data on Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure The Global Volcano Monitoring Infrastructure Database GVMID, is aimed at documenting and improving capabilities of volcano monitoring from the ground and space. GVMID should provide a snapshot and baseline view of the techniques and instrumentation that are in place at various volcanoes, which can be use by volcano observatories as reference to setup new monitoring system or improving networks at a specific volcano. These data will allow identification of what monitoring gaps exist, which can be then targeted by remote sensing infrastructure and future instrument deployments.

Volcanic Hazard Maps

The IAVCEI Commission on Volcanic Hazards and Risk has a Volcanic Hazard Maps database designed to serve as a resource for hazard mappers (or other interested parties) to explore how common issues in hazard map development have been addressed at different volcanoes, in different countries, for different hazards, and for different intended audiences. In addition to the comprehensive, searchable Volcanic Hazard Maps Database, this website contains information about diversity of volcanic hazard maps, illustrated using examples from the database. This site is for educational purposes related to volcanic hazard maps. Hazard maps found on this website should not be used for emergency purposes. For the most recent, official hazard map for a particular volcano, please seek out the proper institutional authorities on the matter.

IRIS seismic stations/networks

Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Data Services map showing the location of seismic stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 0.18° (about 20 km at mid-latitudes) from the given location of Morne Watt. Users can customize a variety of filters and options in the left panel. Note that if there are no stations are known the map will default to show the entire world with a "No data matched request" error notice.

UNAVCO GPS/GNSS stations

Geodetic Data Services map from UNAVCO showing the location of GPS/GNSS stations from all available networks (permanent or temporary) within a radius of 20 km from the given location of Morne Watt. Users can customize the data search based on station or network names, location, and time window. Requires Adobe Flash Player.

DECADE Data

The DECADE portal, still in the developmental stage, serves as an example of the proposed interoperability between The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program, the Mapping Gas Emissions (MaGa) Database, and the EarthChem Geochemical Portal. The Deep Earth Carbon Degassing (DECADE) initiative seeks to use new and established technologies to determine accurate global fluxes of volcanic CO₂ to the atmosphere, but installing CO₂ monitoring networks on 20 of the world's 150 most actively degassing volcanoes. The group uses related laboratory-based studies (direct gas sampling and analysis, melt inclusions) to provide new data for direct degassing of deep earth carbon to the atmosphere.

Large Eruptions of Morne Watt

Information about large Quaternary eruptions (VEI >= 4) is cataloged in the Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE) database of the Volcano Global Risk Identification and Analysis Project (VOGRIPA).

EarthChem

EarthChem develops and maintains databases, software, and services that support the preservation, discovery, access and analysis of geochemical data, and facilitate their integration with the broad array of other available earth science parameters. EarthChem is operated by a joint team of disciplinary scientists, data scientists, data managers and information technology developers who are part of the NSF-funded data facility Integrated Earth Data Applications (IEDA). IEDA is a collaborative effort of EarthChem and the Marine Geoscience Data System (MGDS).