Vol. XIII, No. 12 WASHINGTON 



December, 1902 



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VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS ON MARTINIQUE 

 AND ST VINCENT * 



By Professor Israel C. Russell 

 Of the National Geographic Society Expedition to West Indies 



THE continuation of activity in 

 the case of Mont Pelee and La 

 Soufriere of St Vincent makes 

 it evident that it is yet too early to write 

 a final report on their recent eruptions. 

 What may be termed a first approxima- 

 tion, however, to the significance of the 

 observations concerning them ahead}' 

 in hand,t may be of interest to the mem- 

 bers of the National Geographic Society. 

 The Number of Active Craters. — The 

 first question to which an answer is 

 sought concerning both Mont Pelee and 

 La Soufriere is : Have the recent erup- 

 tions occurred from a single and essen- 

 tially a summit crater in each instance, 

 or have secondary or subcraters been 

 opened on the sides of the volcanoes, 

 which had a connection with their con- 

 duits ? In the case of La Soufriere no 

 differences of opinion in this connection 

 have arisen among the several observers 



who have visited the mountain. The 

 eruptions have all occurred in a single 

 crater, the so-called Old crater, in dis- 

 tinction from the one formed in 1812. 

 This crater is near the summit of the 

 mountain, but is partially encircled on 

 the northeast by a remnant of a much 

 older and far larger crater, which corre- 

 sponds with Mont Sum ma at Vesuvius, 

 and may be termed a " sou ma." 



At Mont Pelee there is also a somma, 

 and on its southwest side is the crater 

 known as Etang Sec, which is now in 

 eruption. A smaller summit crater, for- 

 merly occupied by Lac des Palmistes, 

 occurs to the northeast of the one now 

 active, and corresponds in a general 

 way with the crater of 181 2 on St Vin- 

 cent. While several observers have re- 

 ported the existence of at least two sub- 

 craters — -one on the east and the other 

 on the southwest slope of Mont Pelee, 



♦The illustrations in this number of the West Indian volcanic phenomena, some of them 

 republished from other reports, form a valuable supplement to the very complete and graphic 

 set of illustrations taken by Robert T Hill and Israel C. Russell and published in the July 

 number of the NATIONAL Geographic Magazine. — Editor. 



t A list of the papers referred to is presented at the end of this essay. 



