Construction and Destruction of Mont Pelée Volcano: Volumes and Rates Constrained from a Geomorphological Model of Evolution

Authors

Aurélie Germa, University of South FloridaFollow
Pierre Lahitte, University of Paris-Sud
Xavier Quidelleur, Université Paris-Sud

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2015

Keywords

Mount Pelée, constructed volumes, construction rates, volcanism, Flank collapse, paleotopography

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JF003355

Abstract

This study presents long‐term volumes and construction rates for the Mont Conil‐Mont Pelée volcano and rate estimates at which volcanic activity creates relief. An algorithm, ShapeVolc, is used to numerically model topographic surfaces. Volcano morphology is analyzed using current digital elevation model in combination with mapped geology to produce 10 paleotopographies at the end of four constructional stages and three destructional events. Volumes of each constructional stage were estimated at about 35.2 km³, 26.2 km³, 8.3 km³, and 2.5 km³ for a total cumulative erupted volume of 72.2 km³. We estimate that Mont Pelée accounted for about 10% of the Lesser Antilles arc production in the last 100 kyr. The volcano has been built at an average rate of 0.13 km³/kyr during the last 550 kyr. During that time, construction rates varied by a factor of 15, from 0.04 km³/kyr in early stages up to 0.52 km³/kyr after the second flank collapse. Volumes displaced by each flank collapse were estimated at 14.7 km³, 8.8 km³, and 3.5 km³, thus about 37% of the total constructed volume. Integrated over the volcano's lifetime, the rate at which flank collapses removed material off the island is 0.15 km³/kyr. In contrast, long‐term erosion rates outside collapsed areas are estimated at about 0.05 ± 0.7 km³/kyr, or ~11 km³ of material removed. This latter rate is not negligible, which strengthens the importance of taking into account recurrent small erosional events on the geomorphological evolution of a volcanic island in a tropical context.

Rights Information

Terms of use for work posted in Scholar Commons.

Was this content written or created while at USF?

Yes

Citation / Publisher Attribution

Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, v. 120, issue 7, p. 1206-1226

©2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Scholar Commons Citation

Germa, Aurélie; Lahitte, Pierre; and Quidelleur, Xavier, "Construction and Destruction of Mont Pelée Volcano: Volumes and Rates Constrained from a Geomorphological Model of Evolution" (2015). School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications. 1293.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/geo_facpub/1293