Research project: Investigating the evolution and characteristics of Centre Hills volcano, Montserrat, using marine cores and on-shore observations.
Montserrat is made up of four volcanic centres. The only centre that is currently active is Soufriere Hills which has been erupting continuously since 1995. These eruptions have devastated much of the island, but little is known of Montserrat's volcanic behaviour beyond these current eruptions. This lack of understanding of the volcanoes past behaviour has made forecasting Montserrat's activity difficult. In March 2012 several IODP cores were drilled off-shore Montserrat. These cores contain sediments from mass wasting and eruption events that span much of Montserrat's past. Detailed study of these cores in combination with the study of the on land deposits will give insight into the volcanic evolution of the island. This study focuses mainly on the deposits from one of the volcanic centres called Centre Hills that was active between 500-900ka.
