Mount Saint Catherine (Grenada)

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Mount Saint Catherine
Mount Saint Catherine.jpg
Mount Saint Catherine
Highest point
Elevation 840 m (2,760 ft)
Prominence 840 m (2,760 ft)
Isolation 127.49 km (79.22 mi)  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
to Richmond Peak  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Listing Country high point
Coordinates 12°09′44″N61°40′30″W / 12.162281°N 61.675035°W / 12.162281; -61.675035
Geography
Grenada relief location map.jpg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Mount Saint Catherine
Grenada
Location Saint Mark Parish, Grenada
Geology
Mountain type Stratovolcano
Last eruption Unknown

Mount Saint Catherine is an extensively weathered stratovolcano mountain and tallest peak on the Caribbean island of Grenada. Its summit marks the dividing line between the parishes of St. Mark and St. Andrew and is one of the highlights of the Mount St. Catherine Forest Reserve.

Contents

The Mt. St. Catherine massif is the youngest of the five volcanoes on the island. [1] The volcano has a ~1.5-km horseshoe-shaped crater open to the east, where a complex of volcanic lava domes occur across its flanks and is monitored by the Seismic Research Center of the University of the West Indies. The volcano is considered dormant because it has likely not erupted since the last Ice Age. [2] It is considered to be the only live volcano among the five volcanic centers in Grenada on account of its relatively well preserved morphology and the presence of hot springs and fumaroles on its flanks. [3] Although violent eruptions occurred in the geological past (i.e. Pleistocene—2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago), revealed by voluminous pyroclastic-flow deposits extending northwest of the summit, this type of volcanic activity is now considered unlikely to occur in the near future. [4]

The mountain summit is accessible by three steep rugged routes crossing the forest reserve, from Mt. Horne in the southeast, Mt. Kublal in the northeast, and Tufton Hall from the northwest. Tours are available, as well as guided trips to Tufton Hall Waterfall, the highest waterfalls on the island, off the southeastern flank of the mountain.

The summit of Mount Saint Catherine as seen from the Mt. Horne eastern trail approach. Visitors are enjoying the view from the radio tower platform vista. Mount Saint Catherine Summit.jpg
The summit of Mount Saint Catherine as seen from the Mt. Horne eastern trail approach. Visitors are enjoying the view from the radio tower platform vista.

See also

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The geology of Martinique originated from volcanic eruptions, but has different rocks than nearby Lesser Antilles volcanic island arc islands all of which formed in the last 40 million years in the Cenozoic. A high-alumina basalt ranges from olivine basalt to tridymite-rich dacite. Calc-alkaline volcanic rocks are rich in hornblende and orthpyroxene andesite, hornblende andesite and quartz-hornblende dacite are also common. Mount Pelee is one of the most active Caribbean volcanoes with 20 eruptions in the last 5000 years. It also heats groundwater, generating hydrothermal eruptions at sulfur springs in 1751 and 1851.

Richard E. A. Robertson is a Professor of Geology and past Director of the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre. He studied Geology and Volcanology at Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies in Jamaica and Leeds University, United Kingdom.

Jan Marie Lindsay is a New Zealand geologist and Professor of Volcanology at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Erouscilla "Pat" Joseph is a volcanologist, and Director of the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre, which oversees seismic and volcanic monitoring of the English-speaking Eastern Caribbean. She led the volcanological management of the 2021 La Soufriere eruptions on Saint Vincent, for which the Seismic Research Centre received global accolades.

The University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI-SRC) is a centre for volcanological, seismic and geophysical research in Trinidad, which has the responsibility for monitoring and studying earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis across the Eastern Caribbean. Part of the University of the West Indies, it is also responsible for providing formal advice, and information, around the volcanic, seismic and tsunami hazards and events across the region, to reduce risk and protect lives and livelihoods. In recent years, UWI-SRC has managed ongoing volcanic unrest at the Soufriere Hills Volcano through the running of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, and the 2020–2021 eruptions of La Soufrière on St Vincent.

References

  1. White, William; Copeland, Peter; Gravatt, Daniel R.; Devine, Joseph D. (2017). "Geochemistry and Geochronology of Grenada and Union Islands, Lesser Antilles: The Case for Mixing between Two Magma Series Generated from Distinct Sources". Geosphere. 13 (5): 1359–1391. doi: 10.1130/GES01414.1 .
  2. Caribbean Conservation Association (1991). Grenada: Country Environmental Profile (PDF). Bridgetown, Barbados: Regional Development Office/Caribbean (USAID).
  3. Benavente, Oscar; Urzua, Luis; Lovelock, Brian; Brookes, Alastair; Ussher, Greg (2015). "Grenada Geothermal Surface Exploration". Proceedings 37th New Zealand Geothermal Workshop. Taupo, New Zealand: Alastair.
  4. Robertson, Richard E. A. (2005). "Grenada". In Lindsay, Jan M.; Robertson, Richard E. A.; Shepherd, John B.; Ali, Shahiba (eds.). In Volcanic Hazard Atlas of the Lesser Antilles. Trinidad and Tobago: University of the West Indies Seismic Research Unit. pp. 49–66. ISBN   978-976-95142-0-1.