The Quill volcano
Updated: Nov 29, 2023 06:27 GMT -
Stratovolcano 601 m / 1,972 ft
West Indies, Netherlands, 17.48°N / -62.96°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
West Indies, Netherlands, 17.48°N / -62.96°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5)
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The Quill volcano eruptions: 250 AD ± 150 years
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The Quill is a large dominantly andesitic stratovolcano that forms the SE end of St. Eustatius (Statia) Island. The 601-m-high volcano was formed about 32,000-22,000 years ago by rhyolitic eruptions on a shallow-water limestone bank 3 km offshore of an older 0.2 million years old volcanic center exposed at the NW end of the island. The interaction of rhyolitic magma with sea water produced pyroclastic-surge deposits, rich in limestone fragments, that joined the two islands and blanket the entire slopes of The Quill. The surges also swept across the older island and incorporated carbonized plant remains, shell fragments, and remains of fossil hermit crabs. A likely cryptodome tilted up limestones at Sugarloaf on the southern coast. A steep-sided crater, 760 m wide and more than 300 m deep caps The Quill; a notch on the western rim of the crater has directed the youngest pyroclastic flows towards the island's capital, Orangestad. The last dated eruption of The Quill produced pyroclastic flows about 1600 years ago.---
Smithsonian / GVP volcano information
See also: Sentinel hub | Landsat 8 | NASA FIRMS