(By Ernesto Cooke) – Scientist Thomas Christopher says the measuring of SO2 would continue, and they are getting ready to hand over such work to several local volunteers who have been trained to collect the data.
Christopher says the plan is for him to leave on Friday, while a new leader will take over on Monday.
He says having a local team running the observatory is the end game.
However, the time scale it happens on would depend on how much progress is made how fast things happen.
“In terms of the recent episodes of explosive activity, we can say that is behind us. However, there are several options as to what this volcano may or may not do”.
“One option and the most welcome one would be that the eruption has stopped, and it’s dying away. Another option is that there is a break between pulse. However, I think that is fairly unlikely, and it’s base on what I have learned about how this volcano behaves, so fingers crossed it’s the first option that everything is done, and it’s going back to sleep”.
Thomas Christopher is a Volcanologist at Montserrat Volcano Observatory with a background in igneous petrology and geochemistry.
