(By Ernesto Cooke) – NASA firms satellite has picked up thermal anomalies at the summit of La Soufriere volcano on the Caribbean Island of St Vincent.
The UWI SRC monitoring the volcano on the island also confirmed on Monday 17th, that thermal anomalies, indicating high temperatures inside the new crater, continue to be detected by the NASA FIRMS alert system.
Sentinel-2 L2A satellite also picked up thermal anomalies at the volcano on 13th May.
Dr Adam Stinton, a volcanologist at the Belmont observatory in St Vincent, said any high heat source would generate thermal anomaly.
Stinton says they are still seeing these anomalies being detected at the volcano, indicating a heat source inside the crater.
“When the anomalies were first detected, it was due to lava reaching the surface; right now, these temperature anomalies may be related to a batch of magma that is sitting just below the surface of the summit crater, in the conduit which was created by the explosions back in April,” he said on Tuesday 18th May.
The UWI SRC on Monday 17th said that while only a few long-period earthquakes have been recorded in the last 24 hours when the cloud is high enough, persistent steaming is observable from the observatory at Belmont in Rose Hall.
Stinton says persistent steaming is often associated with volcanic activity either as a precursor or remnant after the main phase of activity.
The volcanologist indicated that it is possible that the steaming may go on for a while, and the team will have to be vigilant about it.
The volcano alert on the island remains at ORANGE.
