No latest activity reported for Pelée.

Below is a summary of eruption dates and Volcanic Explosivity Indices (VEI).

The following references are the sources used for data regarding this volcano. References are linked directly to our volcano data file. Discussion of another volcano or eruption (sometimes far from the one that is the subject of the manuscript) may produce a citation that is not at all apparent from the title. Additional discussion of data sources can be found under Volcano Data Criteria.

Boudon G, Le Friant A, Villemant B, Viode J-P, 2005. Martinique. {In}: Lindsay J M, Robertson R E A, Shepherd J B, Ali S (eds). {Volcanic Hazard Atlas of the Lesser Antilles}, Trinidad and Tobago, Seismic Res Unit, Univ West Indies, p 127-146

Deplus C, Le Friant A, Boudon G, Komorowski J-C, Villemant B, Harford C, Segoufin J, Cheminee J-L, 2001. Submarine evidence for large-scale debris avalanches in the Lesser Antilles arc. {Earth Planet Sci Lett}, 192: 145-157

Fichaut M, Maury R C, Traineau H, Westercamp D, Joron J L, Gourgaud A, Coulon C, 1989. Magmatology of Mt. Pelee (Martinique, F.W.I.). III. Fractional crystallization versus magma mixing. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 38: 189-213

Gourgaud A, Fichaut M, Joron J -L, 1989. Magmatology of Mt. Pelee (Martinique, F.W.I.). I: Magma mixing and triggering of the 1902 and 1929 Pelean nuees ardentes. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 38: 143-169

Lacroix A, 1904. {La Montagne Pelee et ses eruptions}. Paris: Masson et Cie, 662 p

Le Friant A, Boudon G, Deplus C, Villemant B, 2003. Large-scale flank collapse events during the activity of Montagne Pelee, Martinique, Lesser Antilles. {J Geophys Res}, 108: 2055, doi:10.1029/2001JB001624

Mattiioli G S, Jansma P E, Jaramillo L, Smith A L, 1996. A desktop image processing and photogrammetric method for rapid volcanic hazard mapping: application to air-photo interpretation of Mount Pelee, Martinique. {Bull Volc}, 58: 401-410

Perret F A, 1937. The eruption of Mt. Pelee 1929-1932. {Carnegie Inst Wash Pub}, 458: 1-126

Robson G R, Tomblin J, 1966. West Indies. {Catalog of Active Volcanoes of the World and Solfatara Fields}, Rome: IAVCEI, 20: 1-56

Roobol M J, Smith A L, 1976. A pattern of alternating eruptive styles. {Geology}, 4: 521-524

Smith A L, Roobol M J, 1990. Mont Pelee, Martinique--A study of an active island arc volcano. {Geol Soc Amer Mem}, 175: 114 p

Tanguy J C, 1994. The 1902-1905 eruptions of Montagne Pelee, Martinique: anatomy and retrospection. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 60: 87-107

Tanguy J C, 2004. Rapid dome growth at Montagne Pelee during the early stages of the 1902-1905 eruption: a reconstruction from Lacroix's data. {Bull Volc}, 66: 615-621

Vincent P M, Bourdier J L, Boudon G, 1989. The primitive volcano of Mount Pelee: Its construction and partial destruction by flank collapse. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 38: 1-15

Westercamp D, Traineau H, 1983. The past 5,000 Years of volcanic activity at Mt. Pelee, Martinique, (FWI): implications for assessment of volcanic hazards. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 17: 159-186

Zlotnicki J, Boudon G, Viode J P, Delarue J F, Mille A, Bruere F, 1998. Hydrothermal circulation beneath Mount Pelee inferred by self potential surveying. Structural and tectonic implications. {J Volc Geotherm Res}, 84: 73-91

Renowned Montagne Pelée, forming the northern end of the island of Martinique, is the most active volcano of the Lesser Antilles arc. Three major edifice failures since the late Pleistocene, the last about 9000 years ago, have left large horseshoe-shaped calderas breached to the SW inside which the modern volcano has been constructed. More than 20 major eruptions have occurred at Pelée during the past 5000 years. Extensive pyroclastic-flow deposits, incised by steep-walled ravines, mantle the slopes of the volcano. The l'Etang Sec summit crater is filled by two lava domes emplaced during the 1902 and 1929 eruptions. Historical eruptions date back to the 18th century; only two modest phreatic or phreatomagmatic eruptions took place prior to 1902. The catastrophic 1902 eruption, which destroyed the city of St. Pierre, the "Pearl of the Lesser Antilles," became the type-example of pelean eruptions and marked the onset of modern volcanological studies of the behavior of pyroclastic flows.