Soufriere Hills volcano (915 m) in Montserrat and Morne Aux Diables (861 m) in Dominica are both VUELCO project target volcanoes.

In June 2012 I went to conduct a campaign GPS survey of Morne Aux Diables and other volcanoes on the island. I also hiked out through the ‘Valley of Desolation’ to visit the ‘Boiling Lake’.

GPS tripod at the summit of Cabrits.

Rob checking the GPS read-out.

Sunset from Portsmouth.

GPS tripod at Morne Aux Diables.

All the GPS kit ready to go.

GPS tripod at the worlds most colourful bus stop.

A beautiful pyroclastic deposit with interbedded tephra layers (…I think…I’m no field geologist).

Hunting for samples.

New field assistant.

Down time.

Our ride.

Gratuitous scenery shot.

The valley of desolation.

Using the volcanic mud to its fullest…

The valley of desolation.

The boiling lake.

A beautiful island.

Immediately following this campaign I popped across to do some brief work on Soufriere Hills with the team at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO). I assisted with some helicopter fieldwork to take some GPS and EDM measurements, as well as updating one of the permanent observation cameras.

A house buried by lahar deposits.

Belham valley lahar deposits.

My ride.

No summit view = no smile.

Huge boulder within a lahar deposit.

The devastated former capital, Plymouth.

Setting up a GPS tripod.

I never did see the summit…

Volcanic deposits extending the island into the ocean.

Taking some EDM measurements.