The Quill (Caribbean Volcano)

Introduction

The Quill is a large andesitic strato-volcano dominantly that forms the South-East end of St. Eustatius (Statia) Island. The 601-m-high volcano was formed about 32,000 to 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 North-West end of the island. The interaction of rhyolitic magma with sea water produced pyro-clastic-surge deposits, rich in limestone fragments, due to which the two islands joined and blanketed the entire slopes of The Quill. The surges also swept across the island and incorporated older remains of carbonized plant, shell fragments, and remains of fossil hermit crabs. A likely crypto-dome lime stones tilted up 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 the youngest pyro-clastic flows directed towards the island's capital, Orangestad. The Quill name, originates from the Dutch word Kuil, meaning pit or hole, which was originally used in relation to the crater of a volcano. Quill was designated as a national park by the government of the Netherlands Antilles in 1998. It is administered by the National Parks Foundation of St. Eustatius, which maintains a number of trails for hikers. This paper provides a holistic view of the facts and details regarding The Quill (Caribbean Volcano).

(Source: http://www.zazzle.com/the_quill_volcano_sint_eustatius_caribbean_nethe_postcard-239573609378208217)

Discussion and Analysis

The Quill is roughly totally made up of wide-ranging deposits of pyro-clastic that represent five pyro-clastic activity styles: phreatomagmatic activity; semi-vesicular andesite Asama- style; pumiceous Plinian-style activity; St. Vincent- style activity; and Pelean- style activity. The Plinian style activity's deposits are quite prominent and are best observed within on the east coast (in Bargine Baai) and on the west coast (the sea cliff under Oranjestad), as pumiceous pumice flow) (ignimbrite) and air fall (white pumiceous lapilli) deposits. Thin bedded and fine grained surge deposits and pumiceous ash fall from the Plinian eruption columns' collapse (almost fifty kilometer high) got exposed where a facility of oil storage was built in the Northern centers on Pisga Hill. Ashes like these enclose the remains of the hermot crabs in sea shells and powdery carbon (former transported and swept up via the surges). It is indicates by these ashes that the whole island could be swept by surges of ash clouds ensuing from the Pilnian eruption column's collapse, which occurred throughout the Pilnian activity. The quills pyro-clastic deposits' radiocarbon implies that it started shaping approximately 50k years ago (www.caribbeanvolcanoes.com).

The Quill's exceptional exposures of pyro-clastic have allowed a strangely high level to strati graphic correlation near the island and 7 strati graphic distributions got distinguished. From oldest to youngest these are:

1st Strati graphic distribution: Base surge deposits (under 40k years B.P.);

2nd Strati graphic distribution: Lower-mixed pumice division (approximately 23k years B.P.);

3rd Strati graphic distribution: Phreato magmatic ashes (approximately 8k years B.P.);

4th Strati graphic distribution: Lower-mixed Division (undated - under 7k years B.P.);

5th Strati graphic distribution: Upper-pumice division (undated ...