5 June 2001
On 8 June, the Lopevi volcano began erupting and produced an ash cloud that rose ~ 6 km a.s.l. More than 0.9 m of ash settled on the uninhabited island of Lopevi and several inches of ash fell on the island of Paama. Paama's water supply was contaminated and crops were severaly damaged by the ash and gas. The inhabitants of Paama suffered from respiratory problems as a result of breathing the ash and gas.
This information was summarized from Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program.
Cross-section
of upper mantle and crust beneath Lopevi, northern Vanuatu volcanic arc.
The eastward-moving Australian Plate, here made of oceanic crust and upper
mantle, is subducted beneath the westward-moving Pacific Plate. Lopevi
is on the Pacific Plate. The lack of earthquakes between 50 and 200 km
depth suggests that the subducted plate has broken into two pieces. Magma
is generated at a greater depth, relative to the southern Vanuatu volcanic
arc. Rocks melt where the mantle in the asthenosphere is modified by fluids
leaving the subducted plate. Compare to the tectonic setting of Lopevi,
northern Vanuatu volcanic arc. Arrows show direction of flowing rocks in
the asthenospheric mantle. From Monzier and others (1997).