A Cold and Amost Dry
Boiling
Today 28th
December 2004 - the first working day for Public Servants, merchants and other
private sector entities after the extended Christmas & Boxing Day
"weekend", starting at about 9:00 a.m., four Forestry
& Parks (Bertie, Randy, Stephen-T and Mr. James), as well as a
camera man from Marpin TV, made the journey to the Boiling Lake to verify
the information that had been relayed to the Forest Officer/National
Parks on Christmas Day, that the Boiling Lake was "no more".
Based on
what was seen, it appears that Dominica will not be able to boast of having the
world's largest boiling lake - at least not for a while (and for how long, is
anybody's guess).
On their
way towards the long, steep flight of steps coming into the Breakfast River
Valley, we got whiffs of sulphurous gas, and thought that this was an OK
sign. Jaco Parrots also made the presence in the area known, with a few sets of
vocalizations. They we arrived at the summit of Morne Nicholls - the highest
point along the trail - they reportedly looked towards the east, in
the direction of the Boiling Lake's crater. The usual thick cloud of white
vapour that would indicate the location of the Boiling Lake was absent, and the
other clouds of vapour that are usually emanating from fumaroles on the slopes
to the west of the Boiling Lake were also very quiet!
Trekking
down into the Valley of Desolation, they were greeted by the familiar
sight of clouds of steam belching out from the large fumaroles. The pot of
thick grey-blue mud that had opened up in 2003, near the site of the 1997
phreatic eruption / explosion, was boiling away violently, but the liquid in
the "pot" was not as thick as when they
(Arlington) last saw it in 2003.
When they
emerged at the edge of the valley that forms the "final" section of
the Valley of Desolation, i.e. when one is just less than 10 minutes from the
lake, they observed that there was very little fumarolic activity in that
section of the Valley.
Upon
arrival at lakeside (at about
1.
Water Level:
The level of the water in
From their
estimation, the lake level has dropped possibly between 30 and 40ft. This is
based upon Forestry's current observations, compared with the
measurements that we made in 1988, when the lake had dropped some 29ft
then. The lake outlet was well above the water
2.
Water Colour:
The water had assumed a dark grey colour, similar to what was seen last
year
3.
Conditions of
Also, they
did not feel any warm air coming from the lake basin.
4.
General Lake Conditions:
(a) The sulphurous ring indicating the lake's normal high water mark was
very evident. There was also a very thick layer of grey mud beginning from
some 20ft below the normal high water mark . The mud has started to crack after
the 3-4 days of sun, revealing cream-coloured sand underneath a layer of
possibly more than 6" of mud.
(b) Some of
the areas on the mud were showing some level of discoloration: i.e.
reddish-brown, mustard and yellow.
(c) There
was also a darker ring on the mud (estim. at about 1ft wide), just a few inches
above the water surface.
(d) The two
streams had cut paths across the mud.
(e) Some
layering (like a layered cake) was also observed on the eastern side of
lake, above the water. These layers appear to be almost the same
width/height, about a couple of inches high. This would probably indicate that
the water dried up in stages, but also very quickly too.
(f)
Compared to April 1988, there was considerably more rubble in the
lake, near where the ravine enters the lake. Some of this new material, I
reckon, was brought in last year, when several landslides occurred in the
watershed of the ravine that feeds the lake and the rubble was brought into the
lake, even creating a small beach.
5.
Inflow Into the
Earlier
this morning, Seismic Research Unit (SRU) had requested that if possible, whether a water sample
and a temperature reading could be taken from the lake. On assessing the
conditions, and knowing what the officers know now about how the lake is able
to behave when it is in this condition, they felt it would have been much
to risky going down to, or even getting close to the water's edge.
These
basically are were observations made. Some video footage and
some digital shots were taken, and an interview to Marpin on location at
lakeside was done.
The
Division is very optimistic that the lake will return to its "normal" conditions. It put
on similar displays in April-May 1988, April 1971, January 1901, and December
1900 - when it claimed the lives of two persons. The big question is
WHEN? In 1988, it certainly took more than a month to refill completely,
though it appears to have done so in stages.
Where does
the water go to, and so suddenly, and being able to return so rapidly at that?
Is it that the hot-gas vent got clogged? But where would all that water
disappear to? Any explanation, SRU?
A Press
Release will be sent out by Forestry & Parks, particularly to the
tourism service providers (tour operators, hotels, tour guide companies) about
the dangers associated with the Boiling Lake when it is in such
"unpredictable" conditions, and warning visitors to the lake (locals
and foreigners) about not hanging around the lake in its present.
Eric
Hypolite
Director of
Forestry, Wildlife and Parks