Publications

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) responded to eruptions, possible eruptions, and volcanic unrest at or near nine separate volcanic centers in Alaska during 2006. A significant explosive eruption at Augustine Volcano in Cook Inlet marked the first eruption within several hundred kilometers of principal population centers in Alaska since 1992. Glaciated Fourpeaked Mountain, a volcano...

The northeastern San Juan Mountains, the least studied portion of this well-known segment of the Southern Rocky Mountains Volcanic Field are the site of several newly identified and reinterpreted ignimbrite calderas. These calderas document some unique eruptive features not described before from large volcanic systems elsewhere, as based on recent mapping, petrologic data, and a large...

Time-dependent gravimetric measurements can detect subsurface processes long before magma flow leads to earthquakes or other eruption precursors. The ability of gravity measurements to detect subsurface mass flow is greatly enhanced if gravity measurements are analyzed and modeled with ground-deformation data. Obtaining the maximum information from microgravity studies requires careful...

A suite of elements (B, Na, Mg, S, K, Ca, V, Mn, Cr, Sr, and Ba) was measured in aragonitic shells of the estuarine bivalve Corbula amurensis, the Asian clam, using the Sensitive High-Resolution Ion MicroProbe with Reverse Geometry (SHRIMP RG). Our initial intent was to explore potential geochemical proxy relationships between shell chemistry and salinity (freshwater inflow) in northern...

Evolution of CO2 in Lakes Monoun and Nyos (Cameroon) before and during controlled degassing is described using results of regular monitoring obtained during the last 21 years. The CO2(aq) profiles soon after the limnic eruptions were estimated for Lakes Monoun and Nyos using the CTD data obtained in October and November 1986, respectively. Based on the CO2(aq)profiles through time, the...

Dynamic stresses associated with crustal surface waves with 15-30-sec periods and peak amplitudes 1 MPa are capable of triggering seismicity at sites remote from the generating mainshock under appropriate conditions. Coulomb failure models based on a frictional strength threshold offer one explanation for instances of rapid-onset triggered seismicity that develop during the surface-wave...

Teleseismic traveltime data are inverted for mantle Vp and Vs variations beneath a 1400 km long line of broadband seismometers extending from eastern New Mexico to western Utah. The model spans 600 km beneath the moho with resolution of ~50 km. Inversions show a sharp, large-magnitude velocity contrast across the Colorado Plateau-Great Basin transition extending ~200 km below the crust...

Volcanic eruptions and other potentially hazardous natural phenomena occur independently of any human actions. However, such phenomena can cause disasters when a society fails to foresee the hazardous manifestations and adopt adequate measures to reduce its vulnerability. One of the causes of such a failure is the lack of a consistent perception of the changing hazards posed by an...

The main goal of this study is to improve the modelling of the source mechanism associated with the generation of long period (LP) signals in volcanic areas. Our intent is to evaluate the effects that detailed structural features of the volcanic models play in the generation of LP signal and the consequent retrieval of LP source characteristics. In particular, effects associated with the...

We present analyses of two swarms of long-period (LP) earthquakes at > 30 km depth that accompanied the geodetically observed 2002–2005 Mauna Loa intrusion. The first LP earthquake swarm in 2002 consisted of 31 events that were precursory and preceded the start of Mauna Loa inflation; the second LP swarm of two thousand events occurred from 2004–2005. The rate of LP earthquakes slowed

We report on 4 years of airborne measurements of CO2, SO2, and H2S emission rates during a quiescent period at White Island volcano, New Zealand, beginning in 2003. During this time a significant crater lake emerged, allowing scrubbig processes to be investigated. CO2 emissions varied from a baseline of 250 to >2000 t d-1 and demonstrated clear annual cycling that was consistent with...

Kaguyak Caldera lies in a remote corner of Katmai National Park, 375 km SW of Anchorage, Alaska. The 2.5-by-3-km caldera collapsed ~ 5.8 ± 0.2 ka (14C age) during emplacement of a radial apron of poorly pumiceous crystal-rich dacitic pyroclastic flows (61–67% SiO2). Proximal pumice-fall deposits are thin and sparsely preserved, but an oxidized coignimbrite ash is found as far as the...