Publications

A lava pillar formed during the 1998 eruption at Axial Seamount exhibits compositional and textural evidence for contamination by seawater under magmatic conditions. Glass immediately adjacent to anastomosing microfractures within 1 cm of the inner pillar wall is oxidized and significantly enriched in Na and Cl and depleted in Fe and K with respect to that in glassy selvages from the...

Early to middle Miocene lacustrine strata of the Barstow Formation are well dated in just a few places, limiting our ability to infer basin evolution and regional tectonics. At the type section in the Mud Hills, previous studies have shown that the lacustrine interval of the Barstow Formation is between ~16.3 Ma and ~13.4 Ma. Elsewhere, lake beds of the Barstow Formation have yielded...

The Volcano Hazards Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is part of the Geologic Hazards Assessments subactivity as funded by Congressional appropriation. Investigations are carried out in the Geology and Hydrology Disciplines of the USGS and with cooperators at the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute...

This report contains physical and chemical data from gas, steam, and water samples collected between July 1975 and September 2002 from locations in and around Lassen Volcanic National Park, California. Data are compiled as tables in Excel spreadsheets and are organized by locale. Most data are keyed to 1 of 107 site codes that are shown on local- and regional-scale maps. Brief...

Tree rings of subfossil trees buried by lahars and lahar-derived sediments along the Sandy and Zigzag Rivers record the onset of a late eighteenth century eruption at Mount Hood, Oregon, USA (Figs. 1–2). Crandell (1980) described and named this eruptive activity the ‘Old Maid eruptive period’ and estimated its age at about “200–300 year” using radiocarbon ages of trees killed by lahars...

New noble gas and radiogenic isotopic compositions are presented for tholeiitic, transitional, and alkalic rocks from the submarine Hilina region on the south flank of Kilauea, Hawaii. The 3He/4He ratios for undegassed glass and olivine separates (11–26 Ra) contrast with those of postshield and rejuvenated alkalic lavas, consistent with the alkalic and transitional basalts at Hilina...

Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data indicate that the caldera of Okmok volcano, Alaska, subsided more than a meter during its eruption in 1997. The large deformation suggests a relatively shallow magma reservoir beneath Okmok. Seismic tomography using ambient ocean noise reveals two low‐velocity zones (LVZs). The shallow LVZ corresponds to a region of weak, fluid...

No abstract available

The United States is one of the most volcanically active countries in the world. According to the global volcanism database of the Smithsonian Institution, the United States (including its Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) is home to about 170 volcanoes that are in an eruptive phase, have erupted in historical time, or have not erupted recently but are young enough (eruptions...

One of the most striking aspects of seismicity during the 2004–2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens (MSH) was the precise regularity in occurrence of repetitive long-period (LP) or “drumbeat” events over sustained time periods. However, this precise regularity was not always observed, and at times the temporal occurrence of LP events became more random. In addition, accompanying the...

An important goal of volcanology is to answer the questions of when, where, and how a volcano will erupt—in other words, eruption prediction. Generally, eruption predictions are based on insights from monitoring data combined with the history of the volcano. An outstanding example is the A.D. 1980–1986 lava dome growth at Mount St. Helens, Washington (United States). Recognition of a...

Viewing an erupting volcano is a memorable experience, one that has inspired fear, superstition, worship, curiosity, and fascination since before the dawn of civilization. In modern times, volcanic phenomena have attracted intense scientific interest because they provide the key to understanding processes that have created and shaped more than 80 percent of the Earth’s surface. The...