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Volcano Hazards Program

There are about 170 potentially active volcanoes in the U.S. The mission of the USGS Volcano Hazards Program is to enhance public safety and minimize social and economic disruption from volcanic unrest and eruption. We deliver effective forecasts, warnings, and information about volcano hazards based on a scientific understanding of volcanic processes to accomplish our mission.

News

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Volcano Watch — Volcano monitoring from space: InSAR time series success in Alaska

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Having a (volcanic) field day in California

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Volcano Watch — Legends of Eruptions Past

Publications

2019 Volcanic activity in Alaska—Summary of events and response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory

The Alaska Volcano Observatory responded to eruptions, volcanic unrest or suspected unrest, increased seismicity, and other significant activity at 17 volcanic centers in Alaska in 2019. The most notable volcanic activity was an eruption of Shishaldin Volcano, featuring eruptive activity that produced lava flows, lahars, and ash. Weak explosive activity also took place at Great Sitkin Volcano and
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Tim R. Orr, Cheryl E. Cameron, Hannah R. Dietterich, James P. Dixon, Max L. Enders, Ronni Grapenthin, Alexandra M. Iezzi, Matthew W. Loewen, John A. Power, Cheryl Searcy, Gabrielle Tepp, Liam Toney, Christopher F. Waythomas, Aaron G. Wech

Volcanic earthquake catalog enhancement using integrated detection, matched-filtering, and relocation tools

Volcanic earthquake catalogs are an essential data product used to interpret subsurface volcanic activity and forecast eruptions. Advances in detection techniques (e.g., matched-filtering, machine learning) and relative relocation tools have improved catalog completeness and refined event locations. However, most volcano observatories have yet to incorporate these techniques into their catalog-bui
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Darren Tan, David Fee, Alicia J. Hotovec-Ellis, J. Pesicek, Matthew M. Haney, John A. Power, T. Girona

Garnet stability in arc basalt, andesite, and dacite—An experimental study

Garnet’s stability in arc magmas and its influences on their differentiation were explored experimentally in a typical basalt, andesite, and dacite at conditions of 0.9–1.67 GPa, 800–1300 °C, with 2–9 wt.% added H2O, and with oxygen fugacity buffered near Re + O2 = ReO2 (~ Ni-NiO + 1.7 log10 bars). Garnet did not grow at 0.9 GPa in any of the compositions, even with garnet seeds added to facilitat
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Dawnika Blatter, Thomas W. Sisson, W. Ben Hankins