Publications

A network of ten buckets was established early in the 2008–2018 summit eruption at Kīlauea to collect proximal tephra ejected from the new, informally named the “Overlook crater”; the buckets were emptied on most days of the eruption thereafter. This report summarizes the results of more than 2,400 different sampling intervals (most 1–3 days long) during the eruption, focusing on the...

Field observations plus sanidine compositional and 40Ar/39Ar age data collected on rocks from the Sour Creek dome (SCD) area of Yellowstone volcano (United States) serve to identify five new ignimbrite packages with ages (average 631.5 ± 0.9 ka) that are analytically indistinguishable from those of the Lava Creek Tuff (LCT), challenging the current framework of two LCT eruptive members...

Magnetic surveys are an important tool used to augment geologic mapping in distributed volcanic fields. Using magnetic anomalies, it is possible to model the geometry of shallowly buried volcanic features, such as conduits, sills, and lava flows. This subsurface mapping is important for understanding eruption dynamics and emplacement of lava flows, and it sometimes reveals buried...

In 2024, the Alaska Volcano Observatory responded to eruptions, volcanic unrest or suspected unrest, increased seismicity, and other significant activity at 10 volcanic centers in Alaska and the Northern Mariana Islands. Eruptive activity in Alaska consisted of the eruption of a thick lava flow within the summit crater at Great Sitkin Volcano throughout the entire year and a small...

Landslide runout and debris-flow inundation can disrupt areas well beyond their initial sources, causing widespread damage and extensive fatalities. Understanding where they start and how far they might travel is essential in many locations worldwide. However, most landslide susceptibility maps focus on initiation areas and fail to incorporate runout areas. Furthermore, hazards vary...

Most volcanic activity is taking place in the oceans. Depending on water depth, eruption recurrence times and volumes, a new island can form. The power of erosional forces, the type of erupted material and the efficiency of secondary processes determine the island’s lifetime. Since the famous eruption of Surtsey (Iceland) in 1963, at least another 23 volcanic islands have appeared. Some...

Volcanic eruptions can cause substantial damage and disruption to infrastructure and communities. Contemporary societies typically depend on petroleum infrastructure. Volcanic unrest and eruptions can cause considerable operational and structural challenges for the petroleum sector. The vulnerability of this sector to volcanic hazards is understudied when compared to other potentially...

The Lost Jim flow field, in the Imuruk Lake volcanic field, Alaska, extends west ~34 km from a single vent, crossing subarctic tundra and currently touches several lakes and streams. The weighted mean of five 36Cl cosmogenic exposure ages from the Lost Jim pāhoehoe flow is 7.73 ± 0.37 ka, indicating this eruption occurred substantially after the eruption of the underlying Camille flow...

Volcanoes undergo rapid growth and extended periods of repose during which erosion dominates, representing natural laboratories for studying erosion patterns and rates across various timescales. However, complex constructional and degradational histories and limited temporal constraints make analyzing volcano erosion dynamics challenging. Analogue models with rainfall-induced runoff...

Pyroclastic density currents represent one of the deadliest hazards posed by active volcanoes. Analysis of their deposits provides valuable insights into their internal dynamics and informs numerical simulations of pyroclastic density currents which underpin many volcanic hazard assessments. We present PDCD-DAT, a global database of pyroclastic density current deposit characteristics...

On November 27, 2022, Mauna Loa erupted for the first time in 38 years, threatening a major highway on the Island of Hawaiʻi. The opening phases of the eruption were focused at the volcano’s summit, before magma propagated into the upper Northeast Rift Zone to erupt at four fissure segments that localized at fissure 3 by December 2. This fissure produced a braided ʻaʻā flow that...

Advances in near-real-time forecasts of lava flow advance rates, final travel distance, and areal coverage are transforming hazard response, particularly in locations such as Hawaiʻi that experience frequent lava flow activity. The most severe threats are posed by rapidly advancing channelized ʻaʻā flows, such as those that characterized the November–December 2022 eruption of Mauna Loa...