Charles R Bacon, PhD
Current Research Interests Petrology, geochemistry, physical volcanology, and eruptive histories of calderas, emphasizing detailed study of Crater Lake, Oregon, and Veniaminof and Aniakchak caldera volcanoes, Alaska Peninsula. General interest in volcanic and magmatic processes. Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry applied to geologic and biologic materials. Landscape evolution in interior Alaska.
Professional Experience
Senior Research Geologist Emeritus, U.S. Geological Survey, October 2014–present.
Research Geologist with USGS in Menlo Park 1975–2014, Senior Scientist 2004–2014
Research Associate, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, 1975
Co-Director, USGS–Stanford Ion Microprobe Laboratory (SUMAC), October 2008-September 2014
Geologic mapping of Quaternary volcanic fields and caldera volcanoes in California, Oregon, and Alaska
Isotope geochemistry of magmatic systems
Microbeam chemical analysis by electron and ion microprobe applied to igneous rocks and biological materials
Physical volcanology of products of explosive eruptions
Petrologic and geochemical research on volcanic rocks and magmatic processes
Mentorship/Outreach
Research and Teaching Assistantships, University of California, Berkeley, 1970-74
Visiting Professor, California Institute of Technology, winter term 1988
Education and Certifications
University of California, Berkeley, PhD, Geology, 1975
Stanford University, BS, Geology, 1970
Affiliations and Memberships*
Member, Geochemical Society, International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI)
NAS/NRC Continental Scientific Drilling Committee, 1983-86
USGS Geologic Division Science Advisory Committee, 1988-89, Chair 1990-91
NSF Petrology and Geochemistry Panel, 1994-97
AGU VGP Section Nominating Committee, 1996, Chair 1998
MSA Fellows Committee, 1997-99; MSA Nominating Committee, 2007-2009
Associate Editor, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 1985-90
Associate Editor, American Mineralogist, 1989-92
Editorial Board, Geology, 1993-95
Editorial Board, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 1998-2007
Board of Directors, Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2009-present.
Honors and Awards
Fellow, American Geophysical Union, Mineralogical Society of America, Geological Society of America
President-elect, Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology Section of the American Geophyscial Union, 7/02-6/04; President, 7/04-6/06
IAVCEI quadrennial L.R. Wager Medal, 1987
AGU VGP Section N.L. Bowen Award, 1999
USGS Shoemaker Awards for Communication Product Excellence, 2002, 2004
US Department of the Interior Meritorious Service Award, 2004
U.S. Department of the Interior Superior Service Award, 2009 (from National Park Service)
Science and Products
Partition coefficients determined from phenocryst and glass analyses of the climactic ejecta of Mount Mazama, Oregon
Deformation of poorly consolidated sediment during shallow emplacement of a basalt sill, Coso Range, California
Lithic breccia and ignimbrite erupted during the collapse of Crater Lake Caldera, Oregon
Magmatic inclusions in silicic and intermediate volcanic rocks
Pliocene volcanic rocks of the Coso Range, Inyo County, California
Implications of silicic vent patterns for the presence of large crustal magma chambers
Lead and strontium isotopic evidence for crustal interaction and compositional zonation in the source regions of Pleistocene basaltic and rhyolitic magmas of the Coso volcanic field, California
Magmatic inclusions in rhyolites, contaminated basalts, and compositional zonation beneath the Coso volcanic field, California
Eruptive history of Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Cascade Range, U.S.A.
New investigations of the geology of Crater Lake National Park necessitate a reinterpretation of the eruptive history of Mount Mazama and of the formation of Crater Lake caldera. Mount Mazama consisted of a glaciated complex of overlapping shields and stratovolcanoes, each of which was probably active for a comparatively short interval. All the Mazama magmas apparently evolved within thermally and
Time-predictable bimodal volcanism in the Coso Range, California
Geothermal systems of the Cascade Range
Age of the Coso Formation, Inyo County, California
Science and Products
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 94
Partition coefficients determined from phenocryst and glass analyses of the climactic ejecta of Mount Mazama, Oregon
No abstract available.AuthorsC. R. Bacon, Wes Hildreth, T. H. DruittDeformation of poorly consolidated sediment during shallow emplacement of a basalt sill, Coso Range, California
A 150-m-long, wedge-shaped unit of folded and faulted marly siltstone crops out between undeformed sedimentary rocks on the north flank of the Coso Range, California. The several-meter-thick blunt end of this wedge abuts the north margin of a basaltic sill of comparable thickness. Chaotically deformed siltstone crops out locally at the margin of this sill, and at one locality breccia pipes about oAuthorsW. A. Duffield, C. R. Bacon, P.T. DelaneyLithic breccia and ignimbrite erupted during the collapse of Crater Lake Caldera, Oregon
The climactic eruption of Mount Mazama (6845 y.B.P.) vented a total of ∼50 km3 of compositionally zoned rhyodacitic to basaltic magma from: (a) a single vent as a Plinian pumice fall deposit and the overlying Wineglass Welded Tuff, and (b) ring vents as ignimbrite and coignimbrite lithic breccia accompanying the collapse of Crater Lake caldera. New field and grain-size data for the ring-vent produAuthorsT. H. Druitt, C. R. BaconMagmatic inclusions in silicic and intermediate volcanic rocks
Fine‐grained ellipsoidal inclusions from a few millimeters to over l m in size are present in many intermediate to silicic lava flows and domes. Only recently has it become widely accepted that such inclusions are chilled blobs of magma. Their magmatic origin is manifested by vesicularity and high groundmass porosity, by ellipsoidal shapes, by mingling at contacts with the host, and by textural evAuthorsCharles R. BaconPliocene volcanic rocks of the Coso Range, Inyo County, California
No abstract available.AuthorsSteven W. Novak, Charles R. BaconImplications of silicic vent patterns for the presence of large crustal magma chambers
On the basis of the distribution of silicic vents, many volcanic fields can be grouped with (1) igneous systems that may be small and whose vent locations are controlled by regional tectonics, (2) those that include sizable crustal magma bodies which erupt at sites determined by their anomalous local stress fields, or (3) relatively small volume systems that are transitional between categories 1 aAuthorsCharles R. BaconLead and strontium isotopic evidence for crustal interaction and compositional zonation in the source regions of Pleistocene basaltic and rhyolitic magmas of the Coso volcanic field, California
The isotopic compositions of Pb and Sr in Pleistocene basalt, high-silica rhyolite, and andesitic inclusions in rhyolite of the Coso volcanic field indicate that these rocks were derived from different levels of compositionally zoned magmatic systems. The 2 earliest rhyolites probably were tapped from short-lived silicic reservoirs, in contrast to the other 36 rhyolite domes and lava flows which tAuthorsC. R. Bacon, H. Kurasawa, M.H. Delevaux, R. W. Kistler, B. R. DoeMagmatic inclusions in rhyolites, contaminated basalts, and compositional zonation beneath the Coso volcanic field, California
Basaltic lava flows and high-silica rhyolite domes form the Pleistocene part of the Coso volcanic field in southeastern California. The distribution of vents maps the areal zonation inferred for the upper parts of the Coso magmatic system. Subalkalic basalts (<50% SiO2) were erupted well away from the rhyolite field at any given time. Compositional variation among these basalts can be ascribed toAuthorsC. R. Bacon, J. MetzEruptive history of Mount Mazama and Crater Lake Caldera, Cascade Range, U.S.A.
New investigations of the geology of Crater Lake National Park necessitate a reinterpretation of the eruptive history of Mount Mazama and of the formation of Crater Lake caldera. Mount Mazama consisted of a glaciated complex of overlapping shields and stratovolcanoes, each of which was probably active for a comparatively short interval. All the Mazama magmas apparently evolved within thermally and
AuthorsC. R. BaconTime-predictable bimodal volcanism in the Coso Range, California
The bimodal Pleistocene part of the Coso volcanic field has erupted rhyolite and basalt at constant long-term rates during the past ∼0.5 m.y. Both basalt and high-silica rhyolite were erupted in several independent, geologically brief episodes. The interval between eruptions of rhyolite was proportional to the volume of the preceding eruption. Basaltic eruptions appear to have followed a similar pAuthorsCharles R. BaconGeothermal systems of the Cascade Range
In the central and southern Cascade Range, plate convergence is oblique, and Quaternary volcanism produces mostly basalt and mafic andesite; large andesite-dacite composite volcanoes and silicic dome fields occur in restricted areas of long-lived igneous activity. To the north, plate convergence is normal, producing widely spaced centers in which mafic lavas are minor. Most Cascade volcanoes are sAuthorsL.J. Muffler, Charles R. Bacon, W. A. DuffieldAge of the Coso Formation, Inyo County, California
No abstract available.AuthorsCharles R. Bacon, D.M. Giovannetti, W. A. Duffield, G. B. Dalrymple, Robert E. Drake - Maps
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*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government