Christina Neal
Volcanologist with 37 years experience in hazard science, communications, mitigation, and leadership.
Biography
I have worked for the USGS on various aspects of volcanology, eruption response, and hazard mitigation since 1983. I was introduced to volcanoes in college looking at Viking Orbiter images of Olympus Mons on Mars. My first Earthly volcano was Mount St. Helens where I spent the summer of 1982 studying small-volume pyroclastic flow deposits from 1980. I learned about lava and volcano monitoring as an assistant geologist at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory in the early days of the Pu`u`O`o eruption and mapped the summit and southwest rift zone of Kīlauea Volcano as part of the Big Island Geologic Mapping Project. In 1985, I spent a month at sea on an ALVIN expedition to the active propagating rift system near the Galapagos at 95.5W. I moved to the new Alaska Volcano Observatory in 1990 where I participated in eruption response and related studies at Redoubt, Spurr, Augustine, Okmok, and other Aleutian volcanoes. My science focus was on illuminating eruptive histories at Aniakchak and Okmok calderas, characterizing young pyroclastic deposits and processes, and hazard assessment. I've developed strong interests and experience in managing volcano hazard information, developing warning systems, interagency coordination, and volcanic ash and aviation hazards. For some time, I led collaboration with colleagues in Kamchatka and Sakhalin to expand Russian eruption warning systems. I served as the first USGS Geoscience Advisor to USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (1998-2000) where I facilitated programming to support disaster mitigation abroad. From 2009-2010, I completed two details to the USGS Western Regional Office as Chief of Staff and Deputy Regional Director. In 2011-2012, I represented the Volcano Hazards Program during development of the USGS Hazards Mission Strategic Science Plan. I served as Scientist-in-Charge of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory from 2015-2020, overseeing a staff of 30 and managing response to the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption and summit collapse of Kīlauea. During my tenure, I focused on hiring a new generation of HVO scientists, planning for new facilities and science initiatives following Congressional funding following the 2018 event, and preparing for a Mauna Loa eruption. I have now returned to Anchorage and the Alaska Volcano Observatory to complete legacy Alaska volcano studies and special projects on behalf of the USGS Alaska Region.
Science and Products
Preliminary analyses of volcanic hazards at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i, 2017–2018
From 2017 to 2018, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) responded to ongoing and changing eruptions at Kīlauea Volcano as part of its mission to monitor volcanic processes, issue warnings of dangerous activity, and assess volcanic hazards. To formalize short-term hazards assessments—and, in some cases, issue...
Neal, Christina A.; Anderson, Kyle R.The 2018 rift eruption and summit collapse of Kilauea Volcano
In 2018, Kīlauea Volcano experienced its largest lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) eruption and caldera collapse in at least 200 years. After collapse of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō vent on 30 April, magma propagated downrift. Eruptive fissures opened in the LERZ on 3 May, eventually extending ~6.8 km. A 4 May earthquake (M6.9) produced ~5 m of fault slip. Lava...
Neal, Christina A.; Brantley, Steven; Antolik, Loren; Babb, Janet; Burgess, Matthew K.; Cappos, Michael; Chang, Jefferson; Conway, Sarah; Desmither, Liliana; Dotray, Peter; Elias, Tamar; Fukunaga, Pauline; Fuke, Steven; Johanson, Ingrid; Kamibayashi, Kevan; Kauahikaua, James P.; Lee, R. Lopaka; Pekalib, S.; Miklius, Asta; Shiro, Brian; Swanson, Don; Nadeau, Patricia; Zoeller, Michael H.; Okubo, P.; Parcheta, Carolyn; Patrick, Matthew R.; Tollett, William; Trusdell, Frank A.; Younger, Edward F.; Montgomery-brown, Emily; Anderson, Kyle R.; Poland, Michael P.; Ball, Jessica L.; Bard, Joseph A.; Coombs, Michelle L.; Dietterich, Hannah R.; Kern, Christoph; Thelen, Weston; Cervelli, Peter; Orr, Tim R.; Houghton, Bruce F.; Gansecki, Cheryl; Hazlett, Richard; Lundgren, Paul; Diefenbach, Angela K.; Lerner, Allan; Waite, Greg; Kelly, Peter J.; Clor, Laura E.; Werner, Cynthia; Burgess, Matthew; Mulliken, Katherine; Fisher, GaryCrisis remote sensing during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea Volcano
Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i, is renowned as one of the most active and closely monitored volcanoes on Earth. Scores of seismometers and deformation sensors form an array across the volcano to detect subsurface magmatic activity, and ground observers track eruptions on the surface. In addition to this dense ground-based monitoring, remote sensing –...
Zoeller, Michael H.; Patrick, Matthew R.; Neal, Christina A.Postglacial eruptive history and geochemistry of Semisopochnoi volcano, western Aleutian Islands, Alaska
Semisopochnoi Island, located in the Rat Islands group of the western Aleutian Islands and Aleutian volcanic arc, is a roughly circular island composed of scattered volcanic vents, the prominent caldera of Semisopochnoi volcano, and older, ancestral volcanic rocks. The oldest rocks on the island are gently radially dipping lavas that are the...
Coombs, Michelle L.; Larsen, Jessica F.; Neal, Christina A.Kīlauea summit eruption—Lava returns to Halemaʻumaʻu
In March 2008, a new volcanic vent opened within Halemaʻumaʻu, a crater at the summit of Kīlauea Volcano in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park on the Island of Hawaiʻi. This new vent is one of two ongoing eruptions on the volcano. The other is on Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone, where vents have been erupting nearly nonstop since 1983. The duration of these...
Babb, Janet L.; Wessells, Stephen M.; Neal, Christina A.2014 volcanic activity in Alaska: Summary of events and response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory
The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) responded to eruptions, possible eruptions, volcanic unrest or suspected unrest, and seismic events at 18 volcanic centers in Alaska during 2014. The most notable volcanic activity consisted of intermittent ash eruptions from long-active Cleveland and Shishaldin Volcanoes in the Aleutian Islands, and two...
Cameron, Cheryl E.; Dixon, James P.; Neal, Christina A.; Waythomas, Christopher F.; Schaefer, Janet R.; McGimsey, Robert G.The 2014-2015 Pāhoa lava flow crisis at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i: Disaster avoided and lessons learned
Lava flow crises are nothing new on the Island of Hawai‘i, where their destructive force has been demonstrated repeatedly over the past several hundred years. The 2014–2015 Pāhoa lava flow crisis, however, was unique in terms of its societal impact and volcanological characteristics. Despite low effusion rates, a long-lived lava flow...
Poland, Michael P.; Orr, Tim R.; Kauahikaua, James P.; Brantley, Steven R.; Babb, Janet L.; Patrick, Matthew R.; Neal, Christina A.; Anderson, Kyle R.; Antolik, Loren; Burgess, Matthew K.; Elias, Tamar; Fuke, Steven; Fukunaga, Pauline; Johanson, Ingrid; Kagimoto, Marian; Kamibayashi, Kevan P.; Lee, Lopaka; Miklius, Asta; Million, William; Moniz, Cyril J.; Okubo, Paul G.; Sutton, Andrew; Takahashi, T. Jane; Thelen, Weston A.; Tollett, Willam; Trusdell, Frank A.At the foot of the smoking mountains: The 2014 scientific investigations in the Islands of the Four Mountains
An interdisciplinary research team conducted archaeological, geological, and biological investigations in the Islands of the Four Mountains, Alaska during the summer of 2014 as part of a three-year project to study long-term geological and ecological patterns and processes with respect to human settlement. Researchers investigated three...
Hatfield, Virginia; Bruner, Kale; West, Dixie; Savinetsky, Arkady; Krylovich, Olga; Khasanov, Bulat; Vasyukov, Dmitry; Antipushina, Zhanna; Okuno, Mitsuru; Crockford, Susan; Nicolaysen, Kirsten; MacInnes, Breanyn; Persico, Lyman; Izbekov, Pavel; Neal, Christina A.; Bartlett, Thomas; Loopesko, Lydia; Fulton, AnneWater-magma interaction and plume processes in the 2008 Okmok eruption, Alaska
Eruptions of similar explosivity can have divergent effects on the surroundings due to differences in the behavior of the tephra in the eruption column and atmosphere. Okmok volcano, located on Umnak Island in the eastern Aleutian Islands, erupted explosively between 12 July and 19 August 2008. The basaltic andesitic eruption ejected ∼0.24...
Unema, Joel; Ort, Michael H.; Larsen, Jessica D; Neal, Christina A.; Schaefer, Janet R.Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve: Geologic resources inventory report
This GRI report is a companion document to previously completed GRI digital geologic map data. It was written for resource managers to support science-informed decision making. It may also be useful for interpretation. The report was prepared using available geologic information, and the NPS Geologic Resources Division conducted no new fieldwork...
Hults, Chad P.; Neal, Christina A.2013 volcanic activity in Alaska: summary of events and response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory
The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) responded to eruptions, volcanic unrest or suspected unrest, and seismic events at 18 volcanic centers in Alaska during 2013. Beginning with the 2013 AVO Summary of Events, the annual description of the AVO seismograph network and activity, once a stand-alone publication, is now part of this report. Because of...
Dixon, James P.; Cameron, Cheryl; McGimsey, Robert G.; Neal, Christina A.; Waythomas, ChrisThe 2008 phreatomagmatic eruption of Okmok volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska: Chronology, deposits, and landform changes
Okmok volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, explosively erupted over a five-week period between July 12 and August 23, 2008. The eruption was predominantly phreatomagmatic, producing fine-grained tephra that covered most of northeastern Umnak Island. The eruption had a maximum Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) of 4, with eruption column heights up to...
Jessica Larsen; Neal, Christina A.; Schaefer, Janet R.; Kaufman, Max; Lu, ZhongVolcano Watch — Extraordinary tenure ends for leader of USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
The extraordinary leadership of Tina Neal as Scientist-in-Charge (SIC) of the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) comes to an end this week, when she returns to the Alaska Volcano Observatory after fulfilling her five-year commitment to HVO. David Phillips, HVO’s Deputy SIC, will take the helm until Tina’s successor arrives.
Volcano Watch — HVO people and jobs, Part 2: Who and what is the Scientist-in-Charge?
Since the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) was founded by the visionary Dr. Thomas A. Jaggar in 1912, a senior scientist has been responsible for its work and staff.
A Kīlauea Volcano First – Water Pond Found in the Summit Crater
On July 25, 2019, a helicopter pilot flying a U.S.Geological Survey mission over Kīlauea noticed an unusual green patch at the bottom of Halema‘uma‘u, the crater at the summit of the volcano.
Volcano Watch — New insights gained from Kīlauea Volcano's 2018 summit collapses
A year ago, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists and Island of Hawai‘i residents were in the throes of an historically unprecedented series of events for Kīlauea.
USGS Scientific Team Selected as a Finalist for the “Oscars” of Government Service
The team at the U.S. Geological Survey Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is one of several finalists nominated for the 2019 Service to America Medals.
USGS HVO Press Release — Magnitude-4.2 earthquake southeast of Volcano, Hawai‘i
The U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) recorded a magnitude-4.2 earthquake on Saturday, April 27, 2019, at 5:26 p.m. HST.
Volcano Watch - What caused—or did not cause—the 2018 Kīlauea eruption?
When a major geologic event occurs, scientists who study such events and the people who are directly or indirectly impacted by it seek to understand its cause. Often, a first step toward that understanding is to rule out what did not cause the event.
Magnitude-5.3 earthquake east of Kalaoa, Island of Hawai‘i
Magnitude-5.3 earthquake east of Kalaoa, Island of Hawai‘i
Volcano Watch — January is Volcano Awareness Month
January 2019 marks the 10th annual “Volcano Awareness Month” on the Island of Hawai‘i.
Volcano Watch — Scientists share lessons from Kīlauea at "Cities on Volcanoes" conference
In 1902, Thomas A. Jaggar, a geologist and founder of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), visited the scene of one of the most deadly volcanic disasters in modern history: Mount Pelee on the Caribbean Island of Martinique.
Volcano Watch — Is Kīlauea Volcano's summit and rift zone activity pau or paused?
Since the morning of August 4, 2018, activity at Kīlauea Volcano's summit and its lower East Rift Zone (LERZ) has diminished dramatically—and the slowdown continues.
Volcano Watch — Colorful plumes – can we see volcanic gases?
When volcanic gases are released into the atmosphere, resulting plumes sometimes appear to have a faint color. Is this color indicative of a certain gas present? Answering this question requires describing what makes a plume visible in the first place.