Jacob B. Lowenstern
Jake Lowenstern is a research geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Vancouver, WA. He serves as the Chief of the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program, which is a partnership of the USGS and USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance.
From 2002-2017, Jake served as Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory. Through his career, he has worked on a wide variety of topics related to magmas and their overlying hydrothermal systems.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Stanford University 1992
M.S. Stanford University 1991
A. B. Dartmouth College 1986
Affiliations and Memberships*
Geological Society of America (GSA)
Mineralogical Society of America (MSA)
American Geophysical Union
Society of Economic Geologists (SEG)
International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI)
Honors and Awards
AGU College of Fellows Distinguished Lecturer, 2024-25
Member of VDAP Team for AGU International Award, 2024
Fellow, AGU 2023
Fellow, MSA 2021
Fellow, GSA 2010
AAPG Distinguished Lecturer, 2006
Lindgren Award (SEG) 2000
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 80
Hydrogeology of the Old Faithful area, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and its relevance to natural resources and infrastructure Hydrogeology of the Old Faithful area, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and its relevance to natural resources and infrastructure
A panel of leading experts (The Old Faithful Science Review Panel) was convened by Yellowstone National Park (YNP) to review and summarize the geological and hydrological understanding that can inform National Park Service management of the Upper Geyser Basin area. We give an overview of present geological and hydrological knowledge of the Old Faithful hydrothermal (hot water) system and...
Authors
Duncan Foley, Robert O. Fournier, Henry P. Heasler, Bern Hinckley, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Jacob B. Lowenstern, David D. Susong
Melt inclusions Melt inclusions
Melt inclusions are small droplets of silicate melt that are trapped in minerals during their growth in a magma. Once formed, they commonly retain much of their initial composition (with some exceptions) unless they are re-opened at some later stage. Melt inclusions thus offer several key advantages over whole rock samples: (i) they record pristine concentrations of volatiles and metals...
Authors
Jacob B. Lowenstern
Prodigious degassing of a billion years of accumulated radiogenic helium at Yellowstone Prodigious degassing of a billion years of accumulated radiogenic helium at Yellowstone
Helium is used as a critical tracer throughout the Earth sciences, where its relatively simple isotopic systematics is used to trace degassing from the mantle, to date groundwater and to time the rise of continents1. The hydrothermal system at Yellowstone National Park is famous for its high helium-3/helium-4 isotope ratio, commonly cited as evidence for a deep mantle source for the...
Authors
Jacob B. Lowenstern, William C. Evans, D. Bergfeld, Andrew G. Hunt
Modeling ash fall distribution from a Yellowstone supereruption Modeling ash fall distribution from a Yellowstone supereruption
We used the volcanic ash transport and dispersion model Ash3d to estimate the distribution of ashfall that would result from a modern-day Plinian supereruption at Yellowstone volcano. The simulations required modifying Ash3d to consider growth of a continent-scale umbrella cloud and its interaction with ambient wind fields. We simulated eruptions lasting 3 days, 1 week, and 1 month, each...
Authors
Larry G. Mastin, Alexa R. Van Eaton, Jacob B. Lowenstern
Analysis of H2O in silicate glass using attenuated total reflectance (ATR) micro-FTIR spectroscopy Analysis of H2O in silicate glass using attenuated total reflectance (ATR) micro-FTIR spectroscopy
We present a calibration for attenuated total reflectance (ATR) micro-FTIR for analysis of H2O in hydrous glass. A Ge ATR accessory was used to measure evanescent wave absorption by H2O within hydrous rhyolite and other standards. Absorbance at 3450 cm−1 (representing total H2O or H2Ot) and 1630 cm−1 (molecular H2O or H2Om) showed high correlation with measured H2O in the glasses as...
Authors
Jacob B. Lowenstern, Bradley W. Pitcher
Composition and origin of rhyolite melt intersected by drilling in the Krafla geothermal field, Iceland Composition and origin of rhyolite melt intersected by drilling in the Krafla geothermal field, Iceland
The Iceland Deep Drilling Project Well 1 was designed as a 4- to 5-km-deep exploration well with the goal of intercepting supercritical hydrothermal fluids in the Krafla geothermal field, Iceland. The well unexpectedly drilled into a high-silica (76.5 % SiO2) rhyolite melt at approximately 2.1 km. Some of the melt vesiculated while extruding into the drill hole, but most of the recovered...
Authors
R.A. Zierenberg, Peter Schiffmant, G.H. Barfod, C.E. Lesher, N.E. Marks, Jacob B. Lowenstern, A.K. Mortensen, E.C. Pope, D.K. Bird, M.H. Reed, G.O. Fridleifsson, W.A. Elders
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 80
Hydrogeology of the Old Faithful area, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and its relevance to natural resources and infrastructure Hydrogeology of the Old Faithful area, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and its relevance to natural resources and infrastructure
A panel of leading experts (The Old Faithful Science Review Panel) was convened by Yellowstone National Park (YNP) to review and summarize the geological and hydrological understanding that can inform National Park Service management of the Upper Geyser Basin area. We give an overview of present geological and hydrological knowledge of the Old Faithful hydrothermal (hot water) system and...
Authors
Duncan Foley, Robert O. Fournier, Henry P. Heasler, Bern Hinckley, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Jacob B. Lowenstern, David D. Susong
Melt inclusions Melt inclusions
Melt inclusions are small droplets of silicate melt that are trapped in minerals during their growth in a magma. Once formed, they commonly retain much of their initial composition (with some exceptions) unless they are re-opened at some later stage. Melt inclusions thus offer several key advantages over whole rock samples: (i) they record pristine concentrations of volatiles and metals...
Authors
Jacob B. Lowenstern
Prodigious degassing of a billion years of accumulated radiogenic helium at Yellowstone Prodigious degassing of a billion years of accumulated radiogenic helium at Yellowstone
Helium is used as a critical tracer throughout the Earth sciences, where its relatively simple isotopic systematics is used to trace degassing from the mantle, to date groundwater and to time the rise of continents1. The hydrothermal system at Yellowstone National Park is famous for its high helium-3/helium-4 isotope ratio, commonly cited as evidence for a deep mantle source for the...
Authors
Jacob B. Lowenstern, William C. Evans, D. Bergfeld, Andrew G. Hunt
Modeling ash fall distribution from a Yellowstone supereruption Modeling ash fall distribution from a Yellowstone supereruption
We used the volcanic ash transport and dispersion model Ash3d to estimate the distribution of ashfall that would result from a modern-day Plinian supereruption at Yellowstone volcano. The simulations required modifying Ash3d to consider growth of a continent-scale umbrella cloud and its interaction with ambient wind fields. We simulated eruptions lasting 3 days, 1 week, and 1 month, each...
Authors
Larry G. Mastin, Alexa R. Van Eaton, Jacob B. Lowenstern
Analysis of H2O in silicate glass using attenuated total reflectance (ATR) micro-FTIR spectroscopy Analysis of H2O in silicate glass using attenuated total reflectance (ATR) micro-FTIR spectroscopy
We present a calibration for attenuated total reflectance (ATR) micro-FTIR for analysis of H2O in hydrous glass. A Ge ATR accessory was used to measure evanescent wave absorption by H2O within hydrous rhyolite and other standards. Absorbance at 3450 cm−1 (representing total H2O or H2Ot) and 1630 cm−1 (molecular H2O or H2Om) showed high correlation with measured H2O in the glasses as...
Authors
Jacob B. Lowenstern, Bradley W. Pitcher
Composition and origin of rhyolite melt intersected by drilling in the Krafla geothermal field, Iceland Composition and origin of rhyolite melt intersected by drilling in the Krafla geothermal field, Iceland
The Iceland Deep Drilling Project Well 1 was designed as a 4- to 5-km-deep exploration well with the goal of intercepting supercritical hydrothermal fluids in the Krafla geothermal field, Iceland. The well unexpectedly drilled into a high-silica (76.5 % SiO2) rhyolite melt at approximately 2.1 km. Some of the melt vesiculated while extruding into the drill hole, but most of the recovered...
Authors
R.A. Zierenberg, Peter Schiffmant, G.H. Barfod, C.E. Lesher, N.E. Marks, Jacob B. Lowenstern, A.K. Mortensen, E.C. Pope, D.K. Bird, M.H. Reed, G.O. Fridleifsson, W.A. Elders
*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