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
Fellow, GSA 2010
Fellow, MSA 2021
Lindgren Award (SEG) 2000
AAPG Distinguished Lecturer, 2006
Science and Products
Origins of geothermal gases at Yellowstone
Bursting the bubble of melt inclusions
Dynamics of the Yellowstone hydrothermal system
Provisional maps of thermal areas in Yellowstone National Park, based on satellite thermal infrared imaging and field observations
Hydrogeology of the Old Faithful area, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and its relevance to natural resources and infrastructure
Melt inclusions
Prodigious degassing of a billion years of accumulated radiogenic helium at Yellowstone
Modeling ash fall distribution from a Yellowstone supereruption
Analysis of H2O in silicate glass using attenuated total reflectance (ATR) micro-FTIR spectroscopy
Composition and origin of rhyolite melt intersected by drilling in the Krafla geothermal field, Iceland
Abstracts for the October 2012 meeting on Volcanism in the American Southwest, Flagstaff, Arizona
The Chaitén rhyolite lava dome: Eruption sequence, lava dome volumes, rapid effusion rates and source of the rhyolite magma
Science and Products
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Filter Total Items: 68
Origins of geothermal gases at Yellowstone
Gas emissions at the Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field (YPVF) reflect open-system mixing of gas species originating from diverse rock types, magmas, and crustal fluids, all combined in varying proportions at different thermal areas. Gases are not necessarily in chemical equilibrium with the waters through which they vent, especially in acid sulfate terrain where bubbles stream through stagnant acAuthorsJacob B. Lowenstern, Deborah Bergfeld, William C. Evans, Andrew G. HuntBursting the bubble of melt inclusions
Most silicate melt inclusions (MI) contain bubbles, whose significance has been alternately calculated, pondered, and ignored, but rarely if ever directly explored. Moore et al. (2015) analyze the bubbles, as well as their host glasses, and conclude that they often hold the preponderance of CO2 in the MI. Their findings entreat future researchers to account for the presence of bubbles in MI when cAuthorsJacob B. LowensternDynamics of the Yellowstone hydrothermal system
The Yellowstone Plateau Volcanic Field is characterized by extensive seismicity, episodes of uplift and subsidence, and a hydrothermal system that comprises more than 10,000 thermal features, including geysers, fumaroles, mud pots, thermal springs, and hydrothermal explosion craters. The diverse chemical and isotopic compositions of waters and gases derive from mantle, crustal, and meteoric sourceAuthorsShaul Hurwitz, Jacob B. LowensternProvisional maps of thermal areas in Yellowstone National Park, based on satellite thermal infrared imaging and field observations
Maps that define the current distribution of geothermally heated ground are useful toward setting a baseline for thermal activity to better detect and understand future anomalous hydrothermal and (or) volcanic activity. Monitoring changes in the dynamic thermal areas also supports decisions regarding the development of Yellowstone National Park infrastructure, preservation and protection of park rAuthorsR. Greg Vaughan, Henry Heasler, Cheryl Jaworowski, Jacob B. Lowenstern, Laszlo P. KeszthelyiHydrogeology 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 related tAuthorsDuncan Foley, Robert O. Fournier, Henry P. Heasler, Bern Hinckley, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Jacob B. Lowenstern, David D. SusongMelt 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 that are uAuthorsJacob B. LowensternProdigious 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 Yellowstone hoAuthorsJacob B. Lowenstern, William C. Evans, D. Bergfeld, Andrew G. HuntModeling 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 producingAuthorsLarry G. Mastin, Alexa R. Van Eaton, Jacob B. LowensternAnalysis 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 determined byAuthorsJacob B. Lowenstern, Bradley W. PitcherComposition 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 cuttingsAuthorsR.A. Zierenberg, P. Schiffman, 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. Friðleifsson, W.A. EldersAbstracts for the October 2012 meeting on Volcanism in the American Southwest, Flagstaff, Arizona
Though volcanic eruptions are comparatively rare in the American Southwest, the States of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah host Holocene volcanic eruption deposits and are vulnerable to future volcanic activity. Compared with other parts of the western United States, comparatively little research has been focused on this area, and eruption probabilities are poorly constrained. MonitAuthorsJacob B. LowensternThe Chaitén rhyolite lava dome: Eruption sequence, lava dome volumes, rapid effusion rates and source of the rhyolite magma
We use geologic field mapping and sampling, photogrammetric analysis of oblique aerial photographs, and digital elevation models to document the 2008-2009 eruptive sequence at Chaitén Volcano and to estimate volumes and effusion rates for the lava dome. We also present geochemical and petrologic data that contribute to understanding the source of the rhyolite and its unusually rapid effusion ratesAuthorsJohn S. Pallister, Angela K. Diefenbach, William C. Burton, Jorge Munoz, Julia P. Griswold, Luis E. Lara, Jacob B. Lowenstern, Carolina E. Valenzuela - Software
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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