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Lauren N. Harrison, Ph.D. (Former Employee)

Science and Products

Sediment cores from Twin Butte Lake, Yellowstone National Park, being analyzed in the laboratory
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Lake coring operations at Twin Buttes Lake, Yellowstone National Park
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Cathodoluminescence images of zircon mineral grains from an Archean-age rock found in the Yellowstone region
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High powered microscopic images showing clay particles and diatoms
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Earth’s mantle composition revealed by mantle plumes

Mantle plumes originate at depths near the core−mantle boundary (~2,800 km). As such, they provide invaluable information about the composition of the deep mantle and insight into convection, crustal formation, and crustal recycling, as well as global heat and volatile budgets. In this Review, we discuss the effectiveness and challenges of using isotopic analyses of plume-generated rocks to infer
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Dominique Weis, Karen Harpp, Lauren N Harrison, Maud Boyet, Catherine Chauvel, Cinzia Farnetani, Val Finlayson, Kanai Lee, Rita Paraï, Anat Shahar, Nicole Williamson
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Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center

The relation between decadal droughts and eruptions of Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park, USA

In the past century, most eruptions of Steamboat Geyser in Yellowstone National Park's Norris Geyser Basin were mainly clustered in three episodes: 1961–1969, 1982–1984, and ongoing since 2018. These eruptive episodes resulted in extensive disturbance to surrounding trees. To characterize tree response over time as an indicator of geyser activity adjustments to climate variability, aerial and grou
Authors
Shaul Hurwitz, John C. King, Gregory T. Pederson, Mara H. Reed, Lauren N Harrison, Jefferson Hungerford, R. Greg Vaughan, Michael Manga
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Natural Hazards Mission Area, Ecosystems Mission Area, Volcano Hazards Program, Astrogeology Science Center, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Volcano Science Center

Paleomagnetically defined brief lifespans for two large shield volcanoes in the Cascades Arc

Mafic to intermediate shield volcanoes with multi-cubic-kilometer eruptive volumes are common in the Cascades Volcanic Arc, but little is known about their eruptive histories as either singular or sustained episodes, or the total time required for their construction. Paleomagnetic data were collected from the lava flows of Ash Creek Butte (17 sites) and Crater Mountain (14 sites) in northern Calif
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Anthony Francis Pivarunas, Dawnika Blatter, L. J. Patrick Muffler, Michael A. Clynne, Andrew T. Calvert, Lauren N Harrison, R.L. Christiansen
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Volcano Hazards Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Volcano Science Center
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The oldest igneous rocks in Yellowstone

Much of the geological attention at Yellowstone National Park is on the young volcanic rocks. But the geologic history of the region and the ages of...

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Travertine: Yellowstone’s Hydrothermal Timekeeper

Standing on the boardwalk next to any of Yellowstone’s hot, steamy, vigorously bubbling hot springs, mud pots, fumaroles, or geysers, you may be...

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Science and Products

*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