Pete Lipman's work has involved applying, cooperatively with others, techniques of petrology, geochemistry, geochronology, oceanography, and geophysics to problems that have been well constrained by detailed field studies.
Lipman obtained a bachelor degree in geology from Yale University in 1958, followed by a M.S. in 1960 and Ph.D. in 1962 from Stanford University. Although his graduate dissertation involved study of the ultramafic, granitic, and metamorphic rocks of the Trinity Alps in northern California, he has worked largely on problems of volcanic geology since joining the U.S. Geological Survey in 1962. From 1962-1990, Lipman resided mainly in Golden, Colorado, with his wife Beverly and two sons born in 1966 and 1968. Major interludes have included an NSF postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Tokyo in 1964-65 to study active silicic volcanism in Japan and a two-year stint at the Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory at Kilauea Volcano in 1975-1977. In 1991, Lipman moved his office to Menlo Park, California, and he and Bev now live on the edge of the American plate, surrounded by poison oak, in Portola Valley.
Lipman has worked on volcanic rocks and problems in seven western states, as well as in Hawaii, Japan, China, and the USSR. His work has involved applying, cooperatively with others, techniques of petrology, geochemistry, geochronology, oceanography, and geophysics to problems that have been well constrained by detailed field studies. Special topics of interest have included: volcanism as a record of igneous processes within the earth, volcanism as evidence of plate-tectonic interactions, comparisons between processes of active volcanism and the internal structures of eroded ancient volcanoes, relations between volcanism and ore deposits, monitoring of active volcanoes by geodetic measurements of ground deformation, volcanic hazards and scientific responsibilities. Lipman is author of more than 270 scientific reports, excluding abstracts. He coedited the Geological Survey's 900 p. book on the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens Volcano published in 1982, the Geological Society of America's DNAG volume on The Cordilleran Orogen: Conterminous U.S., and also two special issues of the Journal of Geophysical Research (1985 Calderas and Associated Rocks, 1991 Middle Tertiary Cordilleran Magmatism). From 1991 to 1994, he was a science manager for the USGS, serving as Chief of the Branch of Volcanic and Geothermal Processes (135 employees), and coordinator for a $20 M Congressional line-item program focused on volcanic hazards and geothermal resources. Since 1995, he has been chief scientist for the USGS project "Eruptive hazards at large volcanoes," focused on ignimbrite calderas of the San Juan Mountains, Colorado, and Mauna Loa volcano, Hawaii" (as Emeritus Scientist since 2003).
Professional Experience
Scientist Emeritus, U.S. Geological Survey, 2003-Present
Research geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, 1962-2003
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, U.S. Geological Survey, 1975-1977
Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Tokyo, 1964-1965
Coeditor of the Bulletin of Volcanology
Associate editor of the Geological Society of America Bulletin and Geology
Outside member of 12 graduate student dissertation committees at 7 universities
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. in Geology, Stanford University - 1962
M.S. in Geology, Stanford University - 1960
Bachelor's in Geology, Yale University - 1958
Affiliations and Memberships*
Elected Councilor of the Geological Society and member of its Executive Committee
Past President and member of the executive committee of IAVCEI (Internat. Assoc. Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior)
Past Secretary and Program Chairman of the Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology section of the American Geophysical Union
Honors and Awards
Florence Bascom Geologic Mapping Award, Geological Society of America - 2021
First recipient of the MGPV Section Lifetime Achievement Award, Geological Society of America - 2010
Distinguished Service Award, Department of the Interior - 1999
Meritorious Service Award, Department of Interior - 1985
USGS Mendenhall Lecturer - 1984
Burwell Award of the Geological Society of America - 1983
Science and Products
Zircon U-Pb geochronology and whole rock geochemistry for pre-ignimbrite volcanoes within the San Juan locus of the mid-Cenozoic Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field, Colorado
Geologic map of the Bonanza caldera area, northeastern San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Geologic map of the Cochetopa Park and North Pass Calderas, northeastern San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Geologic map of the central San Juan caldera cluster, southwestern Colorado
![La Garita Mountain (elevation 4179 m [13711 ft]), Colorado](https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/styles/masonry/public/media/images/Fig_5.32_LaGaritaMtns%20copy.jpeg?itok=G-UD0FEM)
Field-trip guide to continental arc to rift volcanism of the southern Rocky Mountains—Southern Rocky Mountain, Taos Plateau, and Jemez Mountains volcanic fields of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico
Postcaldera intrusive magmatism at the Platoro caldera complex, Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field, Colorado, USA
Protracted multipulse emplacement of a post-resurgent pluton: The case of Platoro caldera complex (Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field, Colorado)
When ignimbrite meets water: Megascale gas-escape structures formed during welding
Slab-rollback ignimbrite flareups in the southern Great Basin and other Cenozoic American arcs: A distinct style of arc volcanism
Ignimbrites to batholiths: integrating perspectives from geological, geophysical, and geochronological data
An ignimbrite caldera from the bottom up: Exhumed floor and fill of the resurgent Bonanza caldera, Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field, Colorado
Modeling volcano growth on the Island of Hawaii: Deep-water perspectives
Tertiary volcanism in the eastern San Juan mountains
Early growth of Kohala volcano and formation of long Hawaiian rift zones
Eruptive and noneruptive calderas, northeastern San Juan Mountains, Colorado: Where did the ignimbrites come from?
Time scales and volumes of large ignimbrite-caldera eruptions in continental arc: Relation to assembly of subvolcanic batholiths
Science and Products
- Data
Zircon U-Pb geochronology and whole rock geochemistry for pre-ignimbrite volcanoes within the San Juan locus of the mid-Cenozoic Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field, Colorado
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release provides whole rock major, minor, and trace element geochemical data and zircon U-Pb geochronology and trace element concentrations for samples from pre-ignimbrite volcanoes within the San Juan locus of the mid-Cenozoic Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field, Colorado. Samples were collected in order to constrain the evolution of the pre-ignimbrite m - Maps
Geologic map of the Bonanza caldera area, northeastern San Juan Mountains, Colorado
The San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado have long been known as a site of exceptionally voluminous mid-Tertiary volcanism, including at least 22 major ignimbrite sheets (each 150–5,000 km³) and associated caldera structures active at 34–23 Ma. Recent volcanologic and petrologic studies in the San Juan region have focused mainly on several ignimbrite-caldera systems: the southeastern area (Geologic map of the Cochetopa Park and North Pass Calderas, northeastern San Juan Mountains, Colorado
The San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado have long been known as a site of exceptionally voluminous mid-Tertiary volcanism, including at least 22 major ignimbrite sheets (each 150-5,000 km3) and associated caldera structures active at 33-23 Ma. Recent volcanologic and petrologic studies in the San Juan region have focused mainly on several ignimbrite-caldera systems: the southeastern area (Geologic map of the central San Juan caldera cluster, southwestern Colorado
The San Juan Mountains are the largest erosional remnant of a composite volcanic field that covered much of the southern Rocky Mountains in middle Tertiary time. The San Juan field consists mainly of intermediate-composition lavas and breccias, erupted about 35-30 Ma from scattered central volcanoes (Conejos Formation) and overlain by voluminous ash-flow sheets erupted from caldera sources. In the - Multimedia
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 73
Field-trip guide to continental arc to rift volcanism of the southern Rocky Mountains—Southern Rocky Mountain, Taos Plateau, and Jemez Mountains volcanic fields of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico
The southern Rocky Mountains of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado preserve the Oligocene to Pleistocene record of North American continental arc to rift volcanism. The 35–23 million year old (Ma) southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field (SRMVF), spectacularly preserved in the San Juan Mountains of southern Colorado, records the evolution of large andesitic stratovolcanoes to complex calderaAuthorsRen A. Thompson, Kenzie J. Turner, Peter W. Lipman, John A. Wolff, Michael A. DunganPostcaldera intrusive magmatism at the Platoro caldera complex, Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field, Colorado, USA
The Oligocene Platoro caldera complex of the San Juan volcanic locus in Colorado (USA) features numerous exposed plutons both within the caldera and outside its margins, enabling investigation of the timing and evolution of postcaldera magmatism. Intrusion whole-rock geochemistry and phenocryst and/or mineral trace element compositions coupled with new zircon U-Pb geo-chronology and zircon in situAuthorsAmy K. Gilmer, Ren A. Thompson, Peter W. Lipman, Jorge A. Vazquez, Amanda (Kate) SoudersProtracted multipulse emplacement of a post-resurgent pluton: The case of Platoro caldera complex (Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field, Colorado)
Many eroded calderas expose associated postcollapse plutons, but detailed fieldwork‐supported studies have rarely focused on the internal structure that can contribute to understanding of emplacement dynamics. The Alamosa River monzonite pluton is a postcollapse intrusion at the Platoro caldera complex that erupted six large ignimbrites between 30.2 and 28.8 Ma in the Southern Rocky Mountains volcAuthorsFilip Tomek, Amy K. Gilmer, M. S. Petronis, Peter W. Lipman, M. S. FoucherWhen ignimbrite meets water: Megascale gas-escape structures formed during welding
Diverse welding, crystallization, and structural features develop when a hot ignimbrite encounters external water, depending largely on volatile-rock ratios. Such processes are spectacularly documented by a regional ignimbrite, where ponded within an older caldera in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado. Interaction of hot pyroclastic flows with moist underlying sediments or standing water in a streamAuthorsPeter W. LipmanSlab-rollback ignimbrite flareups in the southern Great Basin and other Cenozoic American arcs: A distinct style of arc volcanism
In continental-margin subduction zones, basalt magmas spawned in the mantle interact with the crust to produce a broad spectrum of volcanic arc associations. A distinct style of very voluminous arc volcanism develops far inland on thick crust over periods of 10–20 m.y. and involves relatively infrequent caldera-forming explosive eruptions of dominantly calc-alkaline rhyolite, dacite, and trachydacAuthorsMyron G. Best, Eric H. Christiansen, Shanaka de Silva, Peter W. LipmanIgnimbrites to batholiths: integrating perspectives from geological, geophysical, and geochronological data
Multistage histories of incremental accumulation, fractionation, and solidification during construction of large subvolcanic magma bodies that remained sufficiently liquid to erupt are recorded by Tertiary ignimbrites, source calderas, and granitoid intrusions associated with large gravity lows at the Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field (SRMVF). Geophysical data combined with geological constraAuthorsPeter W. Lipman, Olivier BachmannAn ignimbrite caldera from the bottom up: Exhumed floor and fill of the resurgent Bonanza caldera, Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field, Colorado
Among large ignimbrites, the Bonanza Tuff and its source caldera in the Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field display diverse depositional and structural features that provide special insights concerning eruptive processes and caldera development. In contrast to the nested loci for successive ignimbrite eruptions at many large multicyclic calderas elsewhere, Bonanza caldera is an areally isolatedAuthorsPeter W. Lipman, Matthew J. Zimmerer, William C. McIntoshModeling volcano growth on the Island of Hawaii: Deep-water perspectives
Recent ocean-bottom geophysical surveys, dredging, and dives, which complement surface data and scientific drilling at the Island of Hawaii, document that evolutionary stages during volcano growth are more diverse than previously described. Based on combining available composition, isotopic age, and geologically constrained volume data for each of the component volcanoes, this overview provides thAuthorsPeter W. Lipman, Andrew T. CalvertTertiary volcanism in the eastern San Juan mountains
No abstract available.AuthorsPeter W. Lipman, William C. McIntoshEarly growth of Kohala volcano and formation of long Hawaiian rift zones
Transitional-composition pillow basalts from the toe of the Hilo Ridge, collected from outcrop by submersible, have yielded the oldest ages known from the Island of Hawaii: 1138 ± 34 to 1159 ± 33 ka. Hilo Ridge has long been interpreted as a submarine rift zone of Mauna Kea, but the new ages validate proposals that it is the distal east rift zone of Kohala, the oldest subaerial volcano on the islaAuthorsPeter W. Lipman, Andrew T. CalvertEruptive and noneruptive calderas, northeastern San Juan Mountains, Colorado: Where did the ignimbrites come from?
The northeastern San Juan Mountains, the least studied portion of this well-known segment of the Southern Rocky Mountains Volcanic Field are the site of several newly identified and reinterpreted ignimbrite calderas. These calderas document some unique eruptive features not described before from large volcanic systems elsewhere, as based on recent mapping, petrologic data, and a large array of newAuthorsPeter W. Lipman, William C. McIntoshTime scales and volumes of large ignimbrite-caldera eruptions in continental arc: Relation to assembly of subvolcanic batholiths
Volcanoes and upper-crustal plutons in diverse geologic settings tend to share common features of mineral and chemical compositions, emplacement age, and magmatic volume. Voluminous silicic ignimbrites associated with caldera sources, widespread components of Cordilleran arcs, have commonly been interpreted as broadly concurrent with assembly of upper-crustal batholiths. Tertiary ignimbrites in thAuthorsPeter W. Lipman
*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