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Steven Ingebritsen, Ph.D.

Research topics include magmatic-hydrothermal systems, crustal permeability, and land subsidence

Served a 10-year term as a USGS Branch Chief (1998-2008), managing a $19M/year research program with about 150 full- and part-time employees and contractors.  Fellow of both the American Geophysical Union and the Geological Society of America (GSA); recipient of the O.E. Meinzer Award from GSA and the John Hem Award from the National Ground Water Association; and a GSA Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer.  Author of the textbook Groundwater in Geologic Processes (Cambridge University Press, 1998, 2nd ed. 2006) and co-Editor of Crustal Permeability (Wiley/AGU, 2016).  Past co-Editor-in-Chief of Geothermics (1996-1998) and Geofluids (2006-2010) and past Chair of GSA’s Hydrogeology Division.  Member U.S. National Academy of Engineering.

DATA AND MODELS

Hydrothermal monitoring data from the Cascade Range:  https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/cvo/monitoring_hydrothermal.html

Hydrothermal discharge at selected sites in the western US (Ingebritsen and others, JVGR, 2001):  https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/water/hydrothermal/hydrothermal_abstract.pdf

Geyser-frequency data from Upper Geyser Basin (Rojstaczer and others, 2003):  https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/file_mngr/file-191/geyserdata.pdf

HYDROTHERM model:  https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/software/hydrotherm/

Professional Experience

  • Member of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) since 1980

Education and Certifications

  • MS and PhD Hydrogeology, Stanford University

  • BA Geology, Carleton College

Honors and Awards

  • Fellow, American Geophysical Union

  • Fellow, Geological Society of America

  • O.E. Meinzer Award, Geological Society of America

  • John Hem Award, National Ground Water Association

  • Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer, Geological Society of America

Science and Products

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USGS science for a changing world logo

A digital crust to advance continental‐scale modeling of subsurface fluid flow in climate, crustal process, and Earth system models

Fluid circulation in the Earth’s crust plays an essential role in surface, near surface, and crustal dynamics. Near the surface, soil water and groundwater interact with each other and with rivers, lakes and wetlands, affecting weathering, soil formation, ecosystem evolution and biogeochemical cycles. Further down (1km), fluid flow affects diagenesis, hydrocarbon maturation and migration, ore depo...
By
John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis
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A digital crust to advance continental‐scale modeling of subsurface fluid flow in climate, crustal process, and Earth system models

Fluid circulation in the Earth’s crust plays an essential role in surface, near surface, and crustal dynamics. Near the surface, soil water and groundwater interact with each other and with rivers, lakes and wetlands, affecting weathering, soil formation, ecosystem evolution and biogeochemical cycles. Further down (1km), fluid flow affects diagenesis, hydrocarbon maturation and migration, ore depo...
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Streamflow data collected by the wading method, Pinnacles National Park, California, 2018

This dataset includes streamflow measurements collected at six sites in Pinnacles National Park during 2018. Data collection occurred at times when the streamflow did not include runoff from precipitation. The wading method was used to measure streamflow (Nolan, K.M. and Shields, R.R., 2000, Measurement of stream discharge by wading, U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 200
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Water Resources Mission Area
Filter Total Items: 41

Geochemistry and fluxes of gases from hydrothermal features at Newberry Volcano, Oregon, USA

We present the chemical and isotopic compositions of gases and fluxes of CO2 from the hydrothermal features of Newberry Volcano, a large composite volcano located in Oregon's Cascade Range with a summit caldera that hosts two lakes, Paulina and East Lakes. Gas samples were collected from 1982 to 2021 from Paulina Hot Springs (PHS) on the shore of Paulina Lake, East Lake Hot Springs (ELHS) on the s
Authors
Jennifer L. Lewicki, William C. Evans, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Laura E. Clor, Peter J. Kelly, Sara Peek, Robert A. Jensen, Andrew Hunt
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Volcano Hazards Program, Alaska Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Volcano Science Center

Violent groundwater eruption triggered by a distant earthquake

It is now well established that earthquakes cause various hydrogeological responses at distances thousands of kilometers from the epicenter. What remains unexplained is the large amplitude and intensity of some responses. Following the 2004 Mw 9.1 Sumatra earthquake, groundwater 3,200 km from the epicenter erupted violently from a well and formed a water fountain reaching a height exceeding 60 m.
Authors
Xin Yan, Zheming Shi, Chi-Yuen Wang, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Michael Manga
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center

Post audit of simulated groundwater flow to a short-lived (2019-2020) crater lake at Kīlauea Volcano

About 14.5 months after the 2018 eruption and summit collapse of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi, liquid water started accumulating in the deepened summit crater, forming a lake that attained 51 m depth before rapidly boiling off on December 20, 2020, when an eruption from the crater wall poured lava into the lake. Modeling the growth of the crater lake at Kīlauea summit is important for assessing the po
Authors
Ashton F. Flinders, James P. Kauahikaua, Paul A. Hsieh, Steven E. Ingebritsen
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Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center

Groundwater dynamics at Kīlauea Volcano and vicinity, Hawaiʻi

Kīlauea Volcano, on the Island of Hawaiʻi, is surrounded and permeated by active groundwater systems that interact dynamically with the volcanic system. A generalized conceptual model of Hawaiian hydrogeology includes high-level dike-impounded groundwater, very permeable perched and basal aquifers, and a transition (mixing) zone between freshwater and saltwater. Most high-level groundwater is asso
Authors
Shaul Hurwitz, Sara E. Peek, Martha A. Scholl, Deborah Bergfeld, William C. Evans, James P. Kauahikaua, Stephen B. Gingerich, Paul A. Hsieh, R. Lopaka Lee, Edward F. Younger, Steven E. Ingebritsen
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Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center

Modeling groundwater inflow to the new crater lake at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawaiʻi

During the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i, scientists relied heavily on a conceptual model of explosive eruptions triggered when lava‐lake levels drop below the water table. Numerical modeling of multiphase groundwater flow and heat transport revealed that, contrary to expectations, liquid water inflow to the drained magma conduit would likely be delayed by months to years, owing to the
Authors
Steven E. Ingebritsen, Ashton F. Flinders, James P. Kauahikaua, Paul A. Hsieh
By
Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center

Potential for increased hydrothermal arsenic flux during volcanic unrest: Implications for California water supply

The hydrothermal systems associated with the restless high-threat volcanoes at Lassen and Long Valley, California, each release large amounts of arsenic (As) to surface waters – ~6 and ~8 metric tons/yr, respectively. The hydrothermal As output can increase during volcanic unrest, as illustrated by a two-fold increase during unrest at Lassen in 2014–15. During that period of unrest, increased As c
Authors
Steven E. Ingebritsen, William C. Evans
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Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center

Groundwater inflow toward a preheated volcanic conduit: Application to the 2018 eruption at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai’i

The many successes in volcano forecasting over the past several decades owe mainly to pattern recognition, both in monitoring data and the geologic record. During the early stages of the 2018 Kīlauea eruption, the conceptual model of Stearns (1925), based on the explosive 1924 Kīlauea eruption, was highly influential. This model postulates that explosions are triggered by liquid-water inflow int
Authors
Paul A. Hsieh, Steven E. Ingebritsen
By
Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center

Multi-year high-frequency hydrothermal monitoring of selected high-threat Cascade Range volcanoes

From 2009 to 2015 the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) systematically monitored hydrothermal behavior at selected Cascade Range volcanoes in order to define baseline hydrothermal and geochemical conditions. Gas and water data were collected regularly at 25 sites on 10 of the highest-risk volcanoes in the Cascade Range. These sites include near-summit fumarole groups and springs/streams that show clea
Authors
I.M. Crankshaw, Stacey A. Archfield, A. C. Newman, Deborah Bergfeld, Laura E. Clor, Peter J. Kelly, William C. Evans, Kurt R. Spicer, Steven E. Ingebritsen
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Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center

The influence of episodic shallow magma degassing on heat and chemical transport in volcanic hydrothermal systems

Springs at La Soufrière of Guadeloupe have been monitored for nearly four decades since the phreatic eruption and associated seismic activity in 1976. We conceptualize degassing vapor/gas mixtures as square‐wave sources of chloride and heat and apply a new semianalytic solution to demonstrate that chloride and heat pulses with the same timing and duration result in good matches between measured an
Authors
Kewei Chen, Hongbin Zhan, Erick Burns, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Pierre Agrinier
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Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center

Crustal permeability

Permeability is the dominant parameter in most hydrogeologic studies. There is abundant evidence for dynamic variations in permeability in time as well as space, and throughout the crust. Whether this dynamic behavior should be included in quantitative models depends on the problem at hand.
Authors
Steven E. Ingebritsen, Tom Gleeson
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Causes of distal volcano-tectonic seismicity inferred from hydrothermal modeling

Distal volcano-tectonic (dVT) seismicity typically precedes eruption at long-dormant volcanoes by days to years. Precursory dVT seismicity may reflect magma-induced fluid-pressure pulses that intersect critically stressed faults. We explored this hypothesis using an open-source magmatic-hydrothermal code that simulates multiphase fluid and heat transport over the temperature range 0 to 1200 °C. We
Authors
Cecile A. Coulon, Paul A. Hsieh, Randall A. White, Jacob B. Lowenstern, Steven E. Ingebritsen
By
Water Resources Mission Area

Thermal effect of climate change on groundwater-fed ecosystems

Groundwater temperature changes will lag surface temperature changes from a changing climate. Steady state solutions of the heat-transport equations are used to identify key processes that control the long-term thermal response of springs and other groundwater discharge to climate change, in particular changes in (1) groundwater recharge rate and temperature and (2) land-surface temperature transm
Authors
Erick Burns, Yonghui Zhu, Hongbin Zhan, Michael Manga, Colin F. Williams, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Jason B. Dunham
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Water Resources Mission Area, Oregon Water Science Center, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

Hydrotherm

Hydrotherm is a computer code for three-dimensional simulation of multiphase groundwater flow and heat transport in the temperature range of 0 to 1200 degrees Celsius and the pressure range of 1 to 1000 MPa.

By
Volcano Hazards Program, California Volcano Observatory, Cascades Volcano Observatory, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, Yellowstone Volcano Observatory

Science and Products