Publications

On November 28th, 2022, following a record historical repose period of 38 years, Mauna Loa erupted about 145 × 106 m3 of lava and tephra over a 15-day period. The eruption was confined to the summit caldera region and the upper Northeast Rift Zone and is remarkably homogeneous in composition in both time and space. In these respects, it is typical of prior shallow summit reservoir magma...

Ultraviolet (UV) remote sensing is widely used to detect volcanic sulfur dioxide (SO₂) due to its high sensitivity and favorable spatial and temporal resolution. However, significant discrepancies have been reported between ground-based and satellite-based UV observations of dense volcanic plumes. A notable example is the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kīlauea, where SO₂ emission...

Daily high-spatial-resolution satellite imagery at active volcanoes could be used to anticipate eruptions and save lives, but is only rarely available or used in real time. Specifically, daily repeat coverage of ground deformation, topography, and surface morphology at volcanoes is now possible using high-spatial resolution optical and radar imagery (

The consequences of volcanic eruptions span a broad range. Large explosive eruptions that recur every several hundred to thousands of years can impact global climate, but even small eruptions of a magnitude that takes place multiple times each year someplace on Earth can have devastating effects given the large number of people who live near volcanoes. Ground-based monitoring is...

The Hawaiian volcanic chain exhibits a long-recognized double track of volcanism defined by the Loa and Kea trends, which erupt chemically and isotopically distinct lavas. Mauna Loa and Kīlauea, the two most frequently active volcanoes of the Loa and Kea trends, produce distinct endmember compositions. However, historical periods of compositional convergence have prompted debate...

A network of ten buckets was established early in the 2008–2018 summit eruption at Kīlauea to collect proximal tephra ejected from the new, informally named the “Overlook crater”; the buckets were emptied on most days of the eruption thereafter. This report summarizes the results of more than 2,400 different sampling intervals (most 1–3 days long) during the eruption, focusing on the...

Magnetic surveys are an important tool used to augment geologic mapping in distributed volcanic fields. Using magnetic anomalies, it is possible to model the geometry of shallowly buried volcanic features, such as conduits, sills, and lava flows. This subsurface mapping is important for understanding eruption dynamics and emplacement of lava flows, and it sometimes reveals buried...

In 2024, the Alaska Volcano Observatory responded to eruptions, volcanic unrest or suspected unrest, increased seismicity, and other significant activity at 10 volcanic centers in Alaska and the Northern Mariana Islands. Eruptive activity in Alaska consisted of the eruption of a thick lava flow within the summit crater at Great Sitkin Volcano throughout the entire year and a small...

Landslide runout and debris-flow inundation can disrupt areas well beyond their initial sources, causing widespread damage and extensive fatalities. Understanding where they start and how far they might travel is essential in many locations worldwide. However, most landslide susceptibility maps focus on initiation areas and fail to incorporate runout areas. Furthermore, hazards vary...

Most volcanic activity is taking place in the oceans. Depending on water depth, eruption recurrence times and volumes, a new island can form. The power of erosional forces, the type of erupted material and the efficiency of secondary processes determine the island’s lifetime. Since the famous eruption of Surtsey (Iceland) in 1963, at least another 23 volcanic islands have appeared. Some...

The Lost Jim flow field, in the Imuruk Lake volcanic field, Alaska, extends west ~34 km from a single vent, crossing subarctic tundra and currently touches several lakes and streams. The weighted mean of five 36Cl cosmogenic exposure ages from the Lost Jim pāhoehoe flow is 7.73 ± 0.37 ka, indicating this eruption occurred substantially after the eruption of the underlying Camille flow...

Pyroclastic density currents represent one of the deadliest hazards posed by active volcanoes. Analysis of their deposits provides valuable insights into their internal dynamics and informs numerical simulations of pyroclastic density currents which underpin many volcanic hazard assessments. We present PDCD-DAT, a global database of pyroclastic density current deposit characteristics...