Pyroclastic Flows

The last period of pyroclastic flow activity at Mount Baker occurred about 12,500 years ago, shortly after continental glaciers retreated from the area.

The next eruption of Mount Baker may produce lava flows, pyroclastic flows, tephra falls, lahars, and flanks failures.

Mount Baker's edifice consists mostly of lava flows (as many as 200), and scattered evidence indicates that some of its products were broken up and carried away by glaciers.

Mount Baker is presently not showing signs of renewed magmatic activity, but it will surely become restless again. Future magmatic eruptions at Mount Baker are likely to be preceded by changes at the volcano that could be detected by modern volcano-monitoring techniques.