Geological Society of America Meeting 2009: Portland, Oregon : Eruptions

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« Eruption at Gaua | Main | GSA 2009 pre-update »

Geological Society of America Meeting 2009: Portland, Oregon

Category: Cascades • Erik Klemetti • Eruptions Blog • Hood • Volcano research
Posted on: October 16, 2009 8:51 AM, by Erik Klemetti

Mt. Hood seen from Portland, Oregon. Image courtesy of the USGS/CVO.

I will be returning to my old haunts in Oregon (got my Ph.D. from Oregon State University - and yes, that is me in the upper left hand corner) for the next 6 days for the the Cascades, CVO and the multitude of igneous-rock-studying folks at Oregon State, Portland State, Univ. of Oregon, Univ. of Washington and so on, there is an awful lot to see. Two sessions I'm especially excited about are on supervolcanic/ignimbrite flareups and the Cascades volcanism and tectonics. A couple of these talks/posters I had some hand in, so those are always fun to see.

If you happen to be attending the GSA meeting, you could always wander by my poster on Sunday about my research in New Zealand. I'd be more than happy to meet people at the meeting - I mean, really, isn't that what meeting are about?

I will be trying to do a little blogging when I hear interesting volcano related items - it depends on how much my iPod likes the ScienceBlogs blogging software, but hey, if not, I will try to jot things down and blog about them later in the evening.

See you in Portland!

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Comments (9)

The report on Tianchi/Baitoushan interested me for a number of reasons: particularly the low estimated temperature of the rhyolite melt (649 degress C????), the short time the rhyolite stayed in place before eruption (7-8ka) and -as an aside- the size of the eruption, comparable to Tambora 1815. Presumably re-classification back to VEI 7 is on the cards.

I wonder if historical records from 11th Century Europe chronicle a specific year with abnormally low temperatures/ poor weather? Might give a more specific date for the eruption (cf Tambora's climate effects)

Posted by: mike don | October 16, 2009 5:01 PM

jeepers Erik, would I love to share a beer or two with you.

Okataina is totally fascinating. There was a paper (which are are no doubt familiar with) postulating an entire film of magma underneath the TVZ (where the crust is quite thin) which again is no doubt a major over-simplification. Nevertheless, it is fascinating how inter-connected the whole region is. The 181 AD Taupo eruption seems to have erupted from four discrete vents spaced widely apart and possibly tapping different parts of the magmatic system.

What is your take on the basaltic eruption of 1883? Does this mark the end phase of the caldera complex or that the magma chambers have exhausted their rhyolite?

Posted by: bruce stout | October 16, 2009 5:10 PM

Bruce: that 1883 eruption fascinates me too..because the basalt seems to have reached the surface through the same fissure as the 14th Cent. rhyolite. Odd.

Posted by: mike don | October 16, 2009 5:22 PM

mike is also quite right to be interested in the Tianchi eruption. Along with the recent paper on Chaiten, it looks like rhyolite complexes can develop into an eruptive phase quite quickly. I'd love to know where the water came from in the Tianchi eruption. The 181 AD Taupo eruption started off fairly normally (dry) but seemed to breach the floor of a supposed lake on the fourth day leading to a huge explosion (approx. 80 - 100 km³) eruption within the space of a few minutes. Would be nice to know if something similar was at play here.

Posted by: bruce stout | October 16, 2009 5:34 PM

mike, totally. I mean, the whole region is dominated by rhyolite and at best a bit of andesite and then we get this basaltic eruption coming through along exactly the same fissure that created huge rhyolite domes (like three times Chaiten) just a few hundred years ago.

Posted by: bruce stout | October 16, 2009 5:56 PM

CARIBBEAN SEA
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
530 PM EDT FRI OCT 16 2009

OFFSHORE WATERS FORECAST FOR THE SW AND TROPICAL N ATLC FROM 07N
TO 22N BETWEEN 55W AND 65W

SEAS GIVEN AS SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT...WHICH IS THE AVERAGE
HEIGHT OF THE HIGHEST 1/3 OF THE WAVES. INDIVIDUAL WAVES MAY BE
MORE THAN TWICE THE SIGNIFICANT WAVE HEIGHT.

AMZ086-170330-
E CARIBBEAN E OF 75W TO THE LEEWARD AND WINDWARD ISLANDS
530 PM EDT FRI OCT 16 2009

...VOLCANIC ASHFALL ADVISORY WITHIN 120 NM NW QUADRANT OF
SOUFRIERE HILLS VOLCANO MONTSERRAT AT 16.7N 62.2W...

.TONIGHT AND SAT...NE TO E WINDS 10 TO 15 KT INCREASING TO 20 KT
E OF 70W AND S OF 15N W OF 70W. SEAS BUILDING 5 TO 7 FT.
VISIBILITY OCCASIONALLY LESS THAN 5 NM IN VOLCANIC ASH. SCATTERED
SHOWERS AND TSTMS S OF 17N E OF 66W.
.SAT NIGHT AND SUN...NE TO E WINDS 15 TO 20 KT. SEAS 6 TO 8 FT.
SCATTERED SHOWERS W OF 70W.
.SUN NIGHT AND MON...NE TO E WINDS 15 KT...OCCASIONALLY 20 KT.
SEAS 5 TO 7 FT...SUBSIDING 4 TO 5 FT E OF 70W.
.TUE AND WED...W OF 70W E WINDS 15 KT. SEAS 5 TO 6 FT. E OF 70W
E WINDS 10 KT. SEAS 3 TO 4 FT.

i no this is not march in fo but SOUFRIERE HILLS VOLCANO MONTSERRAT eruption today

Posted by: David | October 16, 2009 9:16 PM

Heh. Soufriere Hills has been in eruption mode for a few days. UMBC Air Quality 'Smog Blog' has been featuring reports/photos of this eruption for the last week.

http://alg.umbc.edu/usaq/

Posted by: Passerby | October 16, 2009 9:34 PM

http://www.mvo.ms/

Posted by: David | October 16, 2009 9:45 PM

Big splash at the Portland Meeting:
Giant impact near India -- not Mexico -- may have doomed dinosaurs. http://www.physorg.com/news174827113.html

Posted by: Passerby | October 19, 2009 12:14 PM