Rainier
eklemetti | July 7, 2010A few very quick hits:
Ever-looming Mt. Rainier, with Tacoma, Washington in the foreground.
PHIVOLCS is pondering whether to lower the Alert Status at Taal back to Level 1. The volcano has been on Alert Level 2 for the past month after increasing signs of potential eruptive activity. However, seismicity is down at Taal, so PHIVOLCS will be sending a ground team to do a survey before deciding whether to lower the Alert Level. The heightened state of alert at Taal has lead to some people taking advantage of the populace, with little more than a fake text message to cause panic.
Just how tall…
eklemetti | December 31, 2009Here it is, my attempt to recap a year's worth of volcanic events. By no means is this supposed to capture every event, but rather the highlight/lowlights and what most captivated me during 2009. I'll be announcing the winner of the 2009 Pliny for Volcanic Event of the Year tomorrow.
Waimangu Geothermal Valley in New Zealand, taken in January 2009 by Erik Klemetti.
January
The year started out with a trip to New Zealand (well, for me at least) and vistas of the Waimangu Valley, formed in the 1886 eruption of Tarawera on the North Island. We were also still thinking about the late 2008…
eklemetti | October 25, 2009
The southern Washington (and northern Oregon) Cascades, with Hood (foreground), St. Helens and Adams (middle) and Rainier (background).
Remember a few months ago when an abstract from a meeting got people are ruffled because the study said there was a "giant magma chamber" feeding all three of St. Helens, Adams and Rainier in the Cascades? Well, Nature Geosciences has been kind enough to publish the work (the article) and yes, yet again, we can say it is still most likely not true at all.
Graham Hill and others claim that their magnetotelluric work in the Cascades show that a vast magma…
eklemetti | September 21, 2009Eruptions reader Doug pointed out in a recent comment that the seismicity at Mt. Rainier in Washington has increased over the last month or so. Take a look for yourself:
Mt. Rainier seismicity over the last year (8/2008 to 9/2009). Image courtesy of PNSN
Taking a closer look, over the last week there has been 7 earthquakes over the last 5 days - all between M1-3 - near Rainier, most calculated to be between 1.5 to 5.8 km depth.
Any thoughts? I see a lot more noise (earthquakes) between 3-6 km depth. It could as benign as seismicity due to fluid in the extensive hydrothermal system at Rainier…
eklemetti | June 14, 2009
Mt. Saint Helens in Washington state, USA
I'm back from my sojourn to New England and its time to play catch up. First things first!
There has been a lot of chatter in my inbox and on the comments here at Eruptions about the study/press release from Graham Hill's research group talking about the potential for a supervolcano forming at Mt. Saint Helens. This study (presented at the AGU Spring Meeting) was based on a magnetotelluric study of the area around (and below) Saint Helens. For those of you unfamiliar with magnetotellurics, it uses instruments that measure the magnetism and electrical…
eklemetti | May 15, 2009
Fernandina in the Galapagos erupting in April 2009. Photo by Harald Schmidt
First off, I wanted to thank everyone who has submitted volcanoes images so far. They are an remarkable collection (see examples above and below) that I will start using with the articles as they fit. Thank you for sharing these images and your experiences with me (and eventually, with the readers of Eruptions).
That being said, send me (more) pictures of volcanoes - erupting or not - that I might use on the blog. I will be sure to give you appropriate credit for the image and if you'd like me to link to your…
eklemetti | April 5, 2009
Ulawun Volcano, Papau New Guinea, one of the "Decade Volcanoes"
There was some discussion earlier about the so-called "Decade Volcanoes", so I thought I'd elaborate a bit on them (doubly so in light of certain other lists.) These volcanoes are defined by IAVCEI - the International Association of Volcanology and the Chemistry of the Earth's Interior - and are part of a program whose aim is
"to direct attention to a small number of selected, active volcanoes world-wide and to encourage the establishment of a range of research and public-awareness activities aimed at enhancing an…
eklemetti | March 27, 2009
Back in a former life, I was really into radio and music. Such an existence calls for many lists of rankings: "Best albums of 2004", "All time greatest soul singers", "Worst album covers of the 1980s". And, although I love a list as much as the next person, I tend to find lists appalling. Why? Well, mostly because no "Top list" of anything is accurate, and even worse, most of the time they're put together to generate controversy. "Wait until they see I listed Wade Boggs as the best third basemen in history!" You know, that sort of thing.
Anyway, much to my surprise (chagrin?), I recently an…
eklemetti | March 20, 2009
So, as I am apt to do from time to time, I was wandering the interweb and stumbled across the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) for Kids website. Naturally, I thought, what do they have to say about, oh, I don't know, volcanoes. Well, was I in for a doozy!
FEMA, in its infinite wisdom, has this to say about volcanoes (for kids, mind you):
[A] volcano is a mountain that opens downward to a pool of molten rock below the surface of the earth.
Oh. My. Word ... but wait, there's more!
The ash can cause damage to the lungs of older people, babies and people with respiratory problems.
Yes…
eklemetti | October 17, 2008
The only volcanic arc in the lower 48 states continues to be pretty darn quiet according to the USGS. The Cascade range that spans from Lassen Peak in the south to Mt. Baker in the north (and maybe Mt. Garibaldi in Canada) has been remarkably quiet in terms of eruptions for the last century. In fact, only Mt. Saint Helens and Lassen Peak have erupted since 1900 - and most of the volcano have shown very few signs of even coming close to eruption beyond minor seismic swarms, steaming or land deformation. This is in contrast to the reports from the 1800s that suggest that Hood, Shasta, St.…