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Massive edifice failure at Aleutian arc volcanoes

Along the 450-km-long stretch of the Aleutian volcanic arc from Great Sitkin to Kiska Islands, edifice failure and submarine debris-avalanche deposition have occurred at seven of ten Quaternary volcanic centers. Reconnaissance geologic studies have identified subaerial evidence for large-scale prehistoric collapse events at five of the centers (Great Sitkin, Kanaga, Tanaga, Gareloi, and Segula). S
Authors
Michelle L. Coombs, S.M. White, D.W. Scholl

40Ar/39Ar ages of the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius, Italy

The Italian volcano, Vesuvius, erupted explosively in AD 79. Sanidine from pumice collected at Casti Amanti in Pompeii and Villa Poppea in Oplontis yielded a weighted-mean 40Ar/39Ar age of 1925±66 years in 2004 (1σ uncertainty) from incremental-heating experiments of eight aliquants of sanidine. This is the calendar age of the eruption. Our results together with the work of Renne et al. (1997) and
Authors
Marvin A. Lanphere, Duane E. Champion, Leone Melluso, Vincenzo Morra, Annamaria Perrotta, Claudio Scarpati, Dario Tedesco, Andrew T. Calvert

Mount St. Helens Petrology Workshop

Following seismic activity in late September 2004, the current eruption of Mount St. Helens began with an explosive steam and ash emission on 1 October 2004, with hot dacite emerging from the crater floor on 11 October 2004. Nearly two years later, with more than 80 million cubic meters of erupted dacite, accompanied by rare explosions and predominantly shallow seismicity questions still remain ab
Authors
Michael C. Rowe, John S. Pallister, Anita Grunder

Drag-out effect of piezomagnetic signals due to a borehole: The Mogi source as an example

We show that using borehole measurements in tectonomagnetic experiments allows enhancement of the observed signals. New magnetic dipoles, which vary with stress changes from mechanical sources, are produced on the walls of the borehole. We evaluate such an effect quantitatively. First we formulate a general expression for the borehole effect due to any arbitrary source models. This is valid everyw
Authors
Y. Sasai, M.J.S. Johnston, Y. Tanaka, R. Mueller, T. Hashimoto, M. Utsugi, S. Sakanaka, M. Uyeshima, J. Zlotnicki, P. Yvetot

Hydrothermal circulation at Mount St. Helens determined by self-potential measurements

The distribution of hydrothermal circulation within active volcanoes is of importance in identifying regions of hydrothermal alteration which may in turn control explosivity, slope stability and sector collapse. Self-potential measurements, indicative of fluid circulation, were made within the crater of Mount St. Helens in 2000 and 2001. A strong dipolar anomaly in the self-potential field was det
Authors
Paul A. Bedrosian, Martyn J. Unsworth, Malcolm J. S. Johnston

Annual modulation of seismicity along the San Andreas Fault near Parkfield, CA

We analyze seismic data from the San Andreas Fault (SAF) near Parkfield, California, to test for annual modulation in seismicity rates. We use statistical analyses to show that seismicity is modulated with an annual period in the creeping section of the fault and a semiannual period in the locked section of the fault. Although the exact mechanism for seasonal triggering is undetermined, it appears
Authors
L.B. Christiansen, Shaul Hurwitz, Steven E. Ingebritsen

Vapor transfer prior to the October 2004 eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington

Dome lavas from the 2004 eruption of Mount St. Helens show elevated Li contents in plagioclase phenocrysts at the onset of dome growth in October 2004. These cannot be explained by variations in plagioclase-melt partitioning, but require elevated Li contents in coexisting melt, a fact confirmed by measurements of Li contents as high as 207 µg/g in coexisting melt inclusions. Similar Li enrichment
Authors
A.J.R. Kent, J. Blundy, K. V. Cashman, K.M. Copper, C. Donnelly, John S. Pallister, M. Reagan, M.C. Rowe, Carl Thornber

Geology and complex collapse mechanisms of the 3.72 Ma Hannegan caldera, North Cascades, Washington, USA

Contiguous ring faults of the 8 × 3.5 km Hannegan caldera enclose the Hannegan volcanics in the Cascade arc of northern Washington. The caldera collapsed in two phases, which each erupted rhyolitic ignimbrite (72.3%–75.2% SiO2). The first collapse phase, probably trap-door style, erupted the ≥900-m-thick ignimbrite of Hannegan Peak at 3.722 ± 0.020 Ma. This single cooling unit, generally welded, h
Authors
David S. Tucker, Wes Hildreth, Tom Ullrich, Richard M. Friedman

Understanding Merapi-type volcanoes

"We have to understand volcano science to know what to monitor.” That simple statement by Antonius Ratdomopurbo, director of the Indonesian Center for Volcano Technology [Balai Penyelidikan dan Pengembangan‐Teknologi (BPPTK)],captured the spirit and content of a recent workshop about Merapi and Merapi‐type volcanoes.Merapi still is experiencing low levels of unrest, following a peak in eruptive ac
Authors
M.A. Purbawinata, Antonius Ratdomopurbo, John S. Pallister, B. Luehr, Chris Newhall

Tsunami warnings: Understanding in Hawai'i

The devastating southeast Asian tsunami of December 26, 2004 has brought home the destructive consequences of coastal hazards in an absence of effective warning systems. Since the 1946 tsunami that destroyed much of Hilo, Hawai‘i, a network of pole mounted sirens has been used to provide an early public alert of future tsunamis. However, studies in the 1960s showed that understanding of the meanin
Authors
Chris E. Gregg, Bruce F. Houghton, Douglas Paton, David M. Johnston, David A. Swanson, B.S. Yanagi

Pre-eruption recharge of the Bishop magma system

The 650 km3 rhyolitic Bishop Tuff (eastern California, USA), which is stratigraphically zoned with respect to temperatures of mineral equilibration, reflects a corresponding thermal gradient in the source magma chamber. Consistent with previous work, application of the new TitaniQ (Ti-in-quartz) thermometer to quartz phenocryst rims documents an ∼100 °C temperature increase with chamber depth at t
Authors
D.A. Wark, W. Hildreth, F.S. Spear, D.J. Cherniak, E.B. Watson

Hydrothermal fluid flow and deformation in large calderas: Inferences from numerical simulations

[1] Inflation and deflation of large calderas is traditionally interpreted as being induced by volume change of a discrete source embedded in an elastic or viscoelastic half-space, though it has also been suggested that hydrothermal fluids may play a role. To test the latter hypothesis, we carry out numerical simulations of hydrothermal fluid flow and poroelastic deformation in calderas by couplin
Authors
Shaul Hurwitz, L.B. Christiansen, Paul A. Hsieh