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Magmatic unrest beneath Mammoth Mountain, California

Mammoth Mountain, which stands on the southwest rim of Long Valley caldera in eastern California, last erupted ∼57,000 years BP. Episodic volcanic unrest detected beneath the mountain since late 1979, however, emphasizes that the underlying volcanic system is still active and capable of producing future volcanic eruptions. The unrest symptoms include swarms of small (M ≤ 3) earthquakes, spasmodic
Authors
D. P. Hill, S. Prejean

An efficient algorithm for double-difference tomography and location in heterogeneous media, with an application to the Kilauea volcano

Improving our understanding of crustal processes requires a better knowledge of the geometry and the position of geological bodies. In this study we have designed a method based upon double-difference relocation and tomography to image, as accurately as possible, a heterogeneous medium containing seismogenic objects. Our approach consisted not only of incorporating double difference in tomography
Authors
V. Monteiller, J.-L. Got, J. Virieux, P. Okubo

Rain, winds and haze during the Huygens probe's descent to Titan's surface

The irreversible conversion of methane into higher hydrocarbons in Titan's stratosphere implies a surface or subsurface methane reservoir. Recent measurements from the cameras aboard the Cassini orbiter fail to see a global reservoir, but the methane and smog in Titan's atmosphere impedes the search for hydrocarbons on the surface. Here we report spectra and high-resolution images obtained by the
Authors
M.G. Tomasko, B. Archinal, T. Becker, B. Bezard, M. Bushroe, M. Combes, D. Cook, A. Coustenis, C. De Bergh, L.E. Dafoe, L. Doose, S. Doute, A. Eibl, S. Engel, F. Gliem, B. Grieger, K. Holso, E. Howington-Kraus, E. Karkoschka, H.U. Keller, Randolph L. Kirk, R. Kramm, M. Kuppers, P. Lanagan, E. Lellouch, M. Lemmon, J. Lunine, E. McFarlane, J. Moores, G.M. Prout, B. Rizk, M. Rosiek, P. Rueffer, S.E. Schroder, B. Schmitt, C. See, P. Smith, Laurence A. Soderblom, N. Thomas, R. West

Thermal observations of gas pistoning at Kilauea Volcano

Data acquired by three continuously recording thermal infrared thermometers situated on the north rim of Pu'u'O' o Crater at Kilauea Volcano during 2002 revealed episodes of periodic thermal pulses originating from a degassing vent on the crater floor. These thermal pulses are interpreted as gas release (jetting events) associated with gas pistoning, a mechanism observed previously at both Mauna U
Authors
J.B. Johnson, A.J.L. Harris, R. P. Hoblitt

Degassing Lakes Nyos and Monoun: Defusing certain disaster

Since the catastrophic releases of CO2 in the 1980s, Lakes Nyos and Monoun in Cameroon experienced CO2 recharge at alarming rates of up to 80 mol/m2 per yr. Total gas pressures reached 8.3 and 15.6 bar in Monoun (2003) and Nyos (2001), respectively, resulting in gas saturation levels up to 97%. These natural hazards are distinguished by the potential for mitigation to prevent future disasters. Con
Authors
G.W. Kling, William C. Evans, G. Tanyileke, M. Kusakabe, T. Ohba, Y. Yoshida, J.V. Hell

Provenance and diagenesis of the evaporite-bearing Burns formation, Meridiani Planum, Mars

Impure reworked evaporitic sandstones, preserved on Meridiani Planum, Mars, are mixtures of roughly equal amounts of altered siliciclastic debris, of basaltic provenance (40 ± 10% by mass), and chemical constituents, dominated by evaporitic minerals (jarosite, Mg-, Ca-sulfates ± chlorides ± Fe-, Na-sulfates), hematite and possibly secondary silica (60 ± 10%). These chemical constituents and their
Authors
S. M. McLennan, J.F. Bell, W. M. Calvin, P. R. Christensen, B. C. Clark, P.A. de Souza, J. Farmer, W. H. Farrand, D.A. Fike, Ralf Gellert, A. Ghosh, T.D. Glotch, J.P. Grotzinger, B. Hahn, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, J.A. Hurowitz, J. R. Johnson, S.S. Johnson, B. Jolliff, G. Klingelhofer, A.H. Knoll, Z. Learner, M. C. Malin, H.Y. McSween, J. Pocock, S. W. Ruff, Laurence A. Soderblom, S. W. Squyres, N.J. Tosca, W.A. Watters, M.B. Wyatt, A. Yen

Volcán Popocatépetl, Mexico. Petrology, magma mixing, and immediate sources of volatiles for the 1994- Present eruption

Volcán Popocatépetl has been the site of voluminous degassing accompanied by minor eruptive activity from late 1994 until the time of writing (August 2002). This contribution presents petrological investigations of magma erupted in 1997 and 1998, including major-element and volatile (S, Cl, F, and H2O) data from glass inclusions and matrix glasses. Magma erupted from Popocatépetl is a mixture of d
Authors
J.B. Witter, V.C. Kress, C. G. Newhall

Models of lithosphere and asthenosphere anisotropic structure of the Yellowstone hot spot from shear wave splitting

Teleseismic shear wave splitting measured at 56 continuous and temporary seismographs deployed in a 500 km by 600 km area around the Yellowstone hot spot indicates that fast anisotropy in the mantle is parallel to the direction of plate motion under most of the array. The average split time from all stations of 0.9 s is typical of continental stations. There is little evidence for plume-induced ra
Authors
Gregory P. Waite, D.L. Schutt, Robert B. Smith

Decadal-scale change of infiltration characteristics of a tephra-mantled hillslope at Mount St Helens, Washington

The cataclysmic 1980 eruption of Mount St Helens radically reduced the infiltration characteristics of ∼60 000 ha of rugged terrain and dramatically altered landscape hydrology. Two decades of erosional, biogenic, cryogenic, and anthropogenic activity have modified the infiltration characteristics of much of that devastated landscape and modulated the hydrological impact of the eruption. We assess
Authors
J. J. Major, T. Yamakoshi

Pitted cones and domes on Mars: Observations in Acidalia Planitia and Cydonia Mensae using MOC, THEMIS, and TES data

Domes and cones with summit pits located in Acidalia Planitia and Cydonia Mensae were studied using MOC and THEMIS images and a TES‐derived thermal inertia map. North of 40.5°N latitude, the features have a dome‐like morphology, and south of that latitude, the morphology is more cone‐like. Layering is apparent in the summit craters of fresher looking southern cones, and asymmetric aprons were obse
Authors
William H. Farrand, Lisa R. Gaddis, Laszlo P. Keszthelyi

Ongoing hydrothermal heat loss from the 1912 ash-flow sheet, Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, Alaska

The June 1912 eruption of Novarupta filled nearby glacial valleys on the Alaska Peninsula with ash-flow tuff (ignimbrite), and post-eruption observations of thousands of steaming fumaroles led to the name ‘Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes’ (VTTS). By the late 1980s most fumarolic activity had ceased, but the discovery of thermal springs in mid-valley in 1987 suggested continued cooling of the ash-flo
Authors
N. Hogeweg, T. E. C. Keith, E.M. Colvard, S. E. Ingebritsen

Catastrophic precipitation-triggered lahar at Casita volcano, Nicaragua: Occurrence, bulking and transformation

A catastrophic lahar began on 30 October 1998, as hurricane precipitation triggered a small flank collapse of Casita volcano, a complex and probably dormant stratovolcano. The initial rockslide‐debris avalanche evolved on the flank to yield a watery debris flood with a sediment concentration less than 60 per cent by volume at the base of the volcano. Within 2·5 km, however, the watery flow entrained (
Authors
K. M. Scott, J.W. Vallance, N. Kerle, J.L. Macias, W. Strauch, G. Devoli
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