Images

An unconformity at the top of Mount Everts is located where the Huckleberry Ridge Tuff, 2.1 million years old, lies directly on top of Cretaceous sediments that are ~60 million years old and greater.  Right at the unconformity are conspicuous orange and black colors.  The orange is oxidation of the sedimentary unit where it is in contact with the ash, whic

Silver Gate landslide complex in Yellowstone National Park. The jumbled nature of the calcium-carbonate rocks is evidence that the deposit was formed by collapse of a travertine hot-spring terrace that might once have looked like Mammoth Hot Springs does today.

A few miles south of Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park, Highway 89 winds through the white/gray jumble of rocks known as the Hoodoos, or Silver Gate, that formed when travertine from Terrace Mountain collapsed in a landslide.

A seismologist with the Cascades Volcano Observatory checks the data output on a newly installed monitoring station at Mount Rainier.

Seismic and infrasound station PARA, installed October 6-8, 2020 at Mount Rainier.

A geophysicist from the Cascades Volcano Observatory notes the location of a newly buried seismometer at station PARA, on Mount Rainier.

NAGT intern Emily Bryant installs one of three infrasound sensors at volcano monitoring station PARA, at Mount Rainier.

Lahar monitoring equipment is housed in a secure box with multiple types of instruments to detect approaching lahars.  

A Cascades Volcano Observatory field team completes the installation of the combined seismic/GPS station YOCR, at Mount Hood.

View of the combined seismic/GPS station BRSP, on the north flank of Mount Hood, Oregon. Mount Hood is pictured in the distance.

A USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory field team finishes the installation of the combined seismic/GPS station, YOCR, at Mount Hood, Oregon.

Combined seismic/GPS station LSON, on Mount Hood, installed at the end of September 2020. LSON is one of three new stations that enhance the existing monitoring network at this high-threat volcano.

USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory Geophysicist Rebecca Kramer works on the installation of the GPS mast at new station LSON, at Mount Hood. The GPS measures subtle ground deformation that can occur in response to magma entering or leaving the magma reservoir several miles below the summit.

As part of routine monitoring efforts, HVO gas scientists collected helium samples from fumaroles in the Sulphur Banks, or Ha‘akulamanu, area of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park on September 30, 2020. Helium can pass through the glass of typical gas sampling bottles, so copper tubing is necessary for the specialized sample.

Different sulfur gases, including sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), can react with each other to deposit crystals of pure native sulfur at sites of degassing called fumaroles. The crystals picture here formed within a Sulphur Banks area fumarole in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. USGS photo by T. Elias.

A close-up image of native sulfur crystals that formed within fumaroles at the Sulphur Banks in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. In addition to sulfur species and other gases, volcanoes emit water vapor. Here, some of the vapor has condensed to liquid water and formed droplets visible on the sulfur crystals. USGS photo by P. Nadeau. 

Tubing inserted into a fumarole at the Sulphur Banks in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park allows HVO gas scientists to sample gas. The gas travels through the tube into gas sampling bottles for later analyses. USGS photo by M. Warren.

USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory Geophysicist Emily Montgomery-Brown uses a drill to create a small hole in volcanic rock that will support a GPS mast. The effort was part of a three-station installation project at Mount Hood in 2020. This station location is called BRSP.

Volcano Disaster Assistance Program Geophysicist Jeremy Pesicek digs a hole for a seismometer at station BRSP, on the north flank of Mount Hood. The seismometer, which detects earthquakes, is buried at a depth of at least 1 meter (3 feet).

USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory Geophysicist Wes Thelen, removes ropes from new station LSON, at Mount Hood (Mount Hood is pictured in the distance).

A USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory field team waits on this remote north flank of Mount Hood, as a helicopter delivers supplies and equipment to station BRSP. The station was installed with minimal impact on the environment. A helicopter delivered equipment via external sling load and USGS personnel accessed the site by foot.