Charles R Bacon, PhD
Current Research Interests Petrology, geochemistry, physical volcanology, and eruptive histories of calderas, emphasizing detailed study of Crater Lake, Oregon, and Veniaminof and Aniakchak caldera volcanoes, Alaska Peninsula. General interest in volcanic and magmatic processes. Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry applied to geologic and biologic materials. Landscape evolution in interior Alaska.
Professional Experience
Senior Research Geologist Emeritus, U.S. Geological Survey, October 2014–present.
Research Geologist with USGS in Menlo Park 1975–2014, Senior Scientist 2004–2014
Research Associate, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, 1975
Co-Director, USGS–Stanford Ion Microprobe Laboratory (SUMAC), October 2008-September 2014
Geologic mapping of Quaternary volcanic fields and caldera volcanoes in California, Oregon, and Alaska
Isotope geochemistry of magmatic systems
Microbeam chemical analysis by electron and ion microprobe applied to igneous rocks and biological materials
Physical volcanology of products of explosive eruptions
Petrologic and geochemical research on volcanic rocks and magmatic processes
Mentorship/Outreach
Research and Teaching Assistantships, University of California, Berkeley, 1970-74
Visiting Professor, California Institute of Technology, winter term 1988
Education and Certifications
University of California, Berkeley, PhD, Geology, 1975
Stanford University, BS, Geology, 1970
Affiliations and Memberships*
Member, Geochemical Society, International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI)
NAS/NRC Continental Scientific Drilling Committee, 1983-86
USGS Geologic Division Science Advisory Committee, 1988-89, Chair 1990-91
NSF Petrology and Geochemistry Panel, 1994-97
AGU VGP Section Nominating Committee, 1996, Chair 1998
MSA Fellows Committee, 1997-99; MSA Nominating Committee, 2007-2009
Associate Editor, Geological Society of America Bulletin, 1985-90
Associate Editor, American Mineralogist, 1989-92
Editorial Board, Geology, 1993-95
Editorial Board, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 1998-2007
Board of Directors, Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2009-present.
Honors and Awards
Fellow, American Geophysical Union, Mineralogical Society of America, Geological Society of America
President-elect, Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology Section of the American Geophyscial Union, 7/02-6/04; President, 7/04-6/06
IAVCEI quadrennial L.R. Wager Medal, 1987
AGU VGP Section N.L. Bowen Award, 1999
USGS Shoemaker Awards for Communication Product Excellence, 2002, 2004
US Department of the Interior Meritorious Service Award, 2004
U.S. Department of the Interior Superior Service Award, 2009 (from National Park Service)
Science and Products
Young cumulate complex beneath Veniaminof caldera, Aleutian arc, dated by zircon in erupted plutonic blocks
Eruptive history and geochronology of Mount Mazama and the Crater Lake region, Oregon
Ion microprobe measurement of strontium isotopes in calcium carbonate with application to salmon otoliths
Late Pleistocene granodiorite source for recycled zircon and phenocrysts in rhyodacite lava at Crater Lake, Oregon
Migration and rearing histories of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) determined by ion microprobe Sr isotope and Sr/Ca transects of otoliths
Strontium isotope and Sr/Ca ratios measured in situ by ion microprobe along radial transects of otoliths of juvenile chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) vary between watersheds with contrasting geology. Otoliths from ocean-type chinook from Skagit River estuary, Washington, had prehatch regions with 87Sr/86Sr ratios of ~0.709, suggesting a maternally inherited marine signature, extensive fre
Chemical versus temporal controls on the evolution of tholeiitic and calc-alkaline magmas at two volcanoes in the Alaska-Aleutian arc
Monthly Strontium/Calcium oscillations in symbiotic coral aragonite: Biological effects limiting the precision of the paleotemperature proxy
Mount Mazama and Crater Lake: Growth and destruction of a Cascade volcano
For more than 100 years, scientists have sought to unravel the remarkable story of Crater Lake’s formation. Before Crater Lake came into existence, a cluster of volcanoes dominated the landscape. This cluster, called Mount Mazama (for the Portland, Oregon, climbing club the Mazamas), was destroyed during an enormous explosive eruption 7,700 years ago. So much molten rock was expelled that the summ
Anderson receives 2001 Bowen Award
Morphology, volcanism, and mass wasting in Crater Lake, Oregon
Crater Lake was surveyed nearly to its shoreline by high-resolution multibeam echo sounding in order to define its geologic history and provide an accurate base map for research and monitoring surveys. The bathymetry and acoustic backscatter reveal the character of landforms and lead to a chronology for the concurrent filling of the lake and volcanism within the ca. 7700 calibrated yr B.P. caldera
Structure and physical characteristics of pumice from the climactic eruption of Mount Mazama (Crater Lake), Oregon
Bathymetry and selected perspective views of Crater Lake, Oregon
Science and Products
Young cumulate complex beneath Veniaminof caldera, Aleutian arc, dated by zircon in erupted plutonic blocks
Eruptive history and geochronology of Mount Mazama and the Crater Lake region, Oregon
Ion microprobe measurement of strontium isotopes in calcium carbonate with application to salmon otoliths
Late Pleistocene granodiorite source for recycled zircon and phenocrysts in rhyodacite lava at Crater Lake, Oregon
Migration and rearing histories of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) determined by ion microprobe Sr isotope and Sr/Ca transects of otoliths
Strontium isotope and Sr/Ca ratios measured in situ by ion microprobe along radial transects of otoliths of juvenile chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) vary between watersheds with contrasting geology. Otoliths from ocean-type chinook from Skagit River estuary, Washington, had prehatch regions with 87Sr/86Sr ratios of ~0.709, suggesting a maternally inherited marine signature, extensive fre
Chemical versus temporal controls on the evolution of tholeiitic and calc-alkaline magmas at two volcanoes in the Alaska-Aleutian arc
Monthly Strontium/Calcium oscillations in symbiotic coral aragonite: Biological effects limiting the precision of the paleotemperature proxy
Mount Mazama and Crater Lake: Growth and destruction of a Cascade volcano
For more than 100 years, scientists have sought to unravel the remarkable story of Crater Lake’s formation. Before Crater Lake came into existence, a cluster of volcanoes dominated the landscape. This cluster, called Mount Mazama (for the Portland, Oregon, climbing club the Mazamas), was destroyed during an enormous explosive eruption 7,700 years ago. So much molten rock was expelled that the summ
Anderson receives 2001 Bowen Award
Morphology, volcanism, and mass wasting in Crater Lake, Oregon
Crater Lake was surveyed nearly to its shoreline by high-resolution multibeam echo sounding in order to define its geologic history and provide an accurate base map for research and monitoring surveys. The bathymetry and acoustic backscatter reveal the character of landforms and lead to a chronology for the concurrent filling of the lake and volcanism within the ca. 7700 calibrated yr B.P. caldera
Structure and physical characteristics of pumice from the climactic eruption of Mount Mazama (Crater Lake), Oregon
Bathymetry and selected perspective views of Crater Lake, Oregon
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government