Michael Poland
Mike Poland is a research geophysicist with the Cascades Volcano Observatory and the current Scientist-in-Charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.
Mike's area of specialization is volcano geodesy, which emphasizes the surface deformation and gravity fields associated with volcanic activity. This work involves the use of space-based technologies, like Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), as well as ground-based techniques, like microgravity surveys. Mike has taken part in studies on a variety of volcanic systems in the United States, including Mount St. Helens and other volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest, Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes in Hawaii, and the Yellowstone caldera. His recent work has focused on using gravity change over time to understand the character of the fluids that drive volcanic unrest, and also on the potential of satellite data to improve forecasts of future changes in volcanic activity.
Professional Experience
U.S. Geological Survey - Yellowstone Volcano Observatory: Scientist-in-Charge (2017 - present)
U.S. Geological Survey – Cascades Volcano Observatory: Research Geophysicist (2015 - present)
U.S. Geological Survey – Hawaiian Volcano Observatory: Research Geophysicist (2005 - 2015)
U.S. Geological Survey – Cascades Volcano Observatory: Research Geophysicist (2002 - 2005)
Department of Geology, Clark College (Vancouver, Washington): Instructor (2004)
Arizona State University, Department of Geological Sciences: Graduate Teaching/Research Assoc. (1997 - 2001)
Education and Certifications
Arizona State University: Ph.D. (2001), Geological Sciences
University of California, Davis: B.S. (1997), Geology
Affiliations and Memberships*
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Geological Society of America (GSA)
International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI)
Honors and Awards
Fellow, Geological Society of America, 2021
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 132
No results found.
Filter Total Items: 157
New episodes of volcanism at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
Mid‐2007 was a time of intense activity at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii (see Figure 1). In June, the long‐lived Pu'u 'Ō'ō—Kupaianaha eruption, a dual‐vent system along the east rift zone (ERZ) that has been erupting since 1983 [Heliker et al., 2003], paused due to the outbreak of a new vent farther up the rift (see Figure 2). The Pu'u 'Ō'ō vent collapsed following that activity, and the...
Authors
Michael P. Poland, Asta Miklius, Tim R. Orr, J. Sutton, Carl Thornber, David C. Wilson
Deformation and stress-change modeling at Sierra Negra volcano, Galapagos, from ENVISAT INSAR and GPS observations
We use radar interferograms and GPS observations to constrain models of magma accumulation and faulting at Sierra Negra volcano, Galápagos, during the years before its 2005 eruption. The data have shown ~5 m of pre-eruption uplift and multiple trapdoor faulting events on an intra-caldera fault system. We find the pattern of uplift to be consistent with an inflating sill at 2.2 km depth...
Authors
Sigurjon Jonsson, W.W. Chadwick, Michael P. Poland, D. Geist
ASAR images a diverse set of deformation patterns at Kilauea volcano, Hawai'i
Since 2003, 27 independent look angles have been acquired by ENVISAT’s Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument over the island of Hawai`i, allowing for the formation of thousands of interferograms showing deformation of the ground surface. On Kīlauea volcano, a transition from minor to broad-scale summit inflation was observed by interferograms that span 2003 to 2006. In...
Authors
Michael P. Poland
Interferogram formation in the presence of complex and large deformation
Sierra Negra volcano in Isabela island, Galápagos, erupted from October 22 to October 30 in 2005. During the 8 days of eruption, the center of Sierra Negra's caldera subsided about 5.4 meters. Three hours prior to the onset of the eruption, an earthquake (Mw 5.4) occurred, near the caldera. Because of the large and complex phase gradient due to the huge subsidence and the earthquake, it...
Authors
S.-H. Yun, Howard Zebker, Paul Segall, A. Hooper, Michael P. Poland
InSAR captures rifting and volcanism in East Africa
In the past decade, synthetic aperture radar interferometric (InSAR) has enjoyed increasing use as a tool for detecting and characterizing surface deformation associated with volcanoes, earthquakes, glaciers, and other geological processes. Though InSAR can only image deformation that occurs along the radar line-of-sight and is subject to atmospheric, orbital, and other errors that can...
Authors
Michael P. Poland
Special issue: The changing shapes of active volcanoes: Recent results and advances in volcano geodesy
The 18 papers herein report on new geodetic data that offer valuable insights into eruptive activity and magma transport; they present new models and modeling strategies that have the potential to greatly increase understanding of magmatic, hydrothermal, and volcano-tectonic processes; and they describe innovative techniques for collecting geodetic measurements from remote, poorly...
The changing shapes of active volcanoes: History, evolution, and future challenges for volcano geodesy
At the very heart of volcanology lies the search for the 'plumbing systems' that form the inner workings of Earth’s active volcanoes. By their very nature, however, the magmatic reservoirs and conduits that underlie these active volcanic systems are elusive; mostly they are observable only through circumstantial evidence, using indirect, and often ambiguous, surficial measurements. Of...
Authors
Michael P. Poland, Michael W Hamburger, Andrew V. Newman
Geodetic observations and modeling of magmatic inflation at the Three Sisters volcanic center, central Oregon Cascade Range, USA
Tumescence at the Three Sisters volcanic center began sometime between summer 1996 and summer 1998 and was discovered in April 2001 using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR). Swelling is centered about 5 km west of the summit of South Sister, a composite basaltic-andesite to rhyolite volcano that last erupted between 2200 and 2000 yr ago, and it affects an area ∼20 km in...
Authors
Daniel Dzurisin, Michael Lisowski, Charles W. Wicks, Michael P. Poland, Elliot T. Endo
Constraints on the mechanism of long-term, steady subsidence at Medicine Lake volcano, northern California, from GPS, leveling, and InSAR
Leveling surveys across Medicine Lake volcano (MLV) have documented subsidence that is centered on the summit caldera and decays symmetrically on the flanks of the edifice. Possible mechanisms for this deformation include fluid withdrawal from a subsurface reservoir, cooling/crystallization of subsurface magma, loading by the volcano and dense intrusions, and crustal thinning due to...
Authors
Michael P. Poland, Roland Burgmann, Daniel Dzurisin, Michael Lisowski, Timothy Masterlark, Susan E. Owen, Jonathan H. Fink
A volcano bursting at the seams: Inflation, faulting, and eruption at Sierra Negra volcano, Galápagos
The results of geodetic monitoring since 2002 at Sierra Negra volcano in the Galápagos Islands show that the filling and pressurization of an ∼2-km-deep sill eventually led to an eruption that began on 22 October 2005. Continuous global positioning system (CGPS) monitoring measured >2 m of accelerating inflation leading up to the eruption and contributed to nearly 5 m of total uplift...
Authors
William W. Chadwick, Dennis J. Geist, Sigurjon Jonsson, Michael P. Poland, Daniel K. Johnson, Charles M. Meertens
Patterns of magma flow in segmented silicic dikes at Summer Coon volcano, Colorado: AMS and thin section analysis
A complex pattern of magma flow is found in two silicic dikes of a radial swarm at Summer Coon, an eroded stratovolcano in southern Colorado. The two intrusions are broken into multiple segments that suggest vertical dike propagation. However, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) measurements and thin section observations suggest that magma flow was often subhorizontal and away...
Authors
Michael P. Poland, Jonathan H. Fink, Lisa Tauxe
Steady subsidence of Medicine Lake volcano, northern California, revealed by repeated leveling surveys
Leveling surveys of a 193‐km circuit across Medicine Lake volcano (MLV) in 1954 and 1989 show that the summit area subsided by as much as 302 ± 30 mm (−8.6 ± 0.9 mm/yr) with respect to a datum point near Bartle, California, 40 km to the southwest. This result corrects an error in the earlier analysis of the same data by Dzurisin et al. [1991], who reported the subsidence rate as −11.1 ±...
Authors
Daniel Dzurisin, Michael P. Poland, Roland Burgmann
Filter Total Items: 78
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 132
No results found.
Filter Total Items: 157
New episodes of volcanism at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
Mid‐2007 was a time of intense activity at Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii (see Figure 1). In June, the long‐lived Pu'u 'Ō'ō—Kupaianaha eruption, a dual‐vent system along the east rift zone (ERZ) that has been erupting since 1983 [Heliker et al., 2003], paused due to the outbreak of a new vent farther up the rift (see Figure 2). The Pu'u 'Ō'ō vent collapsed following that activity, and the...
Authors
Michael P. Poland, Asta Miklius, Tim R. Orr, J. Sutton, Carl Thornber, David C. Wilson
Deformation and stress-change modeling at Sierra Negra volcano, Galapagos, from ENVISAT INSAR and GPS observations
We use radar interferograms and GPS observations to constrain models of magma accumulation and faulting at Sierra Negra volcano, Galápagos, during the years before its 2005 eruption. The data have shown ~5 m of pre-eruption uplift and multiple trapdoor faulting events on an intra-caldera fault system. We find the pattern of uplift to be consistent with an inflating sill at 2.2 km depth...
Authors
Sigurjon Jonsson, W.W. Chadwick, Michael P. Poland, D. Geist
ASAR images a diverse set of deformation patterns at Kilauea volcano, Hawai'i
Since 2003, 27 independent look angles have been acquired by ENVISAT’s Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) instrument over the island of Hawai`i, allowing for the formation of thousands of interferograms showing deformation of the ground surface. On Kīlauea volcano, a transition from minor to broad-scale summit inflation was observed by interferograms that span 2003 to 2006. In...
Authors
Michael P. Poland
Interferogram formation in the presence of complex and large deformation
Sierra Negra volcano in Isabela island, Galápagos, erupted from October 22 to October 30 in 2005. During the 8 days of eruption, the center of Sierra Negra's caldera subsided about 5.4 meters. Three hours prior to the onset of the eruption, an earthquake (Mw 5.4) occurred, near the caldera. Because of the large and complex phase gradient due to the huge subsidence and the earthquake, it...
Authors
S.-H. Yun, Howard Zebker, Paul Segall, A. Hooper, Michael P. Poland
InSAR captures rifting and volcanism in East Africa
In the past decade, synthetic aperture radar interferometric (InSAR) has enjoyed increasing use as a tool for detecting and characterizing surface deformation associated with volcanoes, earthquakes, glaciers, and other geological processes. Though InSAR can only image deformation that occurs along the radar line-of-sight and is subject to atmospheric, orbital, and other errors that can...
Authors
Michael P. Poland
Special issue: The changing shapes of active volcanoes: Recent results and advances in volcano geodesy
The 18 papers herein report on new geodetic data that offer valuable insights into eruptive activity and magma transport; they present new models and modeling strategies that have the potential to greatly increase understanding of magmatic, hydrothermal, and volcano-tectonic processes; and they describe innovative techniques for collecting geodetic measurements from remote, poorly...
The changing shapes of active volcanoes: History, evolution, and future challenges for volcano geodesy
At the very heart of volcanology lies the search for the 'plumbing systems' that form the inner workings of Earth’s active volcanoes. By their very nature, however, the magmatic reservoirs and conduits that underlie these active volcanic systems are elusive; mostly they are observable only through circumstantial evidence, using indirect, and often ambiguous, surficial measurements. Of...
Authors
Michael P. Poland, Michael W Hamburger, Andrew V. Newman
Geodetic observations and modeling of magmatic inflation at the Three Sisters volcanic center, central Oregon Cascade Range, USA
Tumescence at the Three Sisters volcanic center began sometime between summer 1996 and summer 1998 and was discovered in April 2001 using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR). Swelling is centered about 5 km west of the summit of South Sister, a composite basaltic-andesite to rhyolite volcano that last erupted between 2200 and 2000 yr ago, and it affects an area ∼20 km in...
Authors
Daniel Dzurisin, Michael Lisowski, Charles W. Wicks, Michael P. Poland, Elliot T. Endo
Constraints on the mechanism of long-term, steady subsidence at Medicine Lake volcano, northern California, from GPS, leveling, and InSAR
Leveling surveys across Medicine Lake volcano (MLV) have documented subsidence that is centered on the summit caldera and decays symmetrically on the flanks of the edifice. Possible mechanisms for this deformation include fluid withdrawal from a subsurface reservoir, cooling/crystallization of subsurface magma, loading by the volcano and dense intrusions, and crustal thinning due to...
Authors
Michael P. Poland, Roland Burgmann, Daniel Dzurisin, Michael Lisowski, Timothy Masterlark, Susan E. Owen, Jonathan H. Fink
A volcano bursting at the seams: Inflation, faulting, and eruption at Sierra Negra volcano, Galápagos
The results of geodetic monitoring since 2002 at Sierra Negra volcano in the Galápagos Islands show that the filling and pressurization of an ∼2-km-deep sill eventually led to an eruption that began on 22 October 2005. Continuous global positioning system (CGPS) monitoring measured >2 m of accelerating inflation leading up to the eruption and contributed to nearly 5 m of total uplift...
Authors
William W. Chadwick, Dennis J. Geist, Sigurjon Jonsson, Michael P. Poland, Daniel K. Johnson, Charles M. Meertens
Patterns of magma flow in segmented silicic dikes at Summer Coon volcano, Colorado: AMS and thin section analysis
A complex pattern of magma flow is found in two silicic dikes of a radial swarm at Summer Coon, an eroded stratovolcano in southern Colorado. The two intrusions are broken into multiple segments that suggest vertical dike propagation. However, anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) measurements and thin section observations suggest that magma flow was often subhorizontal and away...
Authors
Michael P. Poland, Jonathan H. Fink, Lisa Tauxe
Steady subsidence of Medicine Lake volcano, northern California, revealed by repeated leveling surveys
Leveling surveys of a 193‐km circuit across Medicine Lake volcano (MLV) in 1954 and 1989 show that the summit area subsided by as much as 302 ± 30 mm (−8.6 ± 0.9 mm/yr) with respect to a datum point near Bartle, California, 40 km to the southwest. This result corrects an error in the earlier analysis of the same data by Dzurisin et al. [1991], who reported the subsidence rate as −11.1 ±...
Authors
Daniel Dzurisin, Michael P. Poland, Roland Burgmann
Filter Total Items: 78
*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