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Michelle L. Coombs, Ph.D.

Michelle Coombs is a Research Geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey Volcanic Science Center. She served as Scientist-in-Charge of the Alaska Volcano Observatory from 2016-2023. In this position, Dr. Coombs leads eruption responses, oversees expansion and modernization of volcano monitoring techniques, and guides applied and fundamental research on a host of problems related to volcanology.

Professional Experience

  • 2016–2023: Scientist-in-Charge, Alaska Volcano Observatory, Volcano Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Anchorage, AK

  • 2004–Present: Research Geologist, Alaska Volcano Observatory

  • 2001–2004: Research Geologist, Volcano Hazards Team, U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park CA

     

  • OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

  • Affiliate faculty, University of Alaska Fairbanks

  • CONVERSE Steering Committee member, 2020–present

  • Member of AGU student awards committee, 2011–2015

  • Associate Editor, Bulletin of Volcanology, 2013–2016

  • Editorial board, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 2007–2018

  • Co-editor for 28-chapter USGS Professional Paper 1769, The 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska, 2010

  • Co-editor for Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research special issue on Growth and collapse of Hawaiian volcanoes, 2006
     

Education and Certifications

  • Williams College, BA Geology, 1994

  • University of Alaska Fairbanks, PhD Geology, 2001

Affiliations and Memberships*

  • American Geophysical Union, 1996–present 

  • Geological Society of America, 2001–present (elected Fellow in 2015)

  • International Assoc. of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior, 1999–present

Science and Products

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Ultra-high chlorine in submarine Kı̄lauea glasses: Evidence for direct assimilation of brine by magma

Basaltic glass grains from the submarine south flank of Kı̄lauea, Hawai′i, have Cl concentrations of 0.01–1.68 wt%, the latter being the highest Cl content yet recorded for a Hawaiian glass. The high-Cl glass grains are products of brine assimilation by tholeiite magma. The glasses are grains in a sandstone clast from bedded breccias draping the southwestern margin of Kı̄lauea’s...
Authors
Michelle L. Coombs, Thomas W. Sisson, Jun-Ichi Kimura
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center, Alaska Science Center

Reaction rim growth on olivine in silicic melts: Implications for magma mixing

Finely crystalline amphibole or pyroxene rims that form during reaction between silicic host melt and cognate olivine xenocrysts, newly introduced during magma mixing events, can provide information about the timing between mixing and volcanic eruptions. We investigated rim growth experimentally by placing forsteritic olivine in rhyolitic and rhyodacitic melts for times between 25 and...
Authors
Michelle L. Coombs, James E. Gardner
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center, Alaska Science Center

Growth and collapse of Waianae volcano, Hawaii, as revealed by exploration of its submarine flanks

Wai‘anae Volcano comprises the western half of O‘ahu Island, but until recently little was known about the submarine portion of this volcano. Seven new submersible dives, conducted in 2001 and 2002, and multibeam bathymetry offshore of Wai‘anae provide evidence pertaining to the overall growth of the volcano's edifice as well as the timing of collapses that formed the Wai‘anae slump...
Authors
Michelle L. Coombs, David A. Clague, Gregory F. Moore, Brian L. Cousens
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center, Alaska Science Center

Renewed unrest at Mount Spurr Volcano, Alaska

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO),a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, has detected unrest at Mount Spurr volcano, located about 125 km west of Anchorage, Alaska, at the northeast end of the Aleutian volcanic arc.This activity consists of increased...
Authors
John A. Power
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center, Alaska Science Center

Shallow-storage conditions for the rhyolite of the 1912 eruption at Novarupta, Alaska

Recent studies have proposed contrasting models for the plumbing system that fed the 1912 eruption of Novarupta, Alaska. Here, we investigate the conditions under which the rhyolitic part of the erupted magma last resided in the crust prior to eruption. Geothermometry suggests that the rhyolite was held at ∼800-850 °C, and analyses of melt inclusions suggest that it was fluid saturated...
Authors
Michelle L. Coombs, James E. Gardner
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Alaska Science Center

Magma storage and mixing conditions for the 1953-1974 eruption of Southwest Trident volcano, Katmai National Park, Alaska

Between 1953 and 1974, approximately 0.5 km3 of andesite and dacite erupted from a new vent on the southwest flank of Trident volcano in Katmai National Park, Alaska, forming an edifice now known as Southwest (or New) Trident. Field, analytical, and experimental evidence shows that the eruption commenced soon after mixing of dacite and andesite magmas at shallow crustal levels. Four lava...
Authors
Michelle L. Coombs, John C. Eichelberger, Malcom J. Rutherford
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center, Alaska Science Center

Science and Products

*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

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