Thomas Winslow Sisson, PhD
I am a research geologist with the USGS Volcano Science Center. I have spent many years working on the geologic history and volcano hazards of Mount Rainier. My research interests include experimental petrology and volatile solubility of magmas.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.S. UC Santa Barbara
B.S. Stanford University
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 53
Isotope geochemistry of early Kilauea magmas from the submarine Hilina bench: The nature of the Hilina mantle component
Submarine lavas recovered from the Hilina bench region, offshore Kilauea, Hawaii Island provide information on ancient Kilauea volcano and the geochemical components of the Hawaiian hotspot. Alkalic lavas, including nephelinite, basanite, hawaiite, and alkali basalt, dominate the earliest stage of Kilauea magmatism. Transitional basalt pillow lavas are an intermediate phase, preceding...
Authors
Jun-Ichi Kimura, Thomas W. Sisson, Natsuko Nakano, Michelle L. Coombs, Peter W. Lipman
Major-element, sulfur, and chlorine compositions of glasses from the submarine flank of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, Collected During 1998-2002 Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC) Cruises
No abstract available.
Authors
Michelle L. Coombs, Thomas W. Sisson, Peter W. Lipman
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
Pleistocene tephrostratigraphy and paleogeography of southern Puget Sound near Olympia, Washington
Our detailed mapping in the south Puget Sound basin has identified two tephras that are tentatively correlated to tephras from Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier dated ca. 100-200 ka and 200 ka, respectively. This, plus the observation that fluvial and lacustrine sediments immediately underlying the Vashon Drift of latest Wisconsin age are nearly everywhere radiocarbon infinite, suggests...
Authors
Timothy J. Walsh, Michael Polenz, Robert L. (Josh) Logan, Marvin A. Lanphere, Thomas W. Sisson
Ancestral submarine growth of Kïlauea Volcano and instability of its south flank
Joint Japan-USA cruises in 1998-99 explored and sampled the previously unstudied deep offshore region south of Kilauea. Bathymetric features, dive observations, and recovered samples indicate that the 3-km-deep mid-slope bench, bounded seaward by a 2-km-high lower scarp, is underlain by massive turbidite sandstone and interbedded debris-flow breccia. Debris-flow clasts are...
Authors
Peter W. Lipman, Thomas W. Sisson, Tadahide Ui, Jiro Naka, John W Smith
Deep-sea volcaniclastic sedimentation around the southern flank of Hawaii
Most slopes of the Hilina slump are steep, but local small benches, mantled by volcaniclastic sand and fine sediments, were sampled in 1998-1999 with ROV KAIKO and DSRV SHINKAI 6500. Most surficial glass sands on the Hilina slump have compositions of subaerially erupted Kilauea lava, which fragmented and quenched as they entered the sea. Samples from the base of the Puna Ridge contain...
Authors
Jiro Naka, Toshiya Kanamatsu, Peter W. Lipman, Thomas W. Sisson, Nohiro Tsuboyama, Julia K. Morgan, John W Smith, Tadahide Ui
Submarine alkalic through tholeiitic shield-stage development of Kïlauea volcano, Hawai’i
The submarine Hilina region exposes a succession of magma compositions spanning the juvenile "Lō‘ihi" through tholeiitic shield stages of Kïlauea volcano. Early products, preserved as glass grains and clasts in volcaniclastic rocks of the 3000 m deep Hilina bench, include nephelinite, basanite, phonotephrite, hawaiite, alkali basalt, transitional basalt, and rare alkali-poor Mauna Loa...
Authors
Thomas W. Sisson, Peter W. Lipman, J. Naka
Tectono-magmatic processes investigated at deep-water flanks of Hawaiian volcanoes
Hawaiian volcanoes are exceptional examples of intraplate hotspot volcanism. Hotspot volcanoes, which frequently host large eruptions and related earthquakes, flank‐failure landslides, and associated tsunamis, can present severe hazards to populated regions. Many studies have focused on subaerial parts of Hawaiian volcanoes, but the deep‐water flanks of the edifices, which can reach 5700...
Authors
J. Naka, E Takahasi, D. A. Clague, Takeshi Hanyu, Emilio Herrero-Bervera, J. Ishibashi, Osamu Ishizuka, K. Johnson, Toshiya Kanamatsu, I. Kaneoka, Peter W. Lipman, A. Malahoff, Gary M. McMurtry, B. Midson, Jeff Moore, John W. Morgan, T. Naganuma, K Nakajima, T Oomori, Aaron Pietruszka, Satake Kenji, David R. Sherrod, Tsugio Shibata, K Shinozaki, Thomas W. Sisson, John W Smith, Shinji Takarada, C. Thomber, Frank Trusdell, Nohiro Tsuboyama, Tadahide Ui, Susumu Umino, K. Uto, Hisayoshi Yokose
Gas-driven filter pressing in magmas
Most silicic and some mafic magmas expand via second boiling if they crystallize at depths of about 10 km or less. The buildup of gas pressure due to second boiling can be relieved by expulsion of melt out of the region of crystallization, and this process of gas-driven filter pressing assists the crystallization differentiation of magmas. For gas-driven filter pressing to be effective...
Authors
Thomas W. Sisson, Charles R. Bacon
A mass proportion method for calculating melting reactions and application to melting of model upper mantle lherzolite
We present a method for calculating quantitative melting reactions in systems with multiple solid solutions that accounts for changes in the mass proportions of phases between two points at different temperatures along a melting curve. This method can be applied to any data set that defines the phase proportions along a melting curve. The method yields the net change in mass proportion...
Authors
Michael J. Walter, Thomas W. Sisson, Dean C. Presnall
History and hazards of Mount Rainier, Washington
Mount Rainier is an active volcano that first erupted about half a million years ago. Because of Rainier's great height (14,410 feet above sea level) and northerly location, glaciers have cut deeply into its lavas, making it appear deceptively older than it actually is. Mount Rainier is known to have erupted as recently as in the 1840s, and large eruptions took place as recently as about...
Authors
Thomas W. Sisson
Geologic road guide to Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks, central Sierra Nevada, California
No abstract available.
Authors
James G. Moore, Warren Nokleberg, Thomas W. Sisson
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 53
Isotope geochemistry of early Kilauea magmas from the submarine Hilina bench: The nature of the Hilina mantle component
Submarine lavas recovered from the Hilina bench region, offshore Kilauea, Hawaii Island provide information on ancient Kilauea volcano and the geochemical components of the Hawaiian hotspot. Alkalic lavas, including nephelinite, basanite, hawaiite, and alkali basalt, dominate the earliest stage of Kilauea magmatism. Transitional basalt pillow lavas are an intermediate phase, preceding...
Authors
Jun-Ichi Kimura, Thomas W. Sisson, Natsuko Nakano, Michelle L. Coombs, Peter W. Lipman
Major-element, sulfur, and chlorine compositions of glasses from the submarine flank of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, Collected During 1998-2002 Japan Marine Science and Technology Center (JAMSTEC) Cruises
No abstract available.
Authors
Michelle L. Coombs, Thomas W. Sisson, Peter W. Lipman
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
Pleistocene tephrostratigraphy and paleogeography of southern Puget Sound near Olympia, Washington
Our detailed mapping in the south Puget Sound basin has identified two tephras that are tentatively correlated to tephras from Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier dated ca. 100-200 ka and 200 ka, respectively. This, plus the observation that fluvial and lacustrine sediments immediately underlying the Vashon Drift of latest Wisconsin age are nearly everywhere radiocarbon infinite, suggests...
Authors
Timothy J. Walsh, Michael Polenz, Robert L. (Josh) Logan, Marvin A. Lanphere, Thomas W. Sisson
Ancestral submarine growth of Kïlauea Volcano and instability of its south flank
Joint Japan-USA cruises in 1998-99 explored and sampled the previously unstudied deep offshore region south of Kilauea. Bathymetric features, dive observations, and recovered samples indicate that the 3-km-deep mid-slope bench, bounded seaward by a 2-km-high lower scarp, is underlain by massive turbidite sandstone and interbedded debris-flow breccia. Debris-flow clasts are...
Authors
Peter W. Lipman, Thomas W. Sisson, Tadahide Ui, Jiro Naka, John W Smith
Deep-sea volcaniclastic sedimentation around the southern flank of Hawaii
Most slopes of the Hilina slump are steep, but local small benches, mantled by volcaniclastic sand and fine sediments, were sampled in 1998-1999 with ROV KAIKO and DSRV SHINKAI 6500. Most surficial glass sands on the Hilina slump have compositions of subaerially erupted Kilauea lava, which fragmented and quenched as they entered the sea. Samples from the base of the Puna Ridge contain...
Authors
Jiro Naka, Toshiya Kanamatsu, Peter W. Lipman, Thomas W. Sisson, Nohiro Tsuboyama, Julia K. Morgan, John W Smith, Tadahide Ui
Submarine alkalic through tholeiitic shield-stage development of Kïlauea volcano, Hawai’i
The submarine Hilina region exposes a succession of magma compositions spanning the juvenile "Lō‘ihi" through tholeiitic shield stages of Kïlauea volcano. Early products, preserved as glass grains and clasts in volcaniclastic rocks of the 3000 m deep Hilina bench, include nephelinite, basanite, phonotephrite, hawaiite, alkali basalt, transitional basalt, and rare alkali-poor Mauna Loa...
Authors
Thomas W. Sisson, Peter W. Lipman, J. Naka
Tectono-magmatic processes investigated at deep-water flanks of Hawaiian volcanoes
Hawaiian volcanoes are exceptional examples of intraplate hotspot volcanism. Hotspot volcanoes, which frequently host large eruptions and related earthquakes, flank‐failure landslides, and associated tsunamis, can present severe hazards to populated regions. Many studies have focused on subaerial parts of Hawaiian volcanoes, but the deep‐water flanks of the edifices, which can reach 5700...
Authors
J. Naka, E Takahasi, D. A. Clague, Takeshi Hanyu, Emilio Herrero-Bervera, J. Ishibashi, Osamu Ishizuka, K. Johnson, Toshiya Kanamatsu, I. Kaneoka, Peter W. Lipman, A. Malahoff, Gary M. McMurtry, B. Midson, Jeff Moore, John W. Morgan, T. Naganuma, K Nakajima, T Oomori, Aaron Pietruszka, Satake Kenji, David R. Sherrod, Tsugio Shibata, K Shinozaki, Thomas W. Sisson, John W Smith, Shinji Takarada, C. Thomber, Frank Trusdell, Nohiro Tsuboyama, Tadahide Ui, Susumu Umino, K. Uto, Hisayoshi Yokose
Gas-driven filter pressing in magmas
Most silicic and some mafic magmas expand via second boiling if they crystallize at depths of about 10 km or less. The buildup of gas pressure due to second boiling can be relieved by expulsion of melt out of the region of crystallization, and this process of gas-driven filter pressing assists the crystallization differentiation of magmas. For gas-driven filter pressing to be effective...
Authors
Thomas W. Sisson, Charles R. Bacon
A mass proportion method for calculating melting reactions and application to melting of model upper mantle lherzolite
We present a method for calculating quantitative melting reactions in systems with multiple solid solutions that accounts for changes in the mass proportions of phases between two points at different temperatures along a melting curve. This method can be applied to any data set that defines the phase proportions along a melting curve. The method yields the net change in mass proportion...
Authors
Michael J. Walter, Thomas W. Sisson, Dean C. Presnall
History and hazards of Mount Rainier, Washington
Mount Rainier is an active volcano that first erupted about half a million years ago. Because of Rainier's great height (14,410 feet above sea level) and northerly location, glaciers have cut deeply into its lavas, making it appear deceptively older than it actually is. Mount Rainier is known to have erupted as recently as in the 1840s, and large eruptions took place as recently as about...
Authors
Thomas W. Sisson
Geologic road guide to Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks, central Sierra Nevada, California
No abstract available.
Authors
James G. Moore, Warren Nokleberg, Thomas W. Sisson