Geology and History

Mount Baker is the youngest volcano of a larger, multivent, volcanic field that has remained recurrently active for the past 1.3 million years.

The eruptive history of the Mount Baker volcanic field is virtually continuous from 1.3 million years ago to the present, and it includes at least 25 discrete eruptive vents and >100 intruded dikes.

Black Buttes, an arc-shaped ridge of craggy peaks, is the remnant of a large stratovolcano that stood in approximately the same location as Mount Baker, only higher.

Mount Baker's edifice consists mostly of lava flows (as many as 200), and scattered evidence indicates that some of its products were broken up and carried away by glaciers.

In March 1975, local observers noted a dark column rising from Sherman Crater that sharply contrasted with previous white steam emissions. Over the next year numerous ashy plumes resulted in the formation of several small near-vent lahars.

After Mount Rainier, Mount Baker is the most heavily glaciated of the Cascade volcanoes.

Mount Baker is presently not showing signs of renewed magmatic activity, but it will surely become restless again. Future magmatic eruptions at Mount Baker are likely to be preceded by changes at the volcano that could be detected by modern volcano-monitoring techniques.