Christina A. Neal

A catastrophic flood caused by drainage of a caldera lake at Aniakchak Volcano, Alaska, and implications for volcanic hazards assessment

Aniakchak caldera, located on the Alaska Peninsula of southwest Alaska, formerly contained a large lake (estimated volume 3.7 × 10 9 m 3 ) that rapidly drained as a result of failure of the caldera rim sometime after ca. 3400 yr B.P. The peak discharge of the resulting flood was estimated using three methods: (1) flow-competence equations, (2) step-backwater modeling, and (3) a dam-break model. The results of the dam-break model indicate that the peak discharge at the breach in the caldera rim was at least 7.7 × 10 4 m 3 s −1 , and the maximum possible discharge was ≈1.1 × 10 6 m 3 s −1 . Flow-competence estimates of discharge, based on the largest boulders transported by the flood, indicate that the peak discharge values, which were a few kilometers downstream of the breach, ranged from 6.4 × 10 5 to 4.8 × 10 6 m 3 s −1 . Similar but less variable results were obtained by step-backwater modeling. Finally, discharge estimates based on regression equations relating peak discharge to the volume and depth of the impounded water, although limited by constraining assumptions, provide results within the range of values determined by the other methods. The discovery and documentation of a flood, caused by the failure of the caldera rim at Aniakchak caldera, underscore the significance and associated hydrologic hazards of potential large floods at other lake-filled calderas.

Emission rates of sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide from Redoubt Volcano, Alaska during the 1989–1990 eruptions

Airborne measurements of sulfur dioxide emission rates in the gas plume emitted from fumaroles in the summit crater of Redoubt Volcano were started on March 20, 1990 using the COSPEC method. During the latter half of the period of intermittent dome growth and destruction, between March 20 and mid-June 1990, sulfur dioxide emission rates ranged from approximately 1250 to 5850 t/d, rates notably higher than for other convergent-plate boundary volcanoes during periods of active dome growth. Emission rates following the end of dome growth from late June 1990 through May 1991 decreased steadily to less than 75 t/d. The largest mass of sulfur dioxide was released during the period of explosive vent clearing when explosive degassing on December 14–15 injected at least 175,000 ± 50,000 tonnes of SO2 into the atmosphere. Following the explosive eruptions of December 1989, Redoubt Volcano entered a period of intermittent dome growth from late December 1989 to mid-June 1990 during which Redoubt emitted a total mass of SO2 ranging from 572,000 ± 90,000 tonnes to 680,000 ± 90,000 tonnes. From mid-June 1990 through May 1991, the volcano was in a state of posteruption degassing into the troposphere, producing approximately 183,000 ± 50,000 tonnes of SO2. We estimate that Redoubt Volcano released a minimum mass of sulfur dioxide of approximately 930,000 tonnes. While COSPEC data were not obtained frequently enough to enable their use in eruption prediction, SO2 emission rates clearly indicated a consistent decline in emission rates between March through October 1990 and a continued low level of emission rates through the first half of 1991. Values from consecutive daily measurements of sulfur dioxide emission rates spanning the March 23, 1990 eruption decreased in the three days prior to eruption. That decrease was coincident with a several-fold increase in the frequency of shallow seismic events, suggesting partial sealing of the magma conduit to gas loss that resulted in pressurization of the shallow magma system and an increase in earthquake activity. Unlike the short-term SO2 decrease in March 1990, the long-term decrease of sulfur dioxide emission rates from March 1990 through May 1991 was coincident with low rates of seismic energy release and was interpreted to reflect gradual depressurization of the shallow magma reservoir. The long-term declines in seismic energy release and in SO2 emission rates led AVO scientists to conclude on April 19, 1991 that the potential for further eruptive activity from Redoubt Volcano had diminished, and on this basis, the level of concern color code for the volcano was changed from code yellow (Volcano is restless; earthquake activity is elevated; activity may include extrusion of lava) to code green (Volcano is in its normal ‘dormant’ state).

Eruption of Alaska volcano breaks historic pattern

In the late morning of 12 July 2008, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) received an unexpected call from the U.S. Coast Guard, reporting an explosive volcanic eruption in the central Aleutians in the vicinity of Okmok volcano, a relatively young (∼2000-year-old) caldera. The Coast Guard had received an emergency call requesting assistance from a family living at a cattle ranch on the flanks of the volcano, who reported loud “thunder,” lightning, and noontime darkness due to ashfall. AVO staff immediately confirmed the report by observing a strong eruption signal recorded on the Okmok seismic network and the presence of a large dark ash cloud above Okmok in satellite imagery. Within 5 minutes of the call, AVO declared the volcano at aviation code red, signifying that a highly explosive, ash-rich eruption was under way.

Proximal pyroclastic deposits from the 1989-1990 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska - stratigraphy, distribution, and physical characteristics

Abstract More than 20 eruptive events during the 1989–1990 eruption of Redoubt Volcano emplaced a complex sequence of lithic pyroclastic-flow, -surge, -fall, ice-diamict, and lahar deposits mainly on the north side of the volcano. The deposits record the changing eruption dynamics from initial gas-rich vent-clearing explosions to episodic gas-poor lava-dome extrusions and failures. The repeated dome failures produced lithic pyroclastic flows that mixed with snow and glacial ice to generate lahars that were channelled off Drift glacier into the Drift River valley. Some of the dome failures occurred without precursory seismic warning and appeared to result solely from gravitational instability. Material from the disrupted lava domes avalanched down a steep, partly ice-filled canyon incised on the north flank of the volcano and came to rest on the heavily crevassed surface of the piedmont lobe of Drift glacier. Most dome-collapse events resulted in single, monolithologic, massive to reversely graded, medium- to coarse-grained, sandy pyroclastic-flow deposits containing abundant dense dome clasts. These deposits vary in thickness, grain size, and texture depending on distance from the vent and local topography; deposits are finer and better sorted down flow, thinner and finer on hummocks, and thicker and coarser where ponded in channels cut through the glacial ice. The initial vent-clearing explosions emplaced unusual deposits of glacial ice, snow, and rock in a frozen matrix on the north and south flanks of the volcano. Similar deposits were described at Nevado del Ruiz, Columbia and have probably been emplaced at other snow-and-ice-clad volcanoes, but poor preservation makes them difficult to recognize in the geologic record. In a like fashion, most deposits from the 1989–1990 eruption of Redoubt Volcano may be difficult to recognize and interpret in the future because they were emplaced in an environment where glacio-fluvial processes dominate and quickly obscure the primary depositional record.

Evidence for dike emplacement beneath Iliamna Volcano, Alaska in 1996

Two earthquake swarms, comprising 88 and 2833 locatable events, occurred beneath Iliamna Volcano, Alaska, in May and August of 1996. Swarm earthquakes ranged in magnitude from −0.9 to 3.3. Increases in SO2 and CO2 emissions detected during the fall of 1996 were coincident with the second swarm. No other physical changes were observed in or around the volcano during this time period. No eruption occurred, and seismicity and measured gas emissions have remained at background levels since mid-1997. Earthquake hypocenters recorded during the swarms form a cluster in a previously aseismic volume of crust located to the south of Iliamna’s summit at a depth of −1 to 4 km below sea level. This cluster is elongated to the NNW–SSE, parallel to the trend of the summit and southern vents at Iliamna and to the regional axis of maximum compressive stress determined through inversion of fault-plane solutions for regional earthquakes. Fault-plane solutions calculated for 24 swarm earthquakes located at the top of the new cluster suggest a heterogeneous stress field acting during the second swarm, characterized by normal faulting and strike-slip faulting with p-axes parallel to the axis of regional maximum compressive stress. The increase in earthquake rates, the appearance of a new seismic volume, and the elevated gas emissions at Iliamna Volcano indicate that new magma intruded beneath the volcano in 1996. The elongation of the 1996–1997 earthquake cluster parallel to the direction of regional maximum compressive stress and the accelerated occurrence of both normal and strike-slip faulting in a small volume of crust at the top of the new seismic volume may be explained by the emplacement and inflation of a subvertical planar dike beneath the summit of Iliamna and its southern satellite vents.

1996 volcanic activity in Alaska and Kamchatka: summary of events and response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory

Figures 1 A. Map location of historically active volcanoes in Alaska and place names used in this summary. .. 2 1 B. Map showing those volcanoes monitored with a seismic network as of the end of 1998 .

Quiescent deformation of the Aniakchak Caldera, Alaska, mapped by InSAR

The 10-km-wide caldera of the historically active Aniakchak volcano, Alaska, subsides ∼13 mm/yr, based on data from 19 European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS-1 and ERS-2) interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) images from 1992 through 2002. The pattern of subsidence does not reflect the distribution of pyroclastic deposits from the last eruption in 1931 and therefore is not related to compaction of fragmental debris. Weighted least-squares inversion of the deformation maps indicates a relatively constant subsidence rate. Modeling the deformation with a Mogi point source locates the source of subsidence at ∼4 km below the central caldera floor, which is consistent with the inferred depth of magma storage before the 1931 eruption. Magmatic CO 2 and He have been measured at a warm soda spring within the caldera, and several sub-boiling fumaroles persist elsewhere in the caldera. These observations suggest that recent subsidence can be explained by the cooling or degassing of a shallow magma body (∼4 km deep), and/or the reduction of the pore-fluid pressure of a cooling hydrothermal system. Ongoing deformation of the volcano detected by InSAR, in combination with magmatic gas output from at least one warm spring, and infrequent low-level bursts of seismicity below the caldera, indicate that the volcanic system is still active and requires close attention for the timely detection of possible hazards.

Unusual ice diamicts emplaced during the December 15, 1989 eruption of redoubt volcano, Alaska

Abstract Ice diamict comprising clasts of glacier ice and subordinate rock debris in a matrix of ice (snow) grains, coarse ash, and frozen pore water was deposited during the eruption of Redoubt Volcano on December 15, 1989. Rounded clasts of glacier ice and snowpack are as large as 2.5 m, clasts of Redoubt andesite and basement crystalline rocks reach 1 m, and tabular clasts of entrained snowpack are as long as 10 m. Ice diamict was deposited on both the north and south volcano flanks. On Redoubts north flank along the east side of Drift piedmont glacier and outwash valley, ice diamict accumulated as at least 3 units, each 1–5 m thick. Two ice-diamict layers underlie a pumice-lithic fall tephra that accumulated on December 15 from 10:15 to 11:45 AST. A third ice diamict overlies the pumiceous tephra. Some of the ice diamicts have a basal ‘ice-sandstone’ layer. The north side icy flows reached as far as 14 km laterally over an altitude drop of 2.3 km and covered an area of about 5.7 km 2 . On Crescent Glacier on the south volcano flank, a composite ice diamict is locally as thick as 20 m. It travelled 4.3 km over an altitude drop of 1.7 km, covering about 1 km 2 . The much higher mobility of the northside flows was influenced by their much higher water contents than the southside flow(s). Erupting hot juvenile andesite triggered and turbulently mixed with snow avalanches at snow-covered glacier heads. These flows rapidly entrained more snow, firn, and ice blocks from the crevassed glacier. On the north flank, a trailing watery phase of each ice-diamict flow swept over and terraced the new icy deposits. The last (and perhaps each) flood reworked valley-floor snowpack and swept 35 km downvalley to the sea. Ice diamict did not form during eruptions after December 15 despite intervening snowfalls. These later pyroclastic flows swept mainly over glacier ice rather than snowpack and generated laharic floods rather than snowflows. Similar flows of mixed ice grains and pyroclastic debris resulted from the November 13, 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz volcano and from eruptions of snowclad Mount St. Helens in 1982–1984. Such deposits at snowclad volcanoes are initially broad and geomorphically distinct, but they soon become extensively reworked and hard to recognize in the geologic record.

August 2008 Eruption of Kasatochi Volcano, Aleutian Islands, Alaska—Resetting an Island Landscape

Abstract Kasatochi Island, the subaerial portion of a small volcano in the western Aleutian volcanic arc, erupted on 7–8 August 2008. Pyroclastic flows and surges swept the island repeatedly and buried most of it and the near-shore zone in decimeters to tens of meters of deposits. Several key seabird rookeries in taluses were rendered useless. The eruption lasted for about 24 hours and included two initial explosive pulses and pauses over a 6-hr period that produced ash-poor eruption clouds, a 10-hr period of continuous ash-rich emissions initiated by an explosive pulse and punctuated by two others, and a final 8-hr period of waning ash emissions. The deposits of the eruption include a basal muddy tephra that probably reflects initial eruptions through the shallow crater lake, a sequence of pumiceous and lithic-rich pyroclastic deposits produced by flow, surge, and fall processes during a period of energetic explosive eruption, and a fine-grained upper mantle of pyroclastic-fall and -surge deposits that probably reflects the waning eruptive stage as lake and ground water again gained access to the erupting magma. An eruption with similar impact on the islands environment had not occurred for at least several centuries. Since the 2008 eruption, the volcano has remained quiet other than emission of volcanic gases. Erosion and deposition are rapidly altering slopes and beaches.

Late Pleistocene and Holocene Caldera-Forming Eruptions of Okmok Caldera, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

Okmok volcano, in the central Aleutian arc, Alaska, produced two caldera-forming eruptions within the last ∼12,000 years. This study describes the stratigraphy, composition, and petrology of those two eruptions. Both eruptions initially produced small volumes of felsic magmas, followed by voluminous andesite and basaltic andesite. The Okmok I eruption produced >30 km 3 DRE of material on Umnak Island, and Okmok II ∼15 km 3 . However, a significant proportion of material not accounted for here was deposited into the oceans during both events. The Okmok I pyroclastic flow deposits contain evidence for interaction with snow/ice, particularly along the northern flanks of the caldera. Although both Okmok I and II eruptions involved a phreatomagmatic component, the accumulation of a large volume (>15km 3 ) of volatile-rich, mafic-intermediate magma in the shallow crust may provide the driving force for the catastrophic eruptions. Agglutinate deposits associated with Okmok II indicate energetic lava fountaining simultaneous with caldera-collapse, similar to other descriptions of mafic-intermediate caldera-forming deposits such as in the New Hebrides.