Project Overview
The Eruptive Personality of Augustine Volcano, Alaska
Department(s)
Earth and Environmental Geosciences
Abstract
Augustine Volcano in Alaska is one of the most frequently active volcanoes in the US and is considered a very high threat by the U.S. Geological Survey. The hazards posed by a volcano depend on the size and style of an eruption, but what controls these eruption characteristics? This project is a case study of Augustine Volcano to investigate the links between volcano explosivity and magma composition.
Students working on this summer project will be studying pumice from three major eruptions at Augustine Volcano in Alaska. These eruptions occurred 400-1000 years ago, as the volcano was undergoing a transition between older, larger eruptions and younger, smaller eruptions. What caused this geologically-recent change in eruptive personality, and what could drive a change back to larger, more violent eruptions? This project aims to investigate the physical processes that occurred prior to, and during, an eruption. We weren't there to measure the explosivity of the eruptions 400-1000 years ago, but we can estimate explosivity through the size of material ejected from the volcano. We can piece together what was happening within the volcano in the lead-up to each eruption through the geochemistry of the pumice and crystals that were produced in each eruption.
This project will also include a variety of types of lab work (sieving and sorting samples to identify different magma components), geochemical lab work in a clean lab (determining pumice compositions using an ICP-MS instrument), imaging and geochemical analysis on Colgate's Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), digital image processing (Photoshop, ImageJ, Matlab), and data analysis and interpretation (Excel and R).
We will have regular communication with scientists at Alaska Volcano Observatory who monitor volcanic hazards at Augustine Volcano and with collaborators from Western Washington University who are working on complementary aspects of this project. Results from this project will help us understand magma ascent and volcano explosivity, both of which have important implications for volcanic hazards at Augustine and at other volcanoes around the world.
Student Qualifications
The Department of Earth and Environmental Geosciences encourages all students interested in summer research opportunities to meet with potential faculty supervisors before submitting their applications. Students working on this project should be curious and enthusiastic to learn more about how the Earth works, and comfortable learning to use different lab techniques and computer software (training will be provided in all of these tasks). Preferably, students will have taken GEOL 190 and/or GEOL 201 but students with an interest in this project are encouraged to apply even if they have not yet taken these courses. Participation in fieldwork is not required. Students who have questions about the fieldwork aspect of this project are encouraged to contact me for more information before applying.
Number of Student Researchers
2 students
Project Length
7 weeks
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