AVO Staff Directory:

It has long been known that volcanic eruptions can produce vigorous lightning. Early investigations of volcanic lightning were made during the Surtsey and Heimay eruptions in Iceland in 1963 and 1973 (1, 2). Despite increasing interest (3,5), volcanic lightning continues to be poorly understood, because there are few direct scientific observations of the phenomena. We report observations of lightning during the recent eruptions of Mt. Augustine in Alaska that provide a more detailed picture of volcanic lightning than heretofore available.

Thomas, J.R., Krehbiel, P.R., Rison, W., Edens, H.E., Aulich, G.D., Winn, W.P., McNutt, S.R., Tytgat, G., and Clark, E., 2007, Electrical activity during the 2006 Mount St. Augustine volcanic eruptions: Science, v. 315, p. 1097.

We present and interpret acoustic waveforms associated with a sequence of large explosion events that occurred during the initial stages of the 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska. During January 11-28, 2006, 13 large explosion events created ash-rich plumes that reached up to 14 km a.s.l., and generated atmospheric pressure waves that were recorded on scale by a microphone located at a distance of 3.2 km from the active vent. The variety of recorded waveforms included sharp N-shaped waves with durations of a few seconds, impulsive signals followed by complex codas, and extended signals with emergent character and durations up to minutes. Peak amplitudes varied between 14 and 105 Pa; inferred acoustic energies ranged between 2x10^8 and 4x10^9 J.

Petersen, Tanja, De Angelis, Silvio, Tytgat, Guy, and McNutt, S.R., 2006, Local infrasound observations of large ash explosions at Augustine Volcano, Alaska, during January 11-28, 2006: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 33, 5 p., doi:10.1029/2006GL026491.

The primary objectives of the seismic program are the real-time seismic monitoring of active, potentially hazardous, Alaskan volcanoes and the investigation of seismic processes associated with active volcanism. This catalog presents the calculated earthquake hypocenter and phase arrival data, and changes in the seismic monitoring program for the period January 1 through December 31, 2004.

Dixon, J.P., Stihler, S.D., Power, J.A., Tytgat, Guy, Estes, Steve, Prejean, Stephanie, Sanchez, J.J., Sanches, Rebecca, McNutt, S.R., and Paskievitch, John, 2005, Catalog of earthquake hypocenters at Alaskan volcanoes: January 1 through December 31, 2004: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1312, 74 p., available online at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1312/.
website with links to PDF and data files

"The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, has maintained seismic monitoring networks at historically active volcanoes in Alaska since 1988 (Power and others, 1993; Jolly and others, 1996; Jolly and others, 2001; Dixon and others, 2002; Dixon and others, 2003). The primary objectives of this program are the near real time seismic monitoring of active, potentially hazardous, Alaskan volcanoes and the investigation of seismic processes associated with active volcanism. This catalog presents the calculated earthquake hypocenter and phase arrival data, and changes in the seismic monitoring program for the period January 1 through December 31, 2003."

Dixon, J. P., Stihler, S. D., Power, J. A., Tytgat, Guy, Moran, S. C., Sanchez, J. J., McNutt, S. R., Estes, Steve, and Paskievitch, John, 2004, Catalog of earthquake hypocenters at Alaskan volcanoes: January 1 through December 31, 2003: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report OF 2004-1234, 69 p.
website with links to PDF and data tar file
full-text PDF : 12.3 MB

"The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, has maintained seismic monitoring networks at historically active volcanoes in Alaska since 1988 (Power and others, 1993; Jolly and others, 1996; Jolly and others, 2001; Dixon and others, 2002). The primary objectives of this program are the seismic monitoring of active, potentially hazardous, Alaskan volcanoes and the investigation of seismic processes associated with active volcanism. This catalog presents the basic seismic data and changes in the seismic monitoring program for the period January 1, 2002 through December 31, 2002. Appendix G contains a list of publications pertaining to seismicity of Alaskan volcanoes based on these and previously recorded data."

Dixon, J. P., Stihler, S. D., Power, J. A., Tytgat, Guy, Moran, S. C., Sanchez, John, Estes, Steve, McNutt, S. R., and Paskievitch, John, 2003, Catalog of earthquake hypocenters at Alaskan volcanoes: January 1 through December 31, 2002: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report OF 03-0267, 58 p.
website with links to PDFs, data tar file
full-text PDF : 7.3 MB

"The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, has maintained seismic monitoring networks at potentially active volcanoes in Alaska since 1988 (Power and others, 1993; Jolly and others, 1996; Jolly and others, 2001). The primary objectives of this program are the seismic surveillance of active, potentially hazardous, Alaskan volcanoes and the investigation of seismic processes associated with active volcanism. This catalog reflects the status and evolution of the seismic monitoring program, and presents the basic seismic data for the time period January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2001."

Dixon, J. P., Stihler, S. D., Power, J. A., Tytgat, Guy, Estes, Steve, Moran, S. C., Paskievitch, John, and McNutt, S. R., 2002, Catalog of earthquake hypocenters at Alaskan volcanoes: January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2001: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report OF 02-0342, 56 p.
webpage with links to PDFs, data tar file, ASCII text
full-text PDF : 5 MB

Tremor signals associated with the eruption of Shishaldin Volcano on 19 and 23 April 1999 were the strongest recorded anywhere in the Aleutian Arc by the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) in its 10-year history. Reduced displacements (DR) reached 23 cm2 on 19 April and 43 cm2 on 23 April. During the activity, DR and spectral data with a frequency resolution of 0.1 Hz were computed and put on the World Wide Web every 10 min. These data are analyzed here. The general temporal patterns of seismicity of these eruption events were similar, but the eruptions and their effects quite different. The 19 April event is known to have culminated in a sub-Plinian phase, which ejected ash to an altitude of 16 km.

Thompson, Glenn, McNutt, S. R., and Tytgat, Guy, 2002, Three distinct regimes of volcanic tremor associated with the eruption of Shishaldin Volcano, Alaska, 1999: Bulletin of Volcanology, v. 64, n. 8, p. 535-547.

"The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska - Fairbanks, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, has maintained a seismic monitoring program at potentially active volcanoes in Alaska since 1988 (Power and others, 1993; Jolly and others, 1996). The primary objectives of this program are the seismic surveillance of active, potentially hazardous, Alaskan volcanoes and the investigation of seismic processes associated with active volcanism."

Jolly, A. D., Stihler, S. D., Power, J. A., Lahr, J. C., Paskievitch, John, Tytgat, Guy, Estes, Steve, Lockheart, A. D., Moran, S. C., McNutt, S. R., and Hammond, W. R., 2001, Catalog of earthquake hypocenters at Alaskan volcanoes: January 1, 1994 through December 31, 1999: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report OF 01-0189, 22 p.
website with links to PDFs, tar file
full-text PDF : 552 KB
appendix B PDF : 2 MB
phase arrival information (compressed tar file) : 14.5 MB

"Active volcanoes produce a great variety of seismic signals. In addition to earthquakes and various low-frequency events, volcanic tremor is often observed. The typical appearance of tremor is that of an irregular sinusoid, and a key distinguishing feature is its long duration compared with earthquakes of the same amplitude. Continuous signal durations of days, weeks, and longer are common. Tremor has been recorded at 129 volcanoes worldwide (McNutt, 1992)."

McNutt, S. R., Tytgat, G. C., and Power, J. A., 1995, Preliminary analyses of volcanic tremor associated with 1992 eruptions of Crater Peak, Mount Spurr volcano, Alaska: in Keith, T. E. C., (ed.), The 1992 eruptions of Crater Peak Vent, Mount Spurr volcano, Alaska, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin B 2139, p. 161-178.
full-text PDF : 755 KB

"The Kidazgeni Glacier is a valley glacier that drains the southern part of the Mount Spurr amphitheater. The glacier is 1.5 to 3 km wide and about 7.5 km long (fig. I). It averages 125 m in thickness and covers an area of about 21 square kilometers (R.S. March, oral commun.). It issues from the amphitheater on the east side of Crater Peak, the active vent of Mount Spurr volcano and the source of the 1992 eruptions (Eichelberger and others, this volume). It flows steeply from an altitude of about 2,135 m (7,000 ft) to about 900 m (3,000 ft) then spreads into a broad, flat lobe that ends at about 700 m (2,300 ft) elevation (fig. 1)."

Nye, C. J., Hammond, W. R., Tytgat, G. C., and Dorava, J. M., 1995, June 29, 1993, outburst flood from Kidazgeni Glacier, Mount Spurr volcano, Alaska: in Keith, T. E. C., (ed.), The 1992 eruptions of Crater Peak Vent, Mount Spurr volcano, Alaska, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin B 2139, p. 199-204.
full-text PDF : 235 KB