Twenty years of volcano research conducted by scientists and students at USGS, UAFGI, and ADGGS, have contributed important insights into how volcanoes work and
how to harness new technology to monitor and more accurately forecast future hazardous eruptions.
Among the scientific highlights of 20 years:
The 2006 eruption at Augustine was preceded by nine months of increasing unrest that included escalating earthquake activity and six months of very
slow inflation of the volcanic edifice that accompanied the accumulation and ascent of magma and provided the basis for the successful forecasting of
this eruption.
The application of Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), a powerful satellite-based tool for detecting tiny changes in the ground surface,
has demonstrated that volcanoes are often in motion and the extent and style of deformation is highly variable and may be strongly dependant on magma
composition.
Twenty years of seismic monitoring of numerous Alaskan volcanoes has provided further insight into the relationship between deep long period earthquakes
and magma migration. Identification of this process may provide a means to issue warnings with longer lead times than in the past at some volcanoes.
Alaska volcano seismic networks have also supported study of 'triggering', or the subtle response of volcanic plumbing systems to distant earthquakes
around the world.
AVO is producing
geologic maps and
hazard assessments, as well as conducting detailed physical, chemical, and other studies of
particularly important deposits and volcanoes to better understand how eruptions occur.
Using high-pressure and temperature laboratory facilities at UAFGI and elsewhere, AVO scientists have probed the mysteries of crystallization, bubble
growth, and magma ascent, all to better understand how volcanoes behave.
AVO scientists have developed numerical models for volcanic processes of concern, such as the propagation of tsunamis formed during volcano flank
collapse or pyroclastic flow entry into bodies of water.
