Spurr bibliography: all known references that deal with Spurr.

"Volcanic eruption plumes and subsequent drifting ash clouds from North Pacific volcanoes have caused delays in flight operations nationwide and substantial damage to aircraft and equipment. Volcanic ash also has caused difficulties in Alaskan communities, ranging from property damage to health hazards. This operating plan provides an overview of multiple agency integrated operations in response to the threat of volcanic ash affecting Alaska, and an agency-by-agency description of roles and responsibilities in such events. A cohesive, well coordinated response will result in the flow of timely and consistent information to those at risk."

Madden, John, Murray, T.L., Carle, W.J., Cirillo, M.A., Furgione, L.K., Trimpert, M.T., and Hartig, Larry (signatories), 2008, Alaska interagency operating plan for volcanic ash episodes, 52 p.
full-text PDF : 907 KB

Since 1988, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) has been monitoring volcanic activity across the state, conducting scientific research on volcanic processes, producing volcano-hazard assessments, and informing both the public and emergency managers of volcanic unrest. Below are some examples of the activity at Alaska's volcanoes that have held the attention of AVO staff.

Schaefer, J.R., and Nye, Chris, 2008, The Alaska Volcano Observatory - 20 years of volcano research, monitoring, and eruption response: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys, Alaska GeoSurvey News, NL 2008-001, v. 11, n. 1, p. 1-9, available at http://wwwdggs.dnr.state.ak.us/pubs/pubs?reqtype=citation&ID=16061 .
ADGGS website with link to PDF
full-text PDF on AVO's server : 5.68 MB

The Alaska Volcano Observatory was founded in 1988 after the eruptions at Cook Inlet's Augustine Volcano in 1986 caused significant disruptions to passenger jet travel to Anchorage and south-central Alaska. In 1986 few tools were available for scientists in Alaska to warn safety officials and the public of the size and location of Augustine's ash clouds that threatened to damage passenger aircraft. Residents of Homer and other coastal cities in south-central Alaska faced significant uncertainty about what would happen next at the volcano and what kind of risks their communities faced from Augustine Volcano.

University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, 2008, 20th anniversary of the Alaska Volcano Observatory: University of Alaska Geophysical Institute pamphlet, 2 p.
full-text PDF : 3 MB

The Alaska Volcano Observatory was founded in 1988 after the eruptions at Cook Inlet's Augustine Volcano in 1986 caused significant disruptions to passenger jet travel to Anchorage and south-central Alaska. In 1986 few tools were available for scientists in Alaska to warn safety officials and the public of the size and location of Augustine's ash clouds that threatened to damage passenger aircraft. Residents of Homer and other coastal cities in south-central Alaska faced significant uncertainty about what would happen next at the volcano and what kind of risks their communities faced from Augustine Volcano.

University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, 2008, 20th anniversary of the Alaska Volcano Observatory: University of Alaska Geophysical Institute pamphlet, 2 p.
full-text PDF : 3 MB

A 5.6-m-long lake sediment core from Bear Lake, Alaska, located 22km southeast of Redoubt Volcano, contains 67 tephra layers deposited over the last 8750 cal yr, comprising 15% of the total thickness of recovered sediment.

Schiff, C.J., Kaufman, D.S., Wallace, K.L., Werner, A., Ku, T.L., and Brown, T.A., 2008, Modeled tephra ages from lake sediments, base of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska: Quaternary Geochronology, v. 3, p. 56-67.

Fish and fishing communities are iconic symbols of Alaska. Volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis also stand out as processes that define or shape the Alaska landscape. Alaska has numerous fishing ports that regularly rank in the top 10 ports for commercial landings by weight and value in the United States.

Zimmerman, C.E., Neal, C.A., and Haeussler, P.J., 2008, Natural hazards, fish habitat, and fishing communities in Alaska: American Fisheries Society Symposium, v. 64, p. 375-388.
full-text PDF : 1.83 MB

Tephra-fall deposits from Cook Inlet volcanoes were detected in sediment cores from Tustumena and Paradox Lakes, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, using magnetic susceptibility and petrography. The ages of tephra layers were estimated using 21 14C ages on macrofossils. Tephras layers are typically fine, gray ash, 1-5 mm thick, and composed of varying proportions of glass shards, pumice, and glass-coated phenocrysts. Of the two lakes, Paradox Lake contained a higher frequency of tephra (0.8 tephra/100 yr; 109 over the 13,200-yr record). The unusually large number of tephra in this lake relative to others previously studied in the area is attributed to the lake's physiography, sedimentology, and limnology. The frequency of ash fall was not constant through the Holocene.

de Fontaine, C.S., Kaufman, D.S., Anderson, R.S., Werner, Al, Waythomas, C.F., and Brown, T.A., 2007, Late Quaternary distal tephra-fall deposits in lacustrine sediments, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska: Quaternary Research, v. 68, p. 64-78, doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2007.03.006.

A methodology to systematically rank volcanic threat was developed as the basis for prioritizing volcanoes for long-term hazards evaluations, monitoring, and mitigation activities.

Ewert, John, 2007, System for ranking relative threats of U.S. volcanoes: Natural Hazards Review, v. 8, n. 4, p. 112-124.

This report presents gas emission rates from data collected during numerous airborne plume-measurement flights at Alaskan volcanoes since 1995. These flights began in about 1990 as means to establish baseline values of volcanic gas emissions during periods of quiescence and to identify anomalous levels of degassing that might signal the beginning of unrest. The primary goal was to make systematic measurements at the major volcanic centers around the Cook Inlet on at least an annual basis, and more frequently during periods of unrest and eruption.

Doukas, M.P., and McGee, K.A., 2007, A compilation of gas emission-rate data from volcanoes of Cook Inlet (Spurr, Crater Peak, Redoubt, Iliamna, and Augustine) and Alaska Peninsula (Douglas, Fourpeaked, Griggs, Mageik, Martin, Peulik, Ukinrek Maars, and Veniaminof), Alaska, from 1995-2006: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007-1400, 13 p., available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1400/ .
USGS website with link to PDF
full-text PDF on AVO server : 281 KB

Radiocarbon-dated volcanic mass-flow deposits on the southeast flank of Mount Spurr in south-central Alaska provide strong evidence for the timing of large-scale destruction of the south flank of the volcano by sector collapse at 4,769–4,610 yr B.P.

Waythomas, C.F., 2007, Mid-Holocene sector collapse at Mount Spurr volcano, south-central Alaska, in, Haeussler, P.J., and Galloway, J.P., eds., Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, 2006: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1739-C, 15 p., available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/pp1739/c/ .
USGS website with link to PDF
full-text PDF on AVO server : 28.7 MB

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) responded to eruptive activity or suspected volcanic activity at or near 16 volcanoes in Alaska during 2005, including the high profile precursory activity associated with the 2005–06 eruption of Augustine Volcano.

McGimsey, R.G., Neal, C.A., Dixon, J.P., and Ushakov, Sergey, 2007, 2005 Volcanic activity in Alaska, Kamchatka, and the Kurile Islands: Summary of events and response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007-5269, 94 p., available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2007/5269/ .
USGS website with link to PDF

The National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS) is a proposed national-scale effort by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Hazards Program and its affiliated partners in the Consortium of U.S. Volcano Observatories (CUSVO) (http://www.cusvo.org) to ensure that volcanoes are monitored at a level commensurate with the threats they pose. Roughly half of the Nation's 169 young volcanoes are dangerous because of the manner in which they erupt and the communities and infrastructure within their destructive reach. Most U.S. volcanoes are located on sparsely populated Federal lands, but it is the threat to communities and infrastructure downstream and downwind, including to military and commercial aviation, that drives the need to properly monitor volcanic activity and provide forecasts and notifications of expected hazards.

Ewert, John, Guffanti, Marianne, Cervelli, Peter, and Quick, James, 2006, The National Volcano Early Warning System (NVEWS): U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS 2006-3142, 2 p., available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3142 .
PDF on USGS server : 1 MB

Mount Spurr, a 3,374-m-high stratovolcano in the Cook Inlet region of Alaska, showed signs of volcanic unrest beginning in 2004 and lasting through 2006. These signs included increases in heat flow, seismicity, and gas flux, which we interpret as the results of a magmatic intrusion in mid-2004. In response, debris-laden meltwater beneath the glacier in Mount Spurr's geothermally active summit basin accumulated as the overlying snow and ice melted. As heat output increased, the icecap subsided into a growing cavity over a meltwater lake, similar to that observed during subglacial volcanic activity in Iceland.

Coombs, M.L., Neal, C.A., Wessels, R.L., and McGimsey, R.G., 2006, Geothermal disruption of summit glaciers at Mount Spurr Volcano, 2004-6: an unusual manifestation of volcanic unrest: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1732-B, 33 p., available at http://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/pp1732/pp1732b/index.html .
website with link to full-text PDF

Volcano-tectonic (VT) seismicity is commonly recorded prior to and during eruptions. VT seismicity may reflect stresses induced by dike propagation, as indicated by propagating hypocenters and fault-plane solutions (FPS) reflecting regional stresses, or stresses induced by dike inflation, indicated by randomly distributed hypocenters and FPS with pressure axes rotated ;908 to regional maximum compression. Although numerical models of dike-induced stresses indicate that both regimes should occur during dike emplacement, this has not yet been observed, according to published seismic data. Instead, ;908 rotated FPS are observed in some cases, while propagating hypocenters mark dike formation in other cases. We suggest that differences in the seismic expression of upper crustal magma migration may result from differences in the regional tectonic setting and in the nature of magma-wall-rock interactions.

Roman, D.C., and Cashman, K.V., 2006, The origin of volcano-tectonic earthquake swarms: Geology, v. 34, n. 6, p. 457-460.

"NVEWS - a National Volcano Early Warning System - is being formulated by the Consortium of U.S. Volcano Observatories (CUSVO) to establish a proactive, fully integrated, national-scale monitoring effort that ensures the most threatening volcanoes in the United States are properly monitored in advance of the onset of unrest and at levels commensurate with the threats posed. Volcanic threat is the combination of hazards (the destructive natural phenomena produced by a volcano) and exposure (people and property at risk from the hazards)."

Ewert, J.W., Guffanti, Marianne, and Murray, T.L., 2005, An assessment of volcanic threat and monitoring capabilities in the United States: framework for a National Volcano Early Warning System NVEWS: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report OF 2005-1164, 62 p.
full-text PDF : 2.90 MB

"Results of analyses of unusual long-period earthquakes, recorded between July and September 2004 at Mt. Spurr, Alaska, are presented. The waveforms of these events are characterized by quasi-sinusoidal signatures of long duration (up to 40 sec) with slowly decaying amplitudes; bandwidths of 0.5-4.0 Hz are typical; amplitude spectra are marked by strong and sharp peaks, reflecting the quasi-monochromatic nature of the signal."

De Angelis, S., and McNutt, S.R., 2005, Degassing and hydrothermal activity at Mt. Spurr, Alaska during the summer of 2004 inferred from the complex frequencies of long-period events: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 32, 4 p., doi:10.1029/2005GL022618.

2004 began quietly in Alaska, continuing a trend of little volcanic unrest that has persisted for several years. On January 9, AVO announced the beginning of formal seismic monitoring of Okmok Volcano following an extended period of calibration and improvement of the seismic network installed initially in 2002-2003. Gareloi and Tanaga volcanoes in the western Aleutians were added to the list of seismically monitored volcanoes in early June following determination of background seismicity. During the remainder of the year, AVO responded to volcanic unrest at three volcanoes in Alaska-Mount Spurr, Veniaminof, and Shishaldin.

Neal, C.A., McGimsey, R.G., Dixon, Jim, and Melnikov, Dimitry, 2005, 2004 volcanic activity in Alaska and Kamchatka: summary of events and response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2005-1308, 71 p., http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1308/.
USGS website with link to PDF
full-text PDF : 4.82 MB

Airborne ash probability distribution (AAPD) maps have been generated to show the distribution of airborne volcanic ash in the North Pacific (NOPAC) region by simulating volcanic eruption clouds from 22 of the 100 most historically active volcanoes in the region. The PUFF ash-dispersion model was run daily using archived wind field data between 1994-1995 and 1997-2001 for low and high aircraft flight levels. Subsequent statistics are generated representing the distribution of simulated airborne ash at 6- and 24-h intervals, defining the regions most likely to contain airborne ash and the direction and distance a volcanic ash cloud may propagate from a given volcano. The AAPD maps show the extent of ash from a given volcano can encompass all of Alaska, most of the North Pacific Ocean, portions of northwestern North America, regions as far south as 358N, regions over the western Arctic Ocean, and portions of eastern Russia.

Papp, K.P., Dean, K.G., and Dehn, J., 2005, Predicting regions susceptible to high concentrations of airborne volcanic ash in the North Pacific region: Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v. 148, no. 3-4, p. 295-314, doi: 10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2005.04.020.

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

"Recent explosive eruptions at some of Alaska's 41 historically active volcanoes have significantly affected air traffic over the North Pacific, as well as Alaska's oil, power, and fishing industries and local communities. Since its founding in the late 1980s, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) has installed new monitoring networks and used satellite data to track activity at Alaska's volcanoes, providing timely warnings and monitoring of frequent eruptions to the aviation industry and the general public. To minimize impacts from future eruptions, scientists at AVO continue to assess volcano hazards and to expand monitoring networks."

Brantley, S. R., McGimsey, R. G., and Neal, C. A., 2004, The Alaska Volcano Observatory - Expanded monitoring of volcanoes yields results: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS 2004-3084, 2 p.
full-text HTML
full-text PDF : 260 KB

"Between October 12, 1989 and December 31, 2002, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) located 162 deep long-period (DLP) events beneath 11 volcanic centers in the Aleutian arc. These events generally occur at mid- to lower-crustal depths (10-45 km) and are characterized by emergent phases, extended codas, and a strong spectral peak between 1.0 and 3.0 Hz. Observed wave velocities and particle motions indicate that the dominant phases are P- and S-waves. DLP epicenters often extend over broad areas (5-20 km) surrounding the active volcanoes. The average reduced displacement of Aleutian DLPs is 26.5 cm2 and the largest event has a reduced displacement of 589 cm2 (or ML 2.5). Aleutian DLP events occur both as solitary events and as sequences of events with several occurring over a period of 1-30 min."

Power, J.A, Stihler, S.D., White, R.A., and Moran, S.C., 2004, Observations of deep long-period (DLP) seismic events beneath Aleutian Arc volcanoes: 1989-2002: Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v. 138, p. 243-266.

"A complete understanding of the initiation, evolution, and termination of volcanic eruptions requires reliable monitoring techniques to detect changes in the conduit system during periods of activity, as well as corresponding knowledge of conduit structure and of magma physical properties. Case studies of stress field orientation at active volcanoes can be used to relate changes in local stress to magma movement through conduits; these relationships may be tested through numerical modeling of induced stresses."

Roman, D.C., 2004, Changes in local stress field orientation in response to magmatic activity: University of Oregon Ph.D. dissertation, 188 p.

"We searched for changes in local stress-field orientation at Mount Spurr volcano, Alaska, between August 1991 and December 2001. This study focuses on the stress-field orientation beneath Crater Peak vent, the site of three eruptions in 1992, and beneath the summit of Mount Spurr. Local stress tensors were calculated by inverting subsets of 140 fault-plane solutions for earthquakes beneath Crater Peak and 96 fault-plane solutions for earthquakes beneath Mount Spurr."

Roman, D.C., Moran, S.C., Power, J.A., and Cashman, K.V., 2004, Temporal and spatial variation of local stress fields before and after the 1992 eruptions of Crater Peak Vent, Mount Spurr Volcano, Alaska: Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, v. 94, n. 6, p. 2366-2379.

"We present measurements of the whole scattering matrix as a function of the scattering angle at a wavelength of 632.8 nm in the scattering angle range 3-174 of randomly oriented particles taken from seven samples of volcanic ashes corresponding to four different volcanic eruptions: the 18 May 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption, the 1989-1990 Redoubt eruption, and the 18 August and 17 September 1992 Mount Spurr eruptions. The samples were collected at different distances from the vent. The samples studied contain large mass fractions of fine particles and were chosen to represent ash that could remain in the atmosphere for at least hours or days."

Munoz, O., Volten, H., Hovenier, J.W., Veihelmann, B., van der Zande, W.J., Waters, L.B.F.M., and Rose, W.I., 2004: Scattering matrices of volcanic ash particles of Mount St. Helens, Redoubt, and Mount Spurr volcanoes: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 109, 16 p., doi: 10.1029/2004JD004684.

"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

A conceptual model of the geometry and dynamics of the Mount Spurr magmatic system is developed using seismic, geochemical, and visual observations of the 1992 Crater Peak eruption sequence. The basis for this model is a new classification of all located seismic events and results from prior studies of seismology, geology, geochemistry, and geophysics of the Mount Spurr area.

Power, J. A., Jolly, A. D., Nye, C. J., and Harbin, M. L., 2002, A conceptual model of the Mount Spurr magmatic system from seismic and geochemical observations of the 1992 Crater Peak eruption sequence: Bulletin of Volcanology, v. 64, n. 3-4, p. 206-218.

"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

"Mount Spurr volcano is an ice- and snow-covered stratovolcano complex located in the north-central Cook Inlet region about 100 kilometers west of Anchorage, Alaska. Mount Spurr volcano consists of a breached stratovolcano, a lava dome at the summit of Mount Spurr, and Crater Peak vent, a small stratocone on the south flank of Mount Spurr volcano. Historical eruptions of Crater Peak occurred in 1953 and 1992. These eruptions were relatively small but explosive, and they dispersed volcanic ash over areas of interior, south-central, and southeastern Alaska. Individual ash clouds produced by the 1992 eruption drifted east, north, and south. Within a few days of the eruption, the south-moving ash cloud was detected over the North Atlantic. Pyroclastic flows that descended the south flank of Crater Peak during both historical eruptions initiated volcanic-debris flows or lahars that formed temporary debris dams across the Chakachatna River, the principal drainage south of Crater Peak. Prehistoric eruptions of Crater Peak and Mount Spurr generated clouds of volcanic ash, pyroclastic flows, and lahars that extended to the volcano flanks and beyond. A flank collapse on the southeast side of Mount Spurr generated a large debris avalanche that flowed about 20 kilometers beyond the volcano into the Chakachatna River valley. The debris-avalanche deposit probably formed a large, temporary debris dam across the Chakachatna River."

Waythomas, C. F., and Nye, C. J., 2002, Preliminary volcano-hazard assessment for Mount Spurr Volcano, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report OF 01-0482, 46 p.
full-text PDF : 11.25 MB

"Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), and Geostationary Meteorological Satellite (GMS) are used routinely to detect and monitor elevated ground temperatures and eruption clouds at volcanoes in the North Pacific Region. Volcanoes in this region include those in Alaska, Kamchatka Peninsula and the northern Kuril Islands. These data provide observations multiple times per day of over 100 active volcanoes in this region."

Dean, K. G., Dehn, Jon, Engle, Kevin, Izbekov, Pavel, and Papp, Ken, 2002, Operational satellite monitoring of volcanoes at the Alaska Volcano Observatory: in Harris, A. J. H., Wooster, Martin, and Rothery, D. A., (eds.), Monitoring Volcanic Hotspots Using Thermal Remote Sensing, Advances in Environmental Monitoring and Modelling, v. 1, n. 3, p. 70-97.

"Volcanic ash in volcanic clouds can be mapped in two dimensions using two-band thermal infrared data available from meteorological satellites. Wen and Rose [1994] developed an algorithm that allows retrieval of the effective particle size, the optical depth of the volcanic cloud, and the mass of fine ash in the cloud. Both the mapping and the retrieval scheme are less accurate in the humid tropical atmosphere. In this study we devised and tested a scheme for atmospheric correction of volcanic ash mapping and retrievals."

Yu, Tianxu, 2002, Atmospheric correction for satellite-based volcanic ash mapping and retrievals using "split window" IR data from GOES and AVHRR: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 107, n. 16, 19 p.

Schaefer, Janet, and Nye, C. J., 2002, Historically active volcanoes of the Aleutian Arc: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Miscellaneous Publication MP 0123, unpaged, 1 sheet, scale 1:3,000,000.
MrSID map sheet : 3.3 MB
page-size PDF : 700 KB
poster-size PDF : 4.87 MB

Volcanoes are the source of a great variety of seismic signals that behave differently from events on earthquake faults. Nearly every recorded volcanic eruption has been preceded by an increase in earthquake activity beneath or near the volcano, and accompanied and followed by varying levels of seismicity.

McNutt, S.R., 2002, Volcano seismology and monitoring for eruptions: in International Handbook of Earthquake and Engineering Seismology, v. 81A, p. 383-406.

"Satellite SO2 and ash measurements of Mount Spurr's three 1992 volcanic clouds are compared with ground-based observations to develop an understanding of the physical and chemical evolution of volcanic clouds. Each of the three eruptions with ratings of volcanic explosivity index three reached the lower stratosphere (14 km asl), but the clouds were mainly dispersed at the tropopause by moderate to strong (20-40 m/s) tropospheric winds. Three stages of cloud evolution were identified. First, heavy fallout of large (1500 mm) pyroclasts occurred close to the volcano (25 km from the vent) during and immediately after the eruptions, and the cloud resembled an advected gravity current."

Rose, W. I., Bluth, G. J. S., Schneider, D. J., Ernst, G. G. J., Riley, C. M., Henderson, L. J., and McGimsey, R. G., 2001, Observations of volcanic clouds in their first few days of atmospheric residence: the 1992 eruptions of Crater Peak, Mount Spurr Volcano, Alaska: Journal of Geology, v. 109, n. 6, p. 677-694.

"The Crater Peak flank vent of Mount Spurr volcano erupted June 27, August 18, and September 16- 17, 1992. The three eruptions were similar in intensity (vulcanian to subplinian eruption columns reaching up to 14 km Above Sea Level) and duration (3.5 to 4.0 hours) and produced tephra-fall deposits (12, 14, 15 x 106 m3 Dense Rock Equivalent [DRE]) discernible up to 1,000 km downwind. The June 27 ash cloud traveled north over the rugged, ice- and snow-covered Alaska Range. The August 18 ash cloud was carried southeastward over Anchorage, across Prince William Sound, and down the southeastern shoreline of the Gulf of Alaska. The September 16-17 ash plume was directed eastward over the Talkeetna and Wrangell mountains and into the Yukon Territory of Canada. Over 50 mass-per-unit-area (MPUA) samples were collected for each of the latter two fall deposits at distances ranging from about 2 km to 370 km downwind from the volcano. Only 10 (mostly proximal) samples were collected for the June fall deposit due to inaccessible terrain and funding constraints. MPUA data were plotted and contoured (isomass lines) to graphically display the distribution of each fall deposit. For the August and September eruptions, fallout was concentrated along a narrow (30 to 50 km wide) belt. The fallout was most concentrated (100,000 to greater than 250,000 g/m2) within about 80 km of the volcano. Secondary maxima occur at 200 km (2,620 g/m2) and 300 km (4,659 g/m2), respectively, down axis for the August and September deposits. The maxima contain bimodal grain size distributions (with peaks at 88.4 and 22.1 microns) indicating aggregation within the ash cloud. Combined tephra-volume for the 1992 Mount Spurr eruptions (41 x 106 m3 DRE) is comparable to that (tephra-fall only) of the 1989-90 eruptions of nearby Redoubt volcano (31-49 x 106 m3 DRE)."

McGimsey, R. G., Neal, C. A., and Riley, C. M., 2001, Areal distribution, thickness, mass, volume, and grain size of tephra-fall deposits from the 1992 eruptions of Crater Peak Vent, Mt. Spurr volcano, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report OF 01-0370, 38 p.
website with links to PDFs
full-text PDF : 10.8 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 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

"More than 40 active volcanoes occur in Alaska. This report summarizes historical data on those volcanoes, using information drawn from the more thorough and comprehensive U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Open-File Report 98-582, Catalog of the Historically Active Volcanoes of Alaska."

Wallace, K. L., McGimsey, R. G., and Miller, T. P., 2000, Historically active volcanoes in Alaska, a quick reference: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS 0118-00, 2 p.
full-text PDF : 162 KB

Seismology is an important and effective tool for monitoring volcanoes and forecasting eruptions. In the past 2 decades there have been over 25 successful forecasts.

Sigurdsson, Haraldur, (ed.), 2000, Encyclopedia of volcanoes: San Diego, CA, Academic Press, 1417 p.

Alaska Volcano Observatory, 2000, January-February 2000: Alaska Volcano Observatory Bimonthly Report, v. 12, n. 1, 28 p.
Part 1 PDF : 239 KB
Part 2 PDF : 916 KB
Part 3 PDF : 469 KB

"Volcanic ash consists of tiny jagged particles of rock and natural glass blasted into the air by a volcano. Ash can threaten the health of people and livestock, pose a hazard to flying jet aircraft, damage electronics and machinery, and interrupt power generation and telecommunications. Wind can carry ash thousands of miles, affecting far greater areas and many more people than other volcano hazards. Even after a series of ash-producing eruptions has ended, wind and human activity can stir up fallen ash for months or years, presenting a long-term health and economic hazard."

Kenedi, C.A., Brantley, S.R., Hendley, J.W. II, and Stauffer, P.H., 2000, Volcanic ash fall - a "hard rain" of abrasive particles: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet FS 027-00, 2 p.
full-text PDF : 1.22 MB

"Volcanic ash clouds pose a real threat to aircraft safety. The ash is abrasive and capable of causing serious damage to aircraft engines, control surfaces, windshields, and landing lights. In addition, ash can clog the pitot-static systems, which determine wind speed and altitude, and damage sensors used to fly the aircraft. To ensure aviation safety, a warning system should be capable of a 5-min response time once an eruption has been detected. Pilots are the last link in the chain of safety actions to avoid or mitigate encounters with volcanic ash. For the pilots to be effective, the warning and safety system must meet their needs."

Hufford, G.L., Salinas, L.J., Simpson, J.J., Barske, E.G., and Pieri, D.C., 2000, Operational implications of airborne volcanic ash: Bulletin of the American Meterological Society, v. 81, n. 4, p. 745-755.

"Dante II is a unique walking robot that provides important insight into high-mobility robotic locomotion and remote robotic exploration. Dante II's uniqueness stems from its combined legged and rappelling mobility system, its scanning-laser rangefinder, and its multilevel control scheme. In 1994 Dante II was deployed and successfully tested in a remote Alaskan volcano, as a demonstration of the fieldworthiness of these technologies."

Bares, J. E., and Wettergreen, D. S., 1999, Dante II: technical description, results, and lessons learned: International Journal of Robotics Research, v. 18, n. 7, p. 621-649.

"Few natural forces are as spectacular and threatening, or have played such a dominant role in shaping the face of the Earth, as erupting volcanoes. Volcanism has built some of the world's greatest mountain ranges, covered vast regions with lava (molten rock at the Earth's surface), and triggered explosive eruptions whose size and power are nearly impossible for us to imagine today. Fortunately, such calamitous eruptions occur infrequently. Of the 50 or so volcanoes that erupt every year, however, a few severely disrupt human activities. Between 1980 and 1990, volcanic activity killed at least 26,000 people and forced nearly 450,000 to flee from their homes."

Brantley, S. R., 1999, Volcanoes of the United States: U.S. Geological Survey General Interest Publication 44 p.
website with links to HTML full-text
HTML full-text

"On August 19, 1992, the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) onboard NOAA-12 and NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) onboard the Nimbus-7 satellite simultaneously detected and mapped the ash cloud from the eruption of Mt. Spurr, Alaska."

Krotkov, N. A., Torres, O., Seftor, C. J., Krueger, A. J., Kostinski, A., Rose, W. I., Bluth, G. J. S., Schneider, D., and Schaefer, S. J., 1999, Comparison of TOMS and AVHRR volcanic ash retrievals from the August 1992 eruption of Mt. Spurr: Geophysical Research Letters, v. 26, p. 455-458.

Alaska Volcano Observatory, 1999, January-April 1999: Alaska Volcano Observatory Bimonthly Report, v. 11, n. 1 and 2, 30 p.
Part 1 PDF : 385 KB
Part 2 PDF : 870 KB
Part 3 PDF : 1 MB

Alaska Volcano Observatory, 1999, May-August 1999: Alaska Volcano Observatory Bimonthly Report, v. 11, n. 3 and 4, 39 p.
Part 1 PDF : 399 KB
Part 2 PDF : 831 KB
Part 3 PDF : 736 KB
Part 4 PDF : 41 KB
Part 5 PDF : 91 KB

Alaska Volcano Observatory, 1999, September-December 1999: Alaska Volcano Observatory Bimonthly Report, v. 11, n. 5 and 6, 51 p.
Part 1 PDF : 425 KB
Part 2 PDF : 1.7 MB
Part 3 PDF : 549 KB

The 1992 eruption of Crater Peak, Mount Spurr, Alaska, involved three subplinian tephra-producing events of similar volume and duration. The tephra consists of two dense juvenile clast types that are identified by color, one tan and one gray, of similar chemistry, mineral assemblage, and glass composition. In two of the eruptive events, the clast types are strongly stratified with tan clasts dominating the basal two thirds of the deposits and gray clasts the upper one third.

Gardner, C. A., Cashman, K. V., and Neal, C. A., 1998, Tephra-fall deposits from the 1992 eruption of Crater Peak, Alaska: implications of clast textures for eruptive processes: Bulletin of Volcanology, v. 59, n. 8, p. 537-555.

Nye, C. J., Queen, Katherine, and McCarthy, A. M., 1998, Volcanoes of Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Information Circular IC 0038, unpaged, 1 sheet, scale 1:4,000,000, available at http://www.dggs.dnr.state.ak.us/pubs/pubs?reqtype=citation&ID=7043 .
website with links to sheets in MrSID format

Alaska hosts within its borders over 80 major volcanic centers that have erupted during Holocene time (<10,000 years). At least 29 of these volcanic centers (table 1) had historical eruptions and 12 additional volcanic centers may have had historical eruptions. Historical in Alaska generally means the period since 1760 when explorers, travelers, and inhabitants kept written records. These 41 volcanic centers have been the source for >265 eruptions reported from Alaska volcanoes.

Miller, T. P., McGimsey, R. G., Richter, D. H., Riehle, J. R., Nye, C. J., Yount, M. E., and Dumoulin, J. A., 1998, Catalog of the historically active volcanoes of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report OF 98-0582, 104 p.
website with PDF links
title page PDF : 52
intro and TOC PDF : 268 KB
eastern part - Wrangell to Ukinrek Maars PDF : 972 KB
central part - Chiginagak to Cleveland PDF : 2,463 KB
western part - Carlisle to Kiska PDF : 956 KB
references PDF : 43 KB

Alaska Volcano Observatory, 1998, January-April 1998: Alaska Volcano Observatory Bimonthly Report, v. 10, n. 1 and 2, 35 p.
Part 1 PDF : 147 KB
Part 2 : 382 KB
Part 3 PDF : 375 KB

Alaska Volcano Observatory, 1998, May-August 1998: Alaska Volcano Observatory Bimonthly Report, v. 10, n. 3 and 4, 43 p.
Part 1PDF : 847 KB
Part 2 PDF : 630 KB
Part 3 PDF : 2.2 MB

Alaska Volcano Observatory, 1998, September-December 1998: Alaska Volcano Observatory Bimonthly Report, v. 10, n. 5 and 6, 51 p.
Part 1 PDF : 330 KB
Part 2 PDF : 919 KB
Part 3 PDF : 780 KB
Part 4 PDF : 276 KB
Part 5 PDF : 1.5 MB

"Few natural forces are as spectacular and threatening, or have played such a dominant role in shaping the face of the Earth, as erupting volcanoes. Volcanism has built some of the world's greatest mountain ranges, covered vast regions with lava (molten rock at the Earth's surface), and triggered explosive eruptions whose size and power are nearly impossible for us to imagine today. Fortunately, such calamitous eruptions occur infrequently. Of the 50 or so volcanoes that erupt every year, however, a few severely disrupt human activities. Between 1980 and 1990, volcanic activity killed at least 26,000 people and forced nearly 450,000 to flee from their homes."

Brantley, S. R., 1997, Volcanoes of the United States: The Earth Scientist, v. 14, n. 4, p. 3-13.
website with links to HTML chapters

Alaska Volcano Observatory, 1997, January-April 1997: Alaska Volcano Observatory Bimonthly Report, v. 9, n. 1 and 2, 51 p.
Part 1 PDF : 252 KB
Part 2 PDF : 2.8 MB
Part 3 PDF : 649 KB

Alaska Volcano Observatory, 1997, May-June 1997: Alaska Volcano Observatory Bimonthly Report, v. 9, n. 3, 23 p.
full-text PDF : 2.2 MB

Alaska Volcano Observatory, 1997, July-August 1997: Alaska Volcano Observatory Bimonthly Report, v. 9, n. 4, 31 p.
Part 1 PDF : 446 KB
Part 2 PDF : 435 KB
Part 3 PDF : 2 MB

Alaska Volcano Observatory, 1997, September-December 1997: Alaska Volcano Observatory Bimonthly Report, v. 9, n. 5 and 6, 17 p.
Part 1 PDF : 399 KB
Part 2 PDF : 531 KB

This paper is an attempt to measure our understanding of volcano/atmosphere interactions by comparing a box model of potential volcanogenic aerosol production and removal in the stratosphere with the stratospheric aerosol optical depth over the period of 1979 to 1994. Model results and observed data are in good agreement both in magnitude and removal rates for the two largest eruptions, El Chicho´n and Pinatubo. However, the peak of stratospheric optical depth occurs about nine months after the eruptions, four times longer than the model prediction, which is driven by actual SO2 measurements. For smaller eruptions, the observed stratospheric perturbation is typically much less pronounced than modeled, and the observed aerosol removal rates much slower than expected. These results indicate several limitations in our knowledge of the volcano-atmosphere reactions in the months following an eruption. Further, it is evident that much of the emitted sulfur from smaller eruptions fails to produce any stratospheric impact. This suggests a threshold whereby eruption columns that do not rise much higher than the tropopause (which decreases in height from equatorial to polar latitudes) are subject to highly efficient self-removal processes. For low latitude volcanoes during our period of study, eruption rates on the order of 50,000 m3/s (dense rock equivalent) were needed to produce a significant global perturbation in stratospheric optical depth, i.e., greater than 0.001. However, at high (.40°) latitudes, this level of stratospheric impact was produced by eruption rates an order of magnitude smaller.

Bluth, G.J.S., Rose, W.I., Sprod, I.E., and Krueger, A.J., 1997, Stratospheric loading of sulfur from explosive volcanic eruptions: The Journal of Geology, v. 106, p. 671-683.

"Dielectric data in volcanic ash at weather radar wavelenghts (centimeter range) are extremely sparse and are crucial for radar sensing of ash clouds and for imaging of volcanic terrains. This study extends previous data to include a wavelength range of 1.5-7.5 cm and volcanic ash compositions of 50-75 % silica."

Delene, D. J., Rose, W. I., and Grody, N. C., 1996, Remote sensing of volcanic ash clouds using special sensor microwave imager data: Journal of Geophysical Research, B, Solid Earth and Planets, v. 101, n. 5, p. 11,579-111,588.

"Alaska spans 4,800 km of the seismically active boundary between the oceanic Pacific and continental North American plates (fig. 1) and has one of the world's highest levels of earthquake activity associated with subduction and volcanism. The historical record indicates that approximately 11 percent of the world's earthquakes occur in Alaska, even though the land area of Alaska is only about three-tenths of 1 percent of the surface area of the world (Davies, 1984). Magnitude 7 and larger shocks are about three times more frequent in southern Alaska than in California (Page, 1994). Three of the ten largest earthquakes in the world in this century originated in Alaska on the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates (Kanamori, 1977; Johnson and others, 1994)."

Fogleman, K. A., Rowe, C. A., and Hammond, W. R., 1996, Alaska earthquakes, 1994: in Moore, T. E. and Dumoulin, J. A., (eds.), Geologic studies in Alaska by the U.S. Geological Survey, 1994, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin B 2152, p. 59-79.
full-text PDF : 622 KB

"Alaska is home to more than 40 active volcanoes, many of which have erupted violently and repeatedly in the last 200 years. This compact disc (CD-ROM) contains 97 digital images created from 35-mm slides scanned by a Kodak PIW film scanner. These pictures are but a small fraction of thousands taken by Alaska Volcano Observatory scientists, other researchers,and private citizens. Photographs were selected for inclusion in this collection to portray Alaska's volcanoes, to document recent eruptive activity, and to illustrate the range of volcanic phenomena observed in Alaska."

Neal, Christina, and McGimsey, Robert, 1996, Volcanoes of the Wrangell Mountains and Cook Inlet Region, Alaska-selected photographs: U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS 0039, 1 CD-ROM.
website with links to HTML album, PDF, and individual images in a variety of formats
web browser photo album
print-resolution PDF : 21.2 MB
screen-resolution PDF : 1.8 MB
directory to slideshow pdf file
directory of small screen images (jpg)
directory of large screen images (jpg)
directory to full-resolution images (PCD format)

During 1993, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) responded to episodes of eruptive activity or false alarms at nine volcanic centers in the state of Alaska. Additionally, as part of a formal role in KVERT (the Kamchatkan Volcano Eruption Response Team), AVO staff also responded to eruptions on the Kamchatka Peninsula, details of which are summarized in Miller and Kirianov (1993). In 1993, AVO maintained seismic instrumentation networks on four volcanoes of the Cook Inlet region--Spurr, Redoubt, Iliamna, and Augustine--and two stations at Dutton Volcano near King Cove on the Alaska Peninsula. Other routine elements of AVO's volcano monitoring program in Alaska include periodic airborne measurement of volcanic SO2 and CO2 at Cook Inlet volcanoes (Doukas, 1995) and maintenance of a lightning detection system in Cook Inlet (Paskievitch and others, 1995).

Neal, C. A., McGimsey, R. G., and Doukas, M. P., 1996, 1993 volcanic activity in Alaska: summary of events and response of the Alaska Volcano Observatory: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report OF 96-0024, 21 p.
website with PDF and HTML links
full-text PDF : 1149 KB
HTML full-text

"The Crater Peak vent of Mount Spurr volcano, located 125 km west of Anchorage (figs. 1, 2) and last active in 1953 (Juehle and Coulter, 1955; Wilcox, 1959), erupted three times in 1992 following 10 months of heightened seismicity. The first eruption occurred on June 27, 1992, and was followed by similar events on August 18 and September 16-17, 1992. This paper provides an overview of these eruptions and the Alaska Volcano Observatory's response to them."

Keith, T. E. C., (ed.), 1995, The 1992 eruptions of Crater Peak Vent, Mount Spurr volcano, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin B 2139, 220 p.
full-text PDF : 9 MB

"Recent eruptions of volcanoes in the Cook Inlet region of south-central Alaska provide insight into the environmental and economic consequences of hydrologic processes associated with volcanic activity."

Dorava, J. M., and Waythomas, C. F., 1995, Hydrologic hazards at recently active volcanoes in the Cook Inlet Region, Alaska: in Herrman, R., (ed.), Annual summer symposium -- 1995, Water resources and environmental hazards: emphasis on hydrologic and cultural insight in the Pacific Rim, Honolulu, HI, American Water Resources Association, p. 91-98.

"Crater Peak at Mount Spurr volcano, Alaska (fig. I), erupted three times in 1992: June 27, August 18, and September 16-17. These eruptions, each lasting 3 to 4 hours, were the first activity since a single eruption on 9 July 1953 (Juhle and Coulter, 1955). During each of the 1992 eruptions, hot pyroclasts turbulently interacted with snowpack to form mixed snowpyroclast flows."

Waitt, R. B., 1995, Hybrid wet flows formed by hot pyroclasts interacting with snow during the 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. 107-118.
full-text PDF : 948 KB

"Lahars often present the most serious of all volcanic risks in populated areas. The hazard these flows of sediment and water represent depends on their character. Lahars can range from Newtonian, sedimentladen streamflow to non-Newtonian debris flow and can change as they move downstream. The character of the flows depends on initiating mechanisms, nature of the material incorporated in the flow, water content, and changing channel and valley geometries. Although numerous lahars have been documented, especially since the devastating eruptions of Mount St. Helens, Washington, and Nevado del Ruiz, Columbia (see Janda and others, 1981; Pierson and others, 1990; Scott, 1988; 1989), documentation of the range of factors that produce lahars remains incomplete."

Meyer, D. F., and Trabant, D. C., 1995, Lahars from the 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. 183-198.
full-text PDF : 842 KB

"Crater Peak, a 2,309-m-high satellite cone on the south flank of the Mount Spurr volcanic center 125 km west of Anchorage erupted on June 27, August 18, and the night of September 16-17, 1992 (see Eichelberger and others, this volume) after 39 years of quiescence. The three eruptions were similar in that they each produced vulcanian to subplinian eruption columns as high as 18 km above sea level, formed extensive bomb fields, lasted 3 to 4 hours, erupted pyroclastic material only, had ejecta bulk volumes of 44 to 56 x 106 m3 each (see Eichelberger and others, this volume), and were of andesitic composition."

Miller, T. P., Neal, C. A., and Waitt, R. B., 1995, Pyroclastic flows of the 1992 Crater Peak eruptions: distribution and origin: 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. 81-87.
full-text PDF : 509 KB

"After 39 years of quiescence, the Crater Peak vent on the south flank of Mount Spurr volcano reawakened with a series of three short lived but violent eruptions of andesitic tephra on June 27, August 18, and September 16-17 of 1992 (Eichelberger and others, this volume; Alaska Volcano Observatory, 1993). Each eruption lasted 3.5 to 4.0 hours and generated vulcanian to subplinian eruption columns that reached altitudes of more than 14 km above sea level (ASL). Carried downwind, these tephra plumes resulted in narrowly distributed fall deposits composed principally of poorly vesiculated, crystal-rich juvenile andesite that ranged in size from coarse bombs to fine ash. Plumes from the three eruptions extended north, northeast, and east away from the volcano. Two of the three 1992 events deposited significant amounts of fallout tephra onto the most heavily populated areas of south-central Alaska (fig. 1A)."

Neal, C. A., McGimsey, R. G., Gardner, C. A., Harbin, M. L., and Nye, C. J., 1995, Tephra-fall deposits from the 1992 eruptions of Crater Peak, Mount Spurr volcano, Alaska: a preliminary report on distribution, stratigraphy, and composition: 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. 65-79.
full-text PDF : 579 KB

"The USGS Volcano Hazards Program supports airborne ultraviolet correlation spectrometer (COSPEC) and infrared spectrometer (MIRAN) flights to monitor sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide gas emissions from convergent-plate volcanoes. These methods have been successfully applied to explosive eruptions at Mount St. Helens in the Cascade volcanic system (Casadevall and others, 1981, 1983; Harris and others, 1981; McGee, 1992) and at Redoubt Volcano in the Cook Inlet part of the Aleutian volcano chain (Casadevall and others, 1994)."

Doukas, M. P., and Gerlach, T. M., 1995, Sulfur dioxide scrubbing during the 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. 47-57.
full-text PDF : 420 KB

"The Crater Peak vent of Mount Spurr volcano, located 125 km west of Anchorage (figs. 1, 2) and last active in 1953 (Juehle and Coulter, 1955; Wilcox, 1959), erupted three times in 1992 following 10 months of heightened seismicity. The first eruption occurred on June 27, 1992, and was followed by similar events on August 18 and September 16-17, 1992. This paper provides an overview of these eruptions and the Alaska Volcano Observatory's response to them."

Eichelberger, J. C., Keith, T. E. C., Miller, T. P., and Nye, C. J., 1995, The 1992 eruptions of Crater Peak Vent, Mount Spurr volcano, Alaska: chronology and summary: 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. 1-18.
full-text PDF : 560 KB

"Mount Spurr, Alaska, located approximately 125 km west of Anchorage, is the northernmost historically active volcanic center of the eastern Aleutian arc. Prehistoric Mount Spurr was an andesitic stratovolcano that underwent avalanche caldera formation approximately 10,000 years ago (Nye and Turner, 1990). Following subsequent ash flows, a dacite dome was emplaced in the caldera and now forms the summit of Mount Spurr. Crater Peak, a flank vent, was built in the breach of the southern caldera rim and has been the site of historic volcanism, including the eruptions in 1953 and 1992."

Harbin, M. L., Swanson, S. E., Nye, C. J., and Miller, T. P., 1995, Preliminary petrology and chemistry of proximal eruptive products: 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. 139-148.
full-text PDF : 299 KB

"A nearly circular lake, approximately 100 m long, developed in the bottom of the satellitic Crater Peak vent on the south flank of Mount Spurr at an unknown time following the eruption of July 9, 1953. Air photos taken in September 1952 show ice filling the crater (Motyka and Nye, 1993) 10 months prior to its first known historical eruption. Careful study of tephras from Mount Spurr volcano show that the Crater Peak vent has erupted 35 times in the past 6,000 years, including 15 times within the past 500 years (Riehle, 1985)."

Keith, T. E. C., Thompson, J. M., and McGimsey, R. G., 1995, Chemistry of Crater Lake waters prior to the 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. 59-63.
full-text PDF : 130 KB

"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

"Mount Spurr volcano, 125 km west of Anchorage, is the next-to-last Holocene volcano at the northeastern end of the Aleutian arc. It is about 100 km above the Benioff zone and 500 km from the trench in a direction parallel to the movement between the Pacific and North American plates. The region surrounding Mount Spurr is underlain by a Jurassic to mid-Tertiary granitic batholith, which intrudes Paleozoic to Mesozoic limestone, basalt, and flysch of generally low metamorphic grade (Wilson and others, 1985)."

Nye, C. J., Harbin, M. L., Miller, T. P., Swanson, S. E., and Neal, C. A., 1995, Whole-rock major- and trace-element chemistry of 1992 ejecta from 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. 119-128.
full-text PDF : 503 KB

"During the summer of 1992, Crater Peak erupted three times-on June 27, August 18, and September 16-17. Each of the eruptions lasted 3.5 to 4 hours and produced large tephra plumes, which drifted downwind across large parts of Alaska (Neal and others, this volume). Rudimentary seismic monitoring of Mount Spurr volcano began in 1971, and since 1989 the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) has operated a 6- to 10- station seismic array (herein referred to as the Spurr network) centered on the volcano. The reawakening of Crater Peak was preceded by roughly 10 months of elevated earthquake activity that spanned the caldera and extended to depths of 40 km."

Power, J. A., Jolly, A. D., Page, R. A., and McNutt, S. R., 1995, Seismicity and forecasting of the 1992 eruptions of Crater Peak Vent, Mount Spurr volcano, Alaska: an overview: 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. 149-159.
full-text PDF : 322 KB

"Volcanic ash is a common component of eruptions of andesitic magmas. The ash can be hazardous, especially to aircraft and other air-filtering cultural activities (Swanson and Kienle, 1988; Casadevall, 1992). Volcanic ash is fine-grained material that enters the air during an eruption. Ash may be injected into the atmosphere directly as part of the explosive phase of the eruption or as an elutriating cloud from advancing pyroclastic flows or avalanches. Materials in the ash are typically glass (quenched melt) as well as mineral and rock fragments. The mineral and rock fragments may be juvenile magmatic material or part of the vent fill, crater, or conduit walls that were entrained during eruption."

Swanson, S. E., Harbin, M. L., and Riehle, J. R., 1995, Use of volcanic glass from ash as a monitoring tool: an example from the 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. 129-137.
full-text PDF : 233 KB

"Crater Peak vent at Mount Spurr volcano ejected large ballistic blocks and bombs during all three eruptions of 1992. Ballistics flew north during the June 27 eruption, east-southeast during the August 18 eruption, and east during the September 16-17 eruption. The bombfield of the August eruption, which is scattered over an area of at least 12 square kilometers and extends more than 8 km east-southeast of the vent (figs. 1, 2, 3), is the most extensive and accessible bombfield of the 1992 eruptions."

Waitt, R. B., Mastin, L. G., and Miller, T. P., 1995, Ballistic showers during Crater Peak eruptions of Mount Spurr volcano, Summer 1992: 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. 89-106.
full-text PDF : 757 KB

"Since 1986, three volcanoes (Augustine, Redoubt, and Mount Spurr) have erupted in the Cook Inlet area of Alaska (fig. 1). Each of the eruptions has had a considerable impact on commercial aviation in southcentral Alaska, particularly in Anchorage. Consequently, the National Weather Service (NWS) has significantly improved its capability of measuring and tracking ash clouds, in order to advise the aviation community about how to avoid ash clouds, which can be hazardous to jet aircraft. This report summarizes and interprets radar observations of ash clouds, made in real time during the 1992 Crater Peak eruptions, by a leased WR100-2 EEC meteorological C-band radar operated at Kenai, Alaska, opposite the volcanoes (fig. 1)."

Rose, W. I., Kostinski, Alexander, and Kelley, Lee, 1995, Real-time C-band radar observations of 1992 eruption clouds from 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. 19-26.
full-text PDF : 210 KB

"Since 1986, three volcanoes (Augustine Volcano, Redoubt Volcano, and Mount Spurr) have erupted in the Cook Inlet area of Alaska. Each of these eruptions has had a significant impact on commercial aviation at Anchorage. The National Weather Service has greatly improved its capability to measure and track ash clouds in order to better advise the aviation community about the location of hazardous ash clouds. Two significant improvements, which were made following the Redoubt activity in 1989-90, were the installation of a High Resolution Picture Transmission (HRPT) Information Processing System (HIPS) workstation for rapid digital-image processing of Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data from polar-orbiting weather satellites, and the leasing of a meteorological C-band radar."

Schneider, D. J., Rose, W. I., and Kelley, Lee, 1995, Tracking of 1992 eruption clouds from Crater Peak vent of Mount Spurr Volcano, Alaska, using AVHRR: 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. 27-36.
full-text PDF : 702 KB

"Mount Spurr, Alaska (61°30'N, 152O25'W) had been inactive since 1953 but during the Summer of 1992 erupted violently three times and sent large amounts of ash and gas into the atmosphere. Because of prevailing meteorological conditions, each eruption cloud followed unique dispersal paths. The SO2 produced by these three eruptions was observed by the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS), on board NASA's Nimbus-7 satellite. We used the TOMS data to analyze the eruption clouds for their SO2 contents, areal extents, and dispersion patterns."

Bluth, G. J. S., Scott, C. J., Sprod, I. E., Schnetzler, C. C., Krueger, A. J., and Walter, L. S., 1995, Explosive emissions of sulfur dioxide from the 1992 Crater Peak eruptions, 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. 37-45.
full-text PDF : 328 KB

"Recent eruptions at Redoubt Volcano in Alaska and Pinatubo Volcano in the Philippines provided pilots, aircraft operations personnel, meteorologists, and volcanologists considerable experience in reacting to the presence of volcanic ash clouds and the resulting effects of ash on aviation safety (Casadevall, 1992; 1994a). The 1989-90 eruptions of Redoubt Volcano produced ash clouds which damaged five jet airliners (Casadevall, 1994b). The June 1991 eruptions of Pinatubo produced large ash clouds that were involved in at least 16 damaging encounters with jet airliners (Casadevall and Delos Reyes, 199 1)."

Casadevall, T. J., and Krohn, M. D., 1995, Effects of the 1992 Crater Peak eruptions on airports and aviation operations in the United States and Canada: 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. 205-220.
full-text PDF : 607 KB

"This Report of Investigations catalogs geologic field and laboratory data accumulated during Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) studies of middle to late Quatemary sediments in the Cook Inlet region and presents initial interpretations of these data."

Reger, R. D., Pinney, D. S., Burke, R. M., and Wiltse, M. A., 1995, Catalog and initial analyses of geologic data related to middle and late Quaternary deposits, Cook Inlet region, Alaska: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Report of Investigations RI 95-06, 188 p., 6 sheets, scale 1:250,000.
website with links to PDF and MrSID files

Volcanic ash layers preserved in glacial-lacustrine sediments at Skilak Lake on the Kenai Peninsula of southcentral Alaska constitute a record of eruptions at Redoubt Volcano and other Alaskan volcanoes which affected the upper Cook Inlet area during the last 500 years. High-resolution magnetic susceptibility profiling delineates similar sequences of tephra layers in several 1-m-long lake sediment cores. Electron microprobe analyses of glass shards from the tephras indicate correlation of some ash layers with known reference tephras from the source volcanoes, while other ash layers record previously unknown prehistoric eruptions. Skilak Lake cores contain ash from the historic 1912 Katmai eruption, the 1902 Redoubt eruption, and the 1883 Mount St. Augustine eruption as well as prehistoric ash layers erupted from Crater Peak at Mr. Spurr ca. 250-350 years ago, from Redoubt Volcano at ca. 300-400 years ago and again at ca. 350-450 years ago, and a 500-year-old ash from Mount St. Augustine.

Beget, J. E., Stihler, S. D., and Stone, D. B., 1994, A 500-year-long record of tephra falls from Redoubt volcano and other volcanoes in upper Cook Inlet, Alaska: in Miller, T. P. and Chouet, B. A., (eds.), The 1989-1990 eruptions of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v. 62, n. 1-4, p. 55-67.

"This paper gives a brief description of aircraft-ash incidents over Cook Inlet between 1953 and 1986, before the near-fatal encounter of a Boeing 747-400 jet with a Redoubt ash plume on 15 December 1989."

Kienle, Juergen, 1994, Volcanic ash-aircraft incidents in Alaska prior to the Redoubt eruption on 15 December 1989: in Casadevall, T. J., (ed.), Volcanic ash and aviation safety: proceedings of the first international symposium on volcanic ash and aviation safety, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin B 2047, p. 119-123.
full-text PDF : 182 KB

"Volcanic ash is a widespread product of eruptions of volcanoes that are located around rim of the Pacific Ocean. Ash is formed by explosive fragmentation and quenching of magma (crystals +melt + gas) during an eruption. Melt in the magma is quenched to a glass when the temperature is rapidly lowered upon exposure to atmospheric conditions. The explosive character of these volcanoes is caused by the silica-rich melt, which often contains dissolved volatile components, such as H20 or SO2. Crystallization of mineral phases (e.g., plagioclase, pyroxene, hornblende, Fe-Ti oxides, etc.) gradually enriches non-crystallizing components in the melt."

Swanson, S. E., and Beget, J. E., 1994, Melting properties of volcanic ash: in Casadevall, T. J., (ed.), Volcanic ash and aviation safety: proceedings of the First international symposium on Volcanic ash and aviation safety, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin B 2047, p. 87-92.
full-text PDF : 210 KB

"Quaternary Aleutian volcanism extends for over 2,500 km, from Buldir Island on the west to Mount Hayes on the east (fig. 1). This belt of volcanic activity lies immediately north of the Aleutian trench, a convergent boundary between the North American and Pacific lithospheric plates."

Motyka, R. J., Liss, S. A., Nye, C. J., and Moorman, M. A., 1993, Geothermal resources of the Aleutian Arc: Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys Professional Report PR 0114, 17 p., 4 sheets, scale 1:1,000,000.
website with links to PDF and MrSID files

Volcanic ash consists of finely fragmented particles of rock, minerals, and aerosol droplets generally less than 2 millimeters in diameter (less than 0.063 mm diameter for fine ash) produced by explosive volcanic eruptions. Volcanic ash injected into the atmosphere to altitudes exceeding 30km (100,000 ft) may impact areas for hundreds to thousands of kilometers downwind from the volcano.

Casadevall, T. J., 1993, Volcanic ash and airports: discussion and recommendations from the workshop on impacts of volcanic ash on airport facilities: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report OF 93-0518, 52 p.
full-text PDF : 8.07 MB

"Such explosive eruptions have occurred somewhere on Earth about 10 times per year during the past decade (McClelland and others, 1989). Many of these explosive volcanoes occur around the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and have a direct impact on air routes around the Pacific basic (Figure 2, see page 15)."

Casadevall, T. J., 1992, Volcanic hazards and aviation safety: lessons of the past decade: Federal Aviation Administration Aviation Safety Journal, v. 2, p. 3-11.

Neal, C., and Power, J. (compilers), 1991, Alaska Volcano Observatory summary report: January 1, 1991 - February 28, 1991: Alaska Volcano Observatory bimonthly report series, 13 p.
full-text PDF : 1.39 MB

Neal, C. (compiler), 1991, Alaska Volcano Observatory summary report: July 1, 1991 - August 31, 1991: Alaska Volcano Observatory bimonthly report series, 15 p.

Neal, C.A. (compiler), 1991, Alaska Volcano Observatory summary report: March 1, 1991 - April 30, 1991: Alaska Volcano Observatory bimonthly report series, 19 p.

Neal, C.A. (compiler), 1991, Alaska Volcano Observatory summary report: May 1, 1991 - June 30, 1991: Alaska Volcano Observatory bimonthly report series, 8 p.

Neal, C.A. (compiler), 1991, Alaska Volcano Observatory summary report: September 1, 1991 - October 31, 1991: Alaska Volcano Observatory bimonthly report series, 7 p.

Neal, C., and Power, J. (compilers), 1990, Alaska Volcano Observatory summer report: June 1, 1990 - September 30, 1990: Alaska Volcano Observatory bimonthly report series, 38 p.

Spurr volcano is a composite Quaternary cone of largely andesitic composition located on the west side of Cook Inlet about 80 miles west of Anchorage and about 40 miles from the Beluga electrical transmission line.

Turner, D.L., and Wescott. E.M. (eds.), 1986, Geothermal energy resource investigations at Mt. Spurr, Alaska: University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute Report UAG-R 308, 98 p., 5 plates, scale 1:2,860 and 1:6,250.
full-text PDF : 9.33 MB
plate 1-1 : 9.6 MB
plate 5-1 : 4.91 MB
plate 5-2 : 5.71 MB
plate 6-1 : 47.1 MB

Calc-alkaline volcanism and oceanic plate subduction are intimately linked in the eastern Aleutian arc. The volcanic arc is segmented: larger caldera-forming volcanic centers tend to be located near segment boundaries. Intrasegment volcanoes form smaller stratocones. Ten of the 22 volcanoes that make up the 540 km long volcanic front in the eastern Aleutian arc have erupted in recorded history and another six show hydrothermal activity.

Kienle, Juergen, and Swanson, S. E., 1983, Volcanism in the eastern Aleutian Arc: late Quaternary and Holocene centers, tectonic setting and petrology: Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v. 17, n. 1-4, p. 393-432.

Pewe, T. L., 1975, Quaternary geology of Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper PP 0835, 145 p., 3 sheets, scale 1:5,000,000.
full-text PDF : 7.6 MB
plate 1 PDF : 2.3 MB
table 2 PDF : 277 KB
table 3 PDF : 232 KB

"Mount Spurr - the volcanic peak which covered Anchorage with a deep ash fall in 1953 - was reported today to be issuing a cloud of smoke and steam."

Unknown, 1965, Mount Spurr spouts steam with Redoubt: Anchorage Daily Times, v. February 2, 1965, Anchorage, Alaska, p. 1, 9.

"Steam is gushing from 11,069-foot Mt. Spurr in the rugged Alaska Range, but the U.S. Geological Survey reported Tuesday it is nothing unusual."

Associated Press, 1965, Geologists say gushing not unusual: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, v. XLIII, n. 28, Fairbanks, Alaska, p. 9.

"In October 1945, the War Department (now Department of the Army) requested the Geological Survey to undertake a program of volcano investigations in the Aleutian Islands and Alaska Peninsula area. The first field studies were made during the years 1946-48. The results of the first year's field, laboratory, and library work were hastily assembled as two administrative reports, and most of these data have been revised for publication in Geological Survey Bulletin 1028. Part of the early work was published in 1950 in Bulletin 974-B, "Volcanic Activity in the Aleutian Arc," and in 1951 in Bulletin 989-A, "Geology of Buldir Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska," both by Robert R. Coats. Additionl fieldwork was done during the years 1949-54. Unpublished results of the early work and all the later studies are being incoporated as parts of Bulletin 1028. The investigations of 1946 were supported almost entirely by the Office, Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army. From 1947-55 the Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force joined to furnish financial and logistic assistance. The Geological Survey is indebted to the Office, Chief of Engineers, for its early recognition of the value of geologic studies in the Aleutian region, and to the several military departments for their support."

Wilcox, R. E., 1959, Some effects of recent volcanic ash falls with special reference to Alaska: in Investigations of Alaskan volcanoes, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin B 1028-N, p. 409-476, 5 sheets, scale unknown.
full-text PDF : 1.5 MB
plate 54 PDF : 76 KB
plate 55 PDF : 194 KB
plate 56 PDF : 234 KB
plate 57 PDF : 177 KB
plate 58 PDF : 140 KB

"The Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands form one of the conspicuously arcuate lines of volcanoes that border the Pacific Ocean. The name Aleutian Range is applied to this 1,600 mile long, narrow belt of peaks reaching from Mount Spurr opposite Anchorage to the island of Attu, close to the continent of Asia."

Powers, H. A., 1958, Alaska Peninsula-Aleutian Islands: in Williams, H., (ed.), Landscapes of Alaska, Los Angeles, CA, University of California Press, p. 61-75.

"Observation of the volcanoes of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, while still incomplete, is more comprehensive than in previous history because of the continuing volume of air travel in the region."

Powers, H. A., 1954, Activity of Alaskan volcanoes, 1949-1953 [abs.]: in Pacific Science Congress, 8, Proceedings, Philippines, 1953, p. 12-14.

"There has been but slight activity at most Aleutian volcanoes during the fall of 1953. Observations are being made by members of the Armed Forces and by Austin Jones, Seismologist of the Geophysics Branch, U.S. Geological Survey."

Powers, H. A., 1953, Current activity of Aleutian volcanoes: The Volcano Letter, v. 522, p. 6.
full-text PDF : 397 KB

Mount Spurr is the northeasternmost of a chain of many active volcanoes comprising the Aleutian volcanic arc. The explosive outbreak of Mount Spurr which took place early on July 9, 1953, was its first strong activity during the 200 years of recorded history of that area.

Wilcox, R. E., 1953, Eruption of Mount Spurr, Alaska: The Volcano Letter, v. 521, p. 8.
full-text PDF : 355 KB

Unknown, 1953, City blacked out by three volcanoes!: Anchorage Daily News, v. VI, n. 57, front page, July 9, 1953.

Unknown, 1953, City digging out: Anchorage Daily News, v. VI, n. 58, July 10, 1953.

Alaska's volcanoes seem to be slumbering again. But it is an uneasy sleep - and the possibility of another nightmare of volcanic ash and subterranean fire has not been ruled out entirely. Today scientists report that eruptions near Anchorage have global significance, being closely tied-in with weather cycles and temperatures. New volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and possible tidal waves could be in the offing, it is reported, since these are all closely related and sometimes precede or follow one another.

Unknown, 1953, Alaska eruptions causing entire earth to cool off: Anchorage Daily News v. VI, n. 59, front page, p. 12, July 11, 1953.

The city of Anchorage was still house cleaning this morning, after the deluge of volcanic dust which descended on the area Thursday from the eruption of three volcanoes. Over 170,000 gallons of water were used to hose down Merrill field, with crews working 12 to 14 hours a day Friday through Sunday. The city fire department had a 500 gallon pumper on duty at the airfield for three days, and a 4,000 gallon tanker owned by Morrison Knudson was used to hall water to the city truck and hoses.

Unknown, 1953, City still digs out of dust blanket; Scientists explore Spurr: Anchorage Daily News, v. VI, n. 60, front page, p. 12, July 14, 1953.

From a chemical standpoint at least, the volcanic ash that blew in from Mount Spurr last week is no different than the ordinary variety of road dust. According to an analysis by the Alaska Agriculture Experiment Station, the volcanic dust that covered Anchorage ahs approximately the same chemical makeup of the dust that has always filtered onto the streets of Anchorage. I. M. C. Anderson, Alaska representative of the Farmers Home Administration, said this morning that volcanic dust in itself wouldn't present a more serious danger to crops or other vegetation than common earth dust.

Unknown, 1953, Spurr eruption creates lake: Anchorage Daily News, v. VI, n. 61, July 14, 1953.

Glaciers in the vicinity of erupting Mount Spurr took on a new color today as volcanic ash spilled over and covered the rivers of ice and snow. Tom Wardleigh, Fish and Wildlife Service pilot who flew within 15 or 20 miles of the exploding peak this morning said the edges of the snow were buff and tan colored. "Closer to the center of the explosion, the snow was completely covered, very dark," he said. His story continued: "We took off in the Grumman Goose from Lake Hood at 9:25 a.m. and were in the air an hour and 25 minutes. "It was a calm flight. We flew over Caps Glacier and to the head of Triumvirate Glacier.

Unknown, 1953, 3 volcanoes blow tops, city blanketed with ash: Anchorage Daily Times, p. 1, 4, July 9, 1953.

A ghost-like appearance draped Elmendorf Air Force Base yesterday afternoon - and it caused an eerie feeling of absolute quiet and inactivity. The reason was the dispersal of "all flyable aircraft" to other bases in interior Alaska not affected by nature's awesome volcanic blanket of smoke and ash. At 12:30 p.m., a half hour before Anchorage itself was cloaked in complete darkness, the Air Force had pulled off a strategic evacuation of its military aircraft - most of them to Ladd and Eielson fields at Fairbanks. The dispersal took little more than an hour and every pilot, crew chief and aircraft operator was alerted to take part in the mass project. It was a race against time, and man won out.

Unknown, 1953, City survives eruption but Spurr acts up again: Anchorage Daily Times, p. 1, 13, 20, July 10, 1953.

The small fishing village of Tyonek, nearest settlement to erupted Mount Spurr, felt little more than the sudden outburst than did the city of Anchorage. The area was blacked out for about three hours and ash blanketed the area, but there were no casualties. Reports that molten lava was in the community and that chunks of ash or rock bombarded were untrue. The villagers sat by their radios during the outburst - listening to Anchorage newscasts - and hoping that the darkness would lift before fishing time yesterday. Similar reports have been received from fishing camps along Cook Inlet waters throughout the area.

Unknown, 1953, Mount Trident stirring: Anchorage Daily Times v. July 11, 1953, p. 1, 12.

Mount Spurr erupted again shortly before noon today in another furious upheaval from an active crater blown open in lat Thursday's initial eruption. Ward Gay, veteran Alaska bush pilot from Anchorage, was flying when the new eruption took place. He reported a new cloud of smoke and ash reaching 10,000 feet in the air three minutes after the new explosion.

Unknown, 1953, Mount Spurr erupts again: Anchorage Daily Times, July 13, 1953, p. 1.

Two newly-active volcanoes less than two hours flight time from Anchorage rumbled and exploded in unison yesterday, continuing to provide the unusual activity experts predicted would take place in the Alaskan summer on 1953. Mount Trident, 380 miles southwest of here and comparatively quiet since a February eruption, uncorked lava and pumice from a steaming fissure on its side and covered the Katmai National Monument area with a dense cloud of smoke and debris.

Unknown, 1953, Eruptions blanket area: Anchorage Daily Times, July 14, 1953, p. 1, 4.

Volcanic craters near Anchorage settled back to normalcy today, apparently spent from the energy they released in a rampage of intermittent eruptions since last Thursday. Intensity of last week's exhibition by Mount Spurr, the 11,969-foot troublemaker 7 miles west of here, was proved today in an Associated Press dispatch from Chicago. It reported that dust from recent volcanic eruptions in Alaska has been sighted in the higher air elevations over the Great Lakes, Ohio and Pennsylvania. However, C. B. Johnson, a U.S. Weather Bureau forecaster in Chicago, said most reports say the amounts are light and are expected to have no effect on weather across the nation.

Unknown, 1953, Volcanoes take rest; ashes seen in states: Anchorage Daily Times, July 15, 1953, p. 1, 8.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska, July 9 (AP) - Three, an possibly four, volcanoes "blew their tops" across Cook Inlet today and in mid-afternoon Anchorage was in pitch darkness, with fine ash powder sifting down over it. The peaks were identified by the Air Force as Mount Spurr, 11,050 feet high, seventy-eight miles west of Anchorage; Mount Torbert, a 10,6000-foot summit ten miles west of Mount Spurr, and an unidentified peak 4,500 feet high, four miles to the northwest of Mount Spurr.

Associated Press, 1953, Anchorage is darkened by ash of 3 volcanoes: The New York Times, July 10, 1953, section L, p. 21.

Anchorage may have an active volcano developing right in its backyard, according to observations made by two well known Northern Consolidated Airlines pilots. Lofty Mt. Spurr, which can be seen across the inlet, 74 miles west of here and just to the left of Mt. Susitna, was spouting plumes of white "smoke under pressure." Although the 11,969 foot peak has been listed as "a possible" active peak, veteran pilots in this area have never before seen any evidences of activity.

Unknown, 1953, Anchorage may have volcano eruption in own back yard: Fairbanks News-Miner, May 21, 1953, p. 9.

The chief geologist in charge of the Aleutian volcanoes investigation said yesterday that last week's Mount Spurr eruption "was not necessarily the larges sine Mount Katmai." Ray E. Wilcox, leader of the U.S. Geological Survey's Alaska investigations, told a press conference that the Mount Trident activity since last February was larger in scope than Thursday's eruption which covered the local area.

Unknown, 1953, Wilcox says Trident outrivals Spurr for violence: Anchorage Daily News, July 16, 1953, p. 1.

Capps, S. R., 1929, The Mount Spurr region, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin B 0810-C, p. 141-172, 2 plates, scale 1:250,000.
full-text PDF : 1.6 MB
plate 3 PDF : 324 KB

"The borders of the Pacific Ocean are studded with volcanoes and the products of volcanic activity. The volcanoes are arranged in crudely arc-shaped groups, and most of the arcs are conves toward the ocean. In addition to the bordering arcs, the Pacific contains many individual volcanic islands and a few non-arcuate groups of volcanic islands, like the Hawaiian Islands. The curving chain of volcanoes from Kiska Island near the western end of the Aleutian Islands to Mt. Spurr on the mainland constitutes one of the Pacific volcanic arcs. This report is concerned with the past activity of the volcanoes of this arc, herein called the Aleutian arc."

Coats, R. R., Past volcanic activity in the Aleutian arc: U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Investigations Report 1, 18 p.
full-text PDF : 22.3 MB

Kienle, Juergen (comp.), Volcano observations: Notes about volcanoes and volcanic eruptions collected, made, and stored by Juergen Kienle, on file at University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute, unpublished, unpaged.