Volcano Hazards Program

Distinguishing periods of intermittent unrest from the run-up to eruption is a major challenge at volcanoes around the globe. Comparing multidisciplinary monitoring data with mineral chemistry that records the physical and spatio-temporal evolution of magmas fundamentally advances our ability to forecast eruptions. The recent eruption of Mauna Loa, Earth’s largest active volcano, provides a unique

Rapid-response petrological monitoring is a major advance for volcano observatories, allowing them to build and validate models of plumbing systems that supply eruptions in near-real-time. The depth of magma storage has recently been identified as high-priority information for volcanic observatories, yet this information is not currently obtainable via petrological monitoring methods on timescales

We present 230Th-238U crystallization ages and trace element compositions for zircons spanning the late Pleistocene to Holocene rhyolite eruptive record at South Sister volcano in the central Oregon Cascade Range. Most zircon ages are between 100 and 20 ka, with very few in secular equilibrium (>350 ka). The weighted mean of zircon ages for the two oldest South Sister rhyolites, 31.5 ± 2.1 and 39.