volcano

Monitoring volcanic activity at Mount Cleveland

Posted 8 May 2013 by Liz O'Connell

Laura Nielsen for Frontier Scientists On Saturday May 4th the Alaska Volcano Observatory detected a series of low-level explosions at Cleveland volcano. Three discrete explosions occurred at 5:00 am, 9:17 am, and 11:44 am Saturday, while subsequent less powerful rumbles on Sunday denoted an ongoing low-level eruption. The sequence of eruptions emitted ash, gas, and steam into local airspace. Cleveland is a 5,676 foot tall conical stratovolcano, a restless volcano prone to rumbles, small explosions, and lava flows. It forms... Read more

Posted in Cook Inlet Volcanoes, Weather in Alaska |

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New insights: global warming drivers in the 20th century and beyond

Posted 24 April 2013 by Liz O'Connell

Laura Nielsen for Frontier Scientists Researchers have combed through the last 2,000 years of climate records. Their assessment affirms that a persistent long-term cooling trend concluded in the late 19th century, reversed by global warming. The study was performed by members of the "2K Network" of the International Geosphere Biosphere Program (IGBP) Past Global Changes (PAGES) project, supported by both the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Swiss National Science Foundation. The international effort utilized 'proxy data' to discern temperatures... Read more

Posted in Climate Change Watch, Understanding Climate Change Through Archaeology, Weather in Alaska |

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Arctic Volcanism Helps Date Ancient Archaeological Sites

Posted 13 March 2013 by Liz O'Connell

By Liz O'Connell for Frontier Scientists “By dating ash,” said Richard Vanderhoek, “an archaeological site in Alaska, can be placed on a chronostratographic timeline.” Or in other words: the chemical makeup of the ash, matched with a volcano eruption, will provide an approximate date of the site. Archaeologists worldwide have dated ancient sites for the last half century in this manner. Vanderhoek wants to consider not just the timing of the catastrophic event, but the ecological and cultural impacts on... Read more

Posted in Arctic Archaeology, Cook Inlet Volcanoes, General, Understanding Climate Change Through Archaeology |

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Journey into the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes

Posted 17 July 2012 by Liz O'Connell

by Ned Rozell One hundred years after the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes is still a moonscape of ash and volcanic rock, without a tree or shrub in sight. The valley, located on the Alaska Peninsula where the Aleutians hook on to mainland Alaska, is a silent reminder of the power and potential of Alaska’s volcanoes. Hikers trek the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes on the Alaska Peninsula, walking on a sheet... Read more

Posted in Cook Inlet Volcanoes |

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Eruptions and the Human Eye

Posted 1 August 2011 by Liz O'Connell

By Laura Nielsen for FrontierScientists.com At current (Aug01, 2011), the Alaska Volcano Observatory’s website status report has an advisory listed for Mount Cleveland: “A weak thermal anomaly was observed in satellite images of Cleveland over the past day… Short-lived explosions with ash clouds that could exceed 20,000 ft above sea level can occur without warning and may go undetected on satellite imagery for hours. Low-level ash emissions at Cleveland occur frequently and do not necessarily mean a larger eruption is... Read more

Posted in Cook Inlet Volcanoes |

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Alaska Volcano Observers Kick Serious Ash

Posted 25 July 2011 by Liz O'Connell

By Merry Ann Moore for FrontierScientists.com With active volcanoes as close as 80 miles from Anchorage city limits, Alaskans are grateful for the professional volcano watchers who work in a nondescript building on the campus of Alaska Pacific University, topped with a massive array of tracking and communication instruments. Photo: Game McGimsey, AVO – Ash fall in Anchorage from Spurr eruption, 1992 “The August 18, 1992 Spurr eruption, sent an ash cloud here that coated every flat surface,” remembers geologist... Read more

Posted in Cook Inlet Volcanoes |

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