Geology topics

Juliet G. Crider

Publications and source records attributed to Juliet G. Crider.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2026

Deformed submarine terraces in Puget Sound, Pacific Northwest, indicate only one M >~7.5 earthquake on the Seattle fault zone in the past 11,000 yr

Submerged marine terraces in Puget Sound, deformed across the Seattle fault zone (SFZ), indicate that only one earthquake as large as M~7.5 has occurred in at least the past 11 kyr. Previous paleoseismic studies document a M~7.5 earthquake between 923–4 CE, which uplifted coastal marine terraces by as much as 8 m. We demonstrate that this earthquake was the only such event since ~11 ka by mapping and quantifying deformation of older marine terraces, now submerged in Puget Sound. The submerged terraces, attributed to a late-glacial sea-level lowstand, record both glacial isostatic rebound and tectonic deformation. Vertical offset of the ~11 ka terraces within the SFZ is comparable to that of the marine terraces uplifted in 923 CE, implying no additional large (M>~7.5) earthquake on the SFZ since ~11 ka. This result implies a longer recurrence interval than current hazard estimates, which assumes recurrence of M>7.1 events every 5 kyr. Our mapping of SFZ deformation since ~11 ka also supports fault segmentation and contiguous block uplift between the Seattle and Tacoma fault zones.

Washington↗

USGS2011

Rapid, low-cost photogrammetry to monitor volcanic eruptions: An example from Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA

We describe a low-cost application of digital photogrammetry using commercially available photogrammetric software and oblique photographs taken with an off-the-shelf digital camera to create sequential digital elevation models (DEMs) of a lava dome that grew during the 2004–2008 eruption of Mount St. Helens (MSH) volcano. Renewed activity at MSH provided an opportunity to devise and test this method, because it could be validated against other observations of this well-monitored volcano. The datasets consist of oblique aerial photographs (snapshots) taken from a helicopter using a digital single-lens reflex camera. Twelve sets of overlapping digital images of the dome taken during 2004–2007 were used to produce DEMs and to calculate lava dome volumes and extrusion rates. Analyses of the digital images were carried out using photogrammetric software to produce three-dimensional coordinates of points identified in multiple photos. The evolving morphology of the dome was modeled by comparing successive DEMs. Results were validated by comparison to volume measurements derived from traditional vertical photogrammetric surveys by the US Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory. Our technique was significantly less expensive and required less time than traditional vertical photogrammetric techniques; yet, it consistently yielded volume estimates within 5% of the traditional method. This technique provides an inexpensive, rapid assessment tool for tracking lava dome growth or other topographic changes at restless volcanoes.

Washington↗

USGS2011

Magma at depth: A retrospective analysis of the 1975 unrest at Mount Baker, Washington, USA

Mount Baker volcano displayed a short interval of seismically-quiescent thermal unrest in 1975, with high emissions of magmatic gas that slowly waned during the following three decades. The area of snow-free ground in the active crater has not returned to pre-unrest levels, and fumarole gas geochemistry shows a decreasing magmatic signature over that same interval. A relative microgravity survey revealed a substantial gravity increase in the ~30 years since the unrest, while deformation measurements suggest slight deflation of the edifice between 1981-83 and 2006-07. The volcano remains seismically quiet with regard to impulsive volcano-tectonic events, but experiences shallow (<3 km) low-frequency events likely related to glacier activity, as well as deep (>10 km) long-period earthquakes. Reviewing the observations from the 1975 unrest in combination with geophysical and geochemical data collected in the decades that followed, we infer that elevated gas and thermal emissions at Mount Baker in 1975 resulted from magmatic activity beneath the volcano: either the emplacement of magma at mid-crustal levels, or opening of a conduit to a deep existing source of magmatic volatiles. Decadal-timescale, multi-parameter observations were essential to this assessment of magmatic activity.

Mount Baker Volcano↗