Geology topics

Research about Mount Spurr Volcano

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Mount Spurr Volcano.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2011

Renewed unrest at Mount Spurr Volcano, Alaska

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO),a cooperative program of the U.S. Geological Survey, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys, has detected unrest at Mount Spurr volcano, located about 125 km west of Anchorage, Alaska, at the northeast end of the Aleutian volcanic arc. This activity consists of increased seismicity melting of the summit ice cap, and substantial rates of C0 2 and H 2 S emission.The current unrest is centered beneath the volcano's 3374-m-high summit, whose last known eruption was 5000–6000 years ago. Since then, Crater Peak, 2309 m in elevation and 4 km to the south, has been the active vent. Recent eruptions occurred in 1953 and 1992.

Alaska↗

USGS2007

Mid-holocene sector collapse at Mount Spurr Volcano, South-Central Alaska

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^ndash;4,610 yr B.P. The sector collapse created an avalanche caldera and produced an ~1-km3-volume clay-rich debris avalanche that flowed into the glacially scoured Chakachatna River valley, where it transformed into a lahar that extended an unknown distance beyond the debris avalanche. Hydrothermal alteration, an unbuttressed south flank of the volcano, and local structure have been identified as plausible factors contributing to the instability of the edifice. The sector collapse at Mount Spurr is one of the later known large-volume (>1 km,sup>3) flank failures recognized in the Aleutian Arc and one of the few known Alaskan examples of transformation of a debris avalanche into a lahar.

Alaska↗

USGS2006

Geothermal disruption of summit glaciers at Mount Spurr Volcano, 2004-6: An unusual manifestation of volcanic unrest

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. An ice plug collapsed into the lake sometime between June 20 and July 8, 2004, forming an ice cauldron that continued to grow in diameter during 2004 and 2005. A freefall of ice and snow into the lake likely caused a mixture of water and debris to be displaced rapidly upward and outward along preexisting englacial and, possibly, subglacial pathways leading away and downslope from the summit basin. Where these pathways intersected crevasses or other weak points in the sloping icefield, the mixture debouched onto the surface, producing dark, fluid debris flows. In summer 2004, the occurrence of two sets of debris flows separated in time by as long as a week suggests two pulses of summit ice collapse, each producing a surge of water and debris from the lake. A single debris flow was also emplaced on May 2, 2005. This event, which was captured by a Web camera, occurred simultaneously with a lake-level drop of ~15 m. To the east of the ice cauldron, a spillway that fed the debris flows has apparently maintained a relatively constant lake level for months at a time. Aerial photographs show that the spillway is in the direction of a breach in the summit crater. Melting of snow and ice at the summit has continued through 2006, with a total meltwater volume of ~5.4 million m3 as of March 2006.

Alaska↗

USGS2001

Preliminary volcano-hazard assessment for Mount Spurr Volcano, Alaska

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. The distribution and thickness of volcanic-ash deposits from Mount Spurr volcano in the Cook Inlet region indicate that volcanic-ash clouds from most prehistoric eruptions were as voluminous as those produced by the 1953 and 1992 eruptions. Clouds of volcanic ash emitted from the active vent, Crater Peak, would be a major hazard to all aircraft using Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and other local airports and, depending on wind direction, could drift a considerable distance beyond the volcano. Ash fall from future eruptions could disrupt many types of economic and social activities, including oil and gas operations and shipping activities in the Cook Inlet area. Eruptions of Crater Peak could involve significant amounts of ice and snow that would lead to the formation of large lahars, formation of volcanic debris dams, and downstream flooding. The greatest hazards in order of importance are described below and shown on plate 1.

Alaska↗