New perspectives on the eruption of 1912 in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, Katmai National Park, Alaska
Hildreth W. 1987. New perspectives on the eruption of 1912 in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, Katmai National Park, Alaska. Bulletin of Volcanology. 49(5):680-693
New data indicate that initial Plinian rhyolite fallout fell in a constricted downwind corridor and that the maximum thickness of this fallout might be as far as 13 km from the source. These data contrast with that from the partly contemporaneous rhyolite-rich ash flows, which were emplaced in a relatively low energy environment. The lithics produced by both events are shown to be fragments of the Jurassic Naknek Formation, which occurs from the surface down to a depth of about 1500 m; this suggests that the structure vent is about this deep and probably funnel-shaped. Layers of Plinian dacite, which range from more than 100 m thick near the source to 10 m thick 3 km away, occur atop the ash flows. The dacite is vitrophyre rich, a densely welded tuff that had filled the vent in a previous eruption only to be reejected in 1912. The 1912 vent and proximal domes are oriented parallel to the volcanic front described by nearby stratovolcanoes Martin, Mageik, Trident, and Katmai; the 1912 vent and nearby domes are 4 km in front of that line. The 1912 eruption is marked by its high-silica rhyolite (6-9 cubic kilometers DRE); this composition is rare in the area and in volcanic fronts in general.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Hildreth, Wes
- Units
- ANIA , KATM
- Keywords
- 1912, Alaska, alkaline earth metals, Analytic, Andesites, ash flows, Chronology, dacites, Eruptions, fragments, Holocene, IAR, Igneous Rocks, ignimbrite, Isotopes, Jurassic, KATM, Katmai eruption, Katmai National Park And Preserve, Katmai National Park and Preserve AK, Magma chambers, Metals, Mt. Griggs, Mt. Katmai, Mt. Mageik, Naknek Formation, Novarupta, O 16, O 18, Oxygen, plinian type eruptions, Pyroclastics, Quaternary, Rhyolites, Serial, Sr 86, Sr 87, Stable Isotopes, Stratigraphy, stratovolcanoes, Strontium, Ten Thousand Smokes, Trident Volcano, United States, Valley Of Ten Thousand Smokes, Vents, Volcanic Eruptions, volcanic features, Volcanic Rocks, Volcano, Volcanoes, Volcanology, Volcanology/Geothermal, Western U.S.