University of Alaska

"The long term payoff is in education and international connections as much as science. We try to give students the maximum possible opportunity to experience different and challenging physical environments and different styles of doing science. By placing an emphasis on exchange of information and personnel in the North Pacific, we hope to re-establish direct connections that were made impossible by conditions during the last half of the 20th century and which were, when they existed, essentially re-routed the long way around the globe. This is an exciting place to do volcanology because there is a strong aspect of exploration and discovery, because there is a high level of volcanic activity, and because we are at a historic moment of reconnection."
-Dr. John Eichelberger

Volcanology at UAF
Why study volcanoes at the University of Alaska Fairbanks? Here are only a few reasons...

1. Ten faculty members who are fully committed to all aspects of volcanology in the North Pacific, and several more who actively collaborate and contribute to ongoing volcanologic studies.

2. Twenty very active volcanology graduate students who are currently researching aspects of volcanic phenomena in the fields of: Igneous Petrology, Geochemistry, GPS, Seismology, Remote Sensing, Physical Volcanology, and Experimental Petrology.

3. State of the art laboratories for microbeam analysis, experimental petrology, seismology, satellite remote sensing, and deformation studies.

4. Participation with the Alaska Volcano Observatory and other international research institutions provides students with direct experience with both science-driven and hazards-driven studies directly in the public interest worldwide.

5. An incredible abundance of active and/or recently active (red dots) volcanic phenomena available for M.S., Ph.D., and Post-Doctoral research. [Link to AVO interactive map atlas of North Pacific]

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Volcanology Field Work

Graduate student Graham Hill checks the status of the many solar panels required to power the geophysical instruments used in his recent survey at Katmai National Park	Graduate student Tanja Petersen works with Ben Pauk, Guy Tytgat, and Dr. Jackie Caplan-Auerbach of AVO to install one of 8 new seismic stations at Okmok volcano.	Graduate student Pete Stelling carefully collects samples for one of his research studies at Akutan Volcano
Graduate students Brandon Browne and Rob Nicholoson describes the volcanic stratigraphy from the 1931 eruption at Aniakchak volcano.	Graduate student Sigrun Hreinsdøttir captures on film one of the most beautiful and dangerous aspects of field work in Alaska on the west side of Iliamna volcano.	The Great Escape. . . graduate student Leslie Almberg manages a smile half way through the arduous trek out of Okmok caldera
Drs. Jim Beget (left) and Dave Lesinsky (right, University of Western Ontario) at base camp, with Cone A steaming in the background inside Okmok caldera.	Graduate student Graham Hill installing a GPS network on Amchitka Island as part of a recent study of plate motion at this former nuclear testing site	Graduate student Tanja Petersen installing one of four seismic stations on Wrangell volcano.
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Volcanology Field Trips Katmai National Park (Alaskan Peninsula):
The Valley of 10,000 Smoke during the Annual backpacking field trip to Katmai National Park for new volcanology graduate students led by Dr. John Eichelberger with Griggs volcano in the background.	Dr. Eichelberger explains his theory of magma emplacement and eruption from Novarupta (background) during the Great Eruption of 1912. Approximately 12-15 km3 of magma was vented during the 1912 eruption producing about 35 km3 of tephra.	Hikers experience the 1912 pyroclastic flow deposit, which is thought to be up to 250 meters thick. ~12 km3 of ash flow tuff traveled 20 km northwest covering an area of about 120 km2 in what was subsequently named the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes by R.F. Griggs in 1922.
Hikers walk through Katmai Pass, with Mageik volcano standing ominously in the background. More than 7 volcanoes in the "Katmai Cluster" have erupted in Holocene time, including Mageik.	Hikers on their climb of Trident and New Trident volcanoes. New Trident volcano was last active from 1953-1960, where it formed as a satellite vent on the SW flank of Trident. By 1960, the lava dome was 260m high and the resulting andesite and dacite lava flows, covering an area of 5 km2, were more than 300 meters thick.	Katmai National Park boasts the largest population of protected brown bears in the world. During the July salmon runs, the Brooks River is the focus of bears feeding in the park, providing visitors with unparalleled views of Alaskan brown bears.

*** Check out the latest volcanic activity in the Northern Pacific [Link]

Webmaster: [jshipman "at" gi.alaska.edu]