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Eruptions out of the office

By eklemetti on August 19, 2008.

I will be away from Eruptions for the next 2 weeks or so. I won't be on vacation, I will actually be out on volcanoes themselves doing some much-needed fieldwork. It is a three volcano tour, starting with a trip to Lassen Peak to get a guided view with Michael Clynne of the USGS (the world expert on the volcano, the last Cascade volcano to erupt other than Saint Helens).

Then follows a trip to Mt. Hood with Adam Kent from Oregon State (my doctoral alma mater) in Oregon to sample some of the youngest flows that are only a few hundred years old. Geologists from Oregon DOGAMI (Department of Geology and Mineral Industries) are still worried about the hazards posed by Hood both during and between eruptions.

Finally, I head to my personal research field site, the Devil's Hills and Rock Mesa on the southern slopes of South Sister (see above). I'm excited to go collect some new samples of lavas and tephra from these youngest rhyolites of the Oregon Cascades - they are definitely an anomaly in the Central Oregon Cascades.

Remember, if you need your fix of active volcanism, be sure to check out the Volcanism Blog.

See you all in September!

Tags
cascades
Devil's Hills
effusive eruption
explosive eruption
Hood
Lassen Peak
Rock Mesa
South Sister
Stratovolcano
united states
volcanic hazards
Volcano Research

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Eric,

I'll pray your research goes well. What happens in volcanology and seismology is far more important than what happens in all the sports events worldwide each year. You all should me making the multi-million dollar salaries rather than those that try to make balls go to various locations.

Tom D

By Thomas Donlon (not verified) on 20 Aug 2008 #permalink

Yes, but millions of people pay good money to watch people "make balls go to various locations", and millions of people pay good money to watch people pretend to be other people (movies). I don't see millions of people paying people to study rocks.

But you are right, Erik and his colleagues do have a very important job, and the next time one of our volcanoes rumbles to life, we will all need them to provide us with good information.