Cascades Volcano Observatory

Last updated
United States Geological Survey
Cascades Volcano Observatory
Cascades Volcano Observatory on Open Day 2005 (USGS) cropped.JPG
Front of the main building of the David A. Johnston Cascades Volcano Observatory
Agency overview
Formed1980
Headquarters Vancouver, Washington, USA
Agency executive
  • Dr. Jon Major [1] , Scientist-in-Charge (USGS)
Website https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/cvo/

The David A. Johnston Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) is a volcano observatory in the US that monitors volcanoes in the northern Cascade Range. It was established in the summer of 1980, after the eruption of Mount St. Helens. [2] The observatory is named for United States Geological Survey (USGS) volcanologist David A. Johnston, who was swept away in the Mount St. Helens eruption on the morning of May 18, 1980. [3] The observatory's current territory covers Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. The Cascade Range's extent includes northern California, and Cascade volcanoes in that state, such as Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak, previously fell under the CVO's jurisdiction. However, these volcanoes now fall under the jurisdiction of the California Volcano Observatory (CalVO), formed in February 2012 and based in Menlo Park, California, which monitors and researches volcanic activity throughout California and Nevada. [4]

Contents

The Cascades Volcano Observatory is part of the USGS, a scientific agency of the United States government. [5] It is located in Vancouver, Washington in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area.

Monitored volcanoes

This list shows volcanoes currently monitored by the Cascades Volcano Observatory, which range in order of highest to lowest risk assessment.

According to USGS risk assessment of volcanoes located in the northern Cascades region, the following volcanoes were ranked "very high threat potential". [6]

The following volcanoes were ranked "high threat potential": [6]

The following volcanoes were ranked "moderate threat potential": [6]

The following volcanoes were ranked "Low to Very Low Threat Potential": [6]

There are other volcanoes in the northern Cascades region that have not been assessed one of these risk levels which warrant monitoring. Volcanoes that have not erupted during the Holocene period were not included. USGS has noted, though less probable, that it is still possible for volcanoes to erupt on longer intervals than mentioned. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount St. Helens</span> Volcano in Skamania County, Washington, U.S.

Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It lies 52 miles (83 km) northeast of Portland, Oregon, and 98 miles (158 km) south of Seattle. Mount St. Helens takes its English name from that of the British diplomat Lord St Helens, a friend of explorer George Vancouver who surveyed the area in the late 18th century. The volcano is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Bachelor</span> Dormant stratovolcano in Oregon, United States

Mount Bachelor, formerly named Bachelor Butte, is a dormant stratovolcano atop a shield volcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Cascade Range of central Oregon. Named Mount Bachelor because it stands apart from the nearby Three Sisters, it lies in the eastern segment of the central portion of the High Cascades, the eastern segment of the Cascade Range. The volcano lies at the northern end of the 15-mile (24 km) long Mount Bachelor Volcanic Chain, which underwent four major eruptive episodes during the Pleistocene and the Holocene. The United States Geological Survey considers Mount Bachelor a moderate threat, but Bachelor poses little threat of becoming an active volcano in the near future. It remains unclear whether the volcano is extinct or just inactive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lassen Volcanic National Park</span> National park in California, United States

Lassen Volcanic National Park is an American national park in northeastern California. The dominant feature of the park is Lassen Peak, the largest plug dome volcano in the world and the southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range. Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the few areas in the world where all four types of volcano can be found—plug dome, shield, cinder cone, and stratovolcano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lassen Peak</span> Active volcano in California, United States

Lassen Peak, commonly referred to as Mount Lassen, is a lava dome volcano and the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range of the Western United States. Located in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California, it is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, which stretches from southwestern British Columbia to northern California. Lassen Peak reaches an elevation of 10,457 ft (3,187 m), standing above the northern Sacramento Valley. It supports many flora and fauna among its diverse habitats, which are subject to frequent snowfall and reach high elevations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newberry Volcano</span> Shield volcano in Oregon, United States

Newberry Volcano is a large active shield-shaped stratovolcano located about 20 miles (32 km) south of Bend, Oregon, United States, 35 miles (56 km) east of the major crest of the Cascade Range, within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. Its highest point is Paulina Peak. The largest volcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, Newberry has an area of 1,200 square miles (3,100 km2) when its lava flows are taken into account. From north to south, the volcano has a length of 75 miles (121 km), with a width of 27 miles (43 km) and a total volume of approximately 120 cubic miles (500 km3). It was named for the geologist and surgeon John Strong Newberry, who explored central Oregon for the Pacific Railroad Surveys in 1855. The surrounding area has been inhabited by Native American populations for more than 10,000 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Jefferson (Oregon)</span> Stratovolcano in the Cascade Range, Oregon, US

Mount Jefferson is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, part of the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon. The second highest mountain in Oregon, it is situated within Linn County, Jefferson County, and Marion County and forms part of the Mount Jefferson Wilderness. Due to the ruggedness of its surroundings, the mountain is one of the hardest volcanoes to reach in the Cascades. It is also a popular tourist destination despite its remoteness, with recreational activities including hiking, backpacking, mountaineering, and photography. Vegetation at Mount Jefferson is dominated by Douglas fir, silver fir, mountain hemlock, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, and several cedar species. Carnivores, insectivores, bats, rodents, deer, birds, and various other species inhabit the area.

<i>Dantes Peak</i> 1997 film by Roger Donaldson

Dante's Peak is a 1997 American science fiction natural disaster thriller film directed by Roger Donaldson, written by Leslie Bohem, and starring Pierce Brosnan, Linda Hamilton, and Charles Hallahan. The film is set in the fictional town of Dante's Peak where the inhabitants fight to survive a volcanic eruption from a long dormant stratovolcano that has suddenly woken up. The film was released on February 7, 1997, under the production of Universal Pictures and Pacific Western Productions. It received negative reviews from critics and became an average success. It was the last film in which Charles Hallahan starred before his death nine months later in November 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Mazama</span> Complex volcano in the Cascade Range

Mount Mazama is a complex volcano in the state of Oregon, United States, in a segment of the Cascade Volcanic Arc and Cascade Range. Most of the mountain collapsed following a major eruption approximately 7,700 years ago. The volcano is in Klamath County, in the southern Cascades, 60 miles (97 km) north of the Oregon–California border. Its collapse, due to eruption of magma emptying the underlying magma chamber, formed a caldera that holds Crater Lake. The mountain is in Crater Lake National Park. Mount Mazama originally had an elevation of 12,000 feet (3,700 m), but following its climactic eruption this was reduced to 8,157 feet (2,486 m). Crater Lake is 1,943 feet (592 m) deep, the deepest freshwater body in the US and the second deepest in North America after Great Slave Lake in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Washington (Oregon)</span> Deeply eroded volcano in the Cascade Range of Oregon

Mount Washington is a deeply eroded volcano in the Cascade Range of Oregon. It lies within Deschutes and Linn counties and is surrounded by the Mount Washington Wilderness area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belknap Crater</span> Shield volcano in the U.S. state of Oregon

Belknap Crater is a shield volcano in the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located in Linn County, it is associated with lava fields and numerous subfeatures including the Little Belknap and South Belknap volcanic cones. It lies north of McKenzie Pass and forms part of the Mount Washington Wilderness. Belknap is not forested and most of its lava flows are not vegetated, though there is some wildlife in the area around the volcano, as well as a number of tree molds formed by its eruptive activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument</span> Government-protected area in the United States

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is a U.S. National Monument that includes the area around Mount St. Helens in Washington. It was established on August 27, 1982, by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, following the 1980 eruption. The 110,000 acre (445 km2) National Volcanic Monument was set aside for research, recreation, and education. Inside the monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance. It was the third national monument to be managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David A. Johnston</span> American volcanologist

David Alexander Johnston was an American United States Geological Survey (USGS) volcanologist who was killed by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in the U.S. state of Washington. A principal scientist on the USGS monitoring team, Johnston was killed in the eruption while manning an observation post six miles (10 km) away on the morning of May 18, 1980. He was the first to report the eruption, transmitting "Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!" before he was swept away by a lateral blast; despite a thorough search, Johnston's body was never found, but state highway workers discovered remnants of his USGS trailer in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2004–2008 volcanic activity of Mount St. Helens</span>

The 2004–2008 volcanic activity of Mount St. Helens in Washington, United States has been documented as a continuous eruption in the form of gradual extrusion of magma. Starting in October 2004 and ceasing in January 2008, a new lava dome was built up. The new dome did not rise above the rim of the crater created by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cascade Volcanoes</span> Chain of stratovolcanoes in western North America

The Cascade Volcanoes are a number of volcanoes in a volcanic arc in western North America, extending from southwestern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California, a distance of well over 700 miles (1,100 km). The arc formed due to subduction along the Cascadia subduction zone. Although taking its name from the Cascade Range, this term is a geologic grouping rather than a geographic one, and the Cascade Volcanoes extend north into the Coast Mountains, past the Fraser River which is the northward limit of the Cascade Range proper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Crater</span> Lava dome in Washington, United States

West Crater is a small lava dome with associated lava flows in southern Washington, United States. Located in Skamania County, it rises to an elevation of 4,131 feet (1,259 m), and forms part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc. It is also part of the Marble Mountain-Trout Creek Hill volcanic field, a little-known Quaternary volcanic field in the southern Cascades of Washington state. The area can be hiked, and can be accessed by roads in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Crater</span> Shield volcano in central Oregon, United States

Black Crater is a shield volcano in the Western Cascades in Deschutes County, Oregon. Located near McKenzie Pass, the volcano has a broad conical shape with gentle slopes. The volcano likely formed during the Pleistocene and has not been active within the last 50,000 years. Eruptive activity at the volcano produced mafic lava flows made of basaltic andesite and olivine basalt; it also formed a number of cinder cones. A normal fault occurs on the western side of the volcano, trending north–south. The volcano has been eroded by glaciers, which carved a large cirque into the northeastern flank of the mountain, forming its current crater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geology of the Pacific Northwest</span> Geology of Oregon and Washington (United States) and British Columbia (Canada)

The geology of the Pacific Northwest includes the composition, structure, physical properties and the processes that shape the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The region is part of the Ring of Fire: the subduction of the Pacific and Farallon Plates under the North American Plate is responsible for many of the area's scenic features as well as some of its hazards, such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and landslides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silverthrone Caldera</span> Caldera in British Columbia, Canada

The Silverthrone Caldera is a potentially active caldera complex in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, located over 350 kilometres (220 mi) northwest of the city of Vancouver and about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Mount Waddington in the Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains. The caldera is one of the largest of the few calderas in western Canada, measuring about 30 kilometres (19 mi) long (north-south) and 20 kilometres (12 mi) wide (east-west). Mount Silverthrone, an eroded lava dome on the caldera's northern flank that is 2,864 metres (9,396 ft) high, may be the highest volcano in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California Volcano Observatory</span>

The California Volcano Observatory (CalVO) is the volcano observatory that monitors the volcanic and geologic activity of California and Nevada. It is a part of the Volcano Hazards Program of the United States Geological Survey, a scientific agency of the United States government.

References

  1. Cascades Volcano Observatory, Connect (Contacts), Retrieved Jan. 19, 2023.
  2. Google Books, Monitoring Volcanoes: Techniques and Strategies Used by the Staff of the Cascades Volcano Observatory, 1980-90, Editors - John W. Ewert and Donald A. Swanson, United States Geological Survey, United States Government Printing Office, 1992, page 1, Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  3. The Legacy of David A. Johnston
  4. Klemetti, Erik (10 February 2012). "Meet the USGS's Newest Volcano Observatory: CalVO". Eruptions. Wired.com. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
  5. "WOVO.org: World Organization of Volcano Observatories". Archived from the original on 2020-10-29. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Cascades Volcano Observatory, Main Page -- Risk Assessment of Volcanoes, Retrieved Dec. 29. 2021.

Coordinates: 45°36′39″N122°29′48″W / 45.61083°N 122.49667°W / 45.61083; -122.49667