Igneous Petrology & Volcanology Faculty

Igneous & Metamorphic
Petrology

Igneous Petrology
& Geochemistry

Igneous Petrology
& Volcanology

Select this icon to see a demonstration of an explosive volcanic eruption, which was carried out by two of our graduate students in the early fall of 2005. The icon itself is a picture of Augustine Volcano, Cook Inlet, Alaska, which underwent a steam eruption, pictured here, on and about January 24, 2006. The photograph was taken by Cyrus Read, and is used courtesy of the Alaskan Volcano Observatory/U.S.G.S.

This image on the main page, which is a link you may have selected to reach here, is of Mt. St. Helens during the catastrophic eruption which began on the morning of May 18, 1980, at 08:32. It is of the south flank of the volcanic edifice, the north flank having slid, or been blown, northward as an earthquake triggered a debris flow which uncovered the magma chamber. Such "directed blast" behavior is now known to have occurred at Mt. St. Helens previously, and is recognized at other volcanoes as well.