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Volcano Hazards Program

Find U.S. Volcano

There are about 170 potentially active volcanoes in the U.S. The mission of the USGS Volcano Hazards Program is to enhance public safety and minimize social and economic disruption from volcanic unrest and eruption through our National Volcano Early Warning System. We deliver forecasts, warnings, and information about volcano hazards based on a scientific understanding of volcanic behavior.

News

Monitoring stations detect small magnitude earthquakes at Mount Rainier during July 2025

Monitoring stations detect small magnitude earthquakes at Mount Rainier during July 2025

In Memoriam: Wes Hildreth, 1938-2025

In Memoriam: Wes Hildreth, 1938-2025

Volcano Watch — What Fans the Flames Observed at Volcanic Vents?

Volcano Watch — What Fans the Flames Observed at Volcanic Vents?

Publications

Ice thickness regulates heat flux in permanently ice-covered lakes Ice thickness regulates heat flux in permanently ice-covered lakes

The permanently ice-covered lakes of Taylor Valley, Antarctica, are rare ecosystems where permanent ice cover and year-round vertically stable water columns provide critical redox zones for cold-adapted microorganisms. Using 30 yr of limnological data from the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research program, we assessed the water column heat flux of four permanently ice-covered...
Authors
Hilary A. Dugan, Maciej Obryk, Michael Gooseff, Peter Doran, Amy Chiuchiolo, Jade Lawrence, John Priscu

The systematics of stable hydrogen (δ2H) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopes and tritium (3H) in the hydrothermal system of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field, USA The systematics of stable hydrogen (δ2H) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopes and tritium (3H) in the hydrothermal system of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field, USA

To improve our understanding of hydrothermal activity on the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field, we collected and analyzed a large data set of δ2H, δ18O, and the 3H concentrations of circum-neutral and alkaline waters. We find that (a) hot springs are fed by recharge throughout the volcanic plateau, likely focused through fractured, permeable tuff units. Previous work had stressed the...
Authors
Shaul Hurwitz, R. Blaine McCleskey, Bryant Jurgens, Jacob B. Lowenstern, Laura E. Clor, Andrew Hunt

Rapid emplacement of the Keaiwa Lava Flow of 1823 from the Great Crack in the Southwest Rift Zone of Kilauea volcano Rapid emplacement of the Keaiwa Lava Flow of 1823 from the Great Crack in the Southwest Rift Zone of Kilauea volcano

The Keaīwa Lava Flow of 1823 in the Southwest Rift Zone of Kīlauea volcano is unusual for its expansive pāhoehoe sheet flow morphology and lack of constructive vent topography, despite having a similar tholeiitic basalt composition to other lavas erupted from Kīlauea. This lava flow issued from a ∼10-km-long continuous fissure now known as the Great Crack, and has an unusually thin sheet...
Authors
Andrea Tonato, Thomas Shea, Drew T. Downs, Karim Kelfoun
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