Monitoring Mount Rainier Volcano

Monitoring Mount Rainier The last significant eruptive activity at Mount Rainier was between 120 and 160 years ago, and several minor eruptions were reported during the late 1800's. A careful stratigraphic study of the volcano's recent products led scientists to conclude that "Mount Rainier will almost surely erupt again sometime within the next few hundred years," and that future eruptions might endanger the livelihood of thousands of people. Hence, the need for careful monitoring of this loftiest peak in the Cascade Range. -- Dzurisin, et.al., 1983 In response to renewed eruptive activity at Mount St. Helens in 1980, the Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) was established in Vancouver, Washington, with the support of the U.S. Geological Survey's Volcano Hazards Program. -- Chadwick, Iwatsubo, Swanson, and Ewert, 1985

Earthquake Monitoring Earthquakes commonly provide the earliest warning of volcanic unrest, and earthquake swarms immediately precede most volcanic eruptions. Information on Pacific Northwest earthquake activity and hazards is provided by the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network (PNSN) which operates seismograph stations and locates earthquakes in Washington and Oregon. The PNSN is operated jointly by the University of Washington, the University of Oregon, and Oregon State University, and is funded by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Energy, and the State of Washington. The PNSN is based at the Geophysics Program of the University of Washington in Seattle, and is a member of the Council of the National Seismic Systems (CNSS), a group of regional network operators who cooperate to locate and catalog earthquakes throughout the United States. -- Wright and Pierson, 1992; and the University of Washington's Geophysics Program [Map,13K,InlineGIF] University of Washington's Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network - Mount Rainier Vicinity, 1997. -- Modified from: University of Washington Geophysics Program Link to: Current Seismicity -- Link courtesy University of Washington Geophysics Program

Geochemical and Geodetic Studies In addition to continued monitoring at Mount St. Helens, CVO scientists have initiated geodetic and geochemical monitoring at other potentially active volcanoes in the Cascade Range. Geochemical studies include temperature measurements and gas sampling of fumaroles, while geodetic studies consist of: (1) slope distance and vertical angle measurements, (2) tilt surveys, and (3) precision gravity surveys. CVO Deformation Project - Volcano Networks   EDM GPS Leveling Tilt Meter Dry Tilt MAG Mount Rainier, Washington 1982 1983 1988 1989 1994 1994     1982 1983 1988   These networks, once the baseline information has been collected, can detect surface deformation that may reflect magma movement up the conduit. The rates of deformation increase as magma approaches the surface, and these measurements can therefore help determine where and when an eruption may occur. -- Chadwick, Iwatsubo, Swanson, and Ewert, 1985; and Iwatsubo and Swanson, 1992