Mt. Redoubt, 4.21.90 photo: R. Clucas For geoscientists, this region is one of the purest and most active expressions of subduction, the process whereby earth’s crustal plates collide and overlap to create earthquakes, volcanoes and the extreme topography of mountain chains and ocean trenches. But the most extreme conditions occur in volcanoes, the very nature of which embodies the chemical evolution of our planet from deep interior to crust. Wrangell Summit photo: R. Motyka Volcanoes erupt regularly, in classic geophysical patterns, along the Kamchatkan-Aleutian arc. These volcanoes contain vast potential sources of energy which, when released through major explosions, are not only a local hazard, but also induce threats to air travel over the North Pacific and North America and can likewise alter global weather patterns. Aleutian Arc earthquakes cause tsunamis affecting the entire Pacific Rim. Novarupta photo: R. McGimsey Volcanic eruptions from the Kamchatka-Aleutian arc also pose a chronic danger to international air travel due to airborne ash. The great 1912 eruption, in what is now Katmai National Park, Alaska, caused the largest earthquake this century . It was several times bigger than the Mount Pinatubo, Philippines eruption of 1991 and orders of magnitude bigger than the 1980 Mount St. Helens blast. With 100 historically active volcanoes averaging 4 to 5 explosive ash-producing eruptions each year, the simmering Northern Pacific Arcs are beneath or near heavily traveled global air routes. Each day, some 20,000 passengers fly this international air route, where ingested glass-bearing ash from undetected eruptions can - and has - caused flameout of jet engines.

In a U.S.-Russia Cooperative Research award sponsored by the NSF’s Central & Eastern Europe program and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), about 150 leading geoscientists from the U.S., Russia and Japan have been convening to discuss advanced research on volcanoes and earthquakes in the Kamchatkan-Aleutian Arc. The several thousand mile long tectonic boundary plate - one of the most active sites of earthquake and volcanic eruptions on Earth - crosses international borders from the volcanic Aleutian Arc of southern Alaska to the Kamchatka/Kuril Arcs of Russia and Northern Japan.

One of the U.S coordinators for the U.S.-Russia Cooperative Research is Prof. John Eichelberger of the University of Alaska. He is also the Coordinating Scientist for the US Geological Survey's Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), which seismically monitors about 20 Aleutian Arc Volcanoes, releases regular updates describing the current state of volcanic activity via the Internet and also posts Kamchatkan updates from colleagues at the Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT). Among other successes, this growing cooperative venture has been instrumental in mitigating the hazards of airborne volcanic ash to the airline industry, along the most profitable and one of the busiest international air traffic routes in the world. The latest research conference was co-chaired by Profs. Minoru Kasahara and Mitsuhiro Nakagawa of Hokkaido University.

While scientists know basic facts about volcanoes - that they erupt because magma (liquid or molten rock) is buoyant within the Earth’s crust and contains dissolved gases which are rapidly released as magma reaches shallow depth - many volcanic details remain unclear, such as: the mechanisms of rock melting; the regions and conditions of melt storage in the crust; the trigger for final rise to the surface; the cause of cessation of that rise; and the controls that lead to explosive or nonexplosive behavior.

To resolve these geophysical mysteries, there is no better focus of study than the Kamchatka-Aleutian Arc. As Dr. Eichelberger puts it, “We will not fully understand subduction on Earth until we understand the Aleutian Arc. Because of the clarity of relationships (such as between volcanic pre-conditions and results), the Aleutian Arc was the birthplace of the subduction paradigm. Yet despite this important history and its location within technologically advanced countries, it is among the most poorly known subduction zones on Earth.”

The unfortunate scientific neglect of this region in the past is due largely to the Cold War and other political conflicts, as well as the region’s harsh, inhospitable climate and remote locale. With more peaceful politics (the area has recently become fully and mutually accessible to Western and Russian scientists) and major improvements in the technologies of transportation, communication and data acquisition, this American/ Russian/ Japanese collaboration nurtures fruitful relations among representative scientists; allows the sharing of essential information and resources; and features involvement of graduate and undergraduate students from each country to foster continued long-term relationships. This is important, because it will serve to maintain an open scientific and cultural exchange across our one common border with Russia.

The insights from these NSF-supported volcanic research projects on the Kuril-Kamchatkan and Alaska-Aleutian Island Arcs will:

• illuminate fundamental earth processes such as catastrophic eruptions
• support better forecasting of natural catastrophes, including volcanic, earthquake, tsunami and marine hazards
• waylay threats to international air routes between eastern Asia and North America due to volcanic ash
• understand impact of large eruptions on ecologically and commercially vital fisheries

Moving beyond its fundamental aim to understand magma genesis and other geodynamic features of volcanoes, volcanic research supported by the NSF is leading the way in scientific trends forecasting the geologic catastrophes which are permeating our increasingly challenging global environment.

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