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D. R. Mullineaux

Publications and source records attributed to D. R. Mullineaux.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2017

Age of the last major scabland flood of the Columbia Plateau in eastern Washington

Pumice layers of set S from Mount St. Helens can be correlated with certain ash beds associated with young flood deposits of the channeled scabland. The correlation points to an age of about 13,000 14 C yr B.P. for the last major flood to have crossed the scabland. Until recently, the last major episode of flooding was thought to be closer to 20,000 yr B.P., an age inferred chiefly from the relation of the flood to glacial events of the northern Rocky Mountains. Several investigations within the last few years have suggested that the last major flood occurred well after 20,000 yr B.P. Tentative correlations of ash beds of the scabland with set S pumice layers, the relations of flood and glacial events along the northwestern margin of the Columbia Plateau, and a radiocarbon date from the Snake River drainage southeast of the plateau all indicate an age much younger than 20,000 yr. The postulated age of about 13,000 yr B.P. is further supported by a radiocarbon date in the Columbia River valley downstream from the scabland tract. Basal peat from a bog on the Portland delta of Bretz, which is a downvalley deposit of the last major scabland flood, has been dated as 13,080 ± 300 yr B.P. (W-3404).

Washington↗
USGS1992

Mount St. Helens a decade after the 1980 eruptions: magmatic models, chemical cycles, and a revised hazards assessment

Available geophysical and geologic data provide a simplified model of the current magmatic plumbing system of Mount St. Helens (MSH). This model and new geochemical data are the basis for the revised hazards assessment presented here. The assessment is weighted by the style of eruptions and the chemistry of magmas erupted during the past 500 years, the interval for which the most detailed stratigraphic and geochemical data are available. This interval includes the Kalama (A. D. 1480-1770s?), Goat Rocks (A.D. 1800-1857), and current eruptive periods. In each of these periods, silica content decreased, then increased. The Kalama is a large amplitude chemical cycle (SiO2: 57%-67%), produced by mixing of arc dacite, which is depleted in high field-strength and incompatible elements, with enriched (OIB-like) basalt. The Goat Rocks and current cycles are of small amplitude (SiO2: 61%-64% and 62%-65%) and are related to the fluid dynamics of magma withdrawal from a zoned reservoir. The cyclic behavior is used to forecast future activity. The 1980-1986 chemical cycle, and consequently the current eruptive period, appears to be virtually complete. This inference is supported by the progressively decreasing volumes and volatile contents of magma erupted since 1980, both changes that suggest a decreasing potential for a major explosive eruption in the near future. However, recent changes in seismicity and a series of small gas-release explosions (beginning in late 1989 and accompanied by eruption of a minor fraction of relatively low-silica tephra on 6 January and 5 November 1990) suggest that the current eruptive period may continue to produce small explosions and that a small amount of magma may still be present within the conduit. The gas-release explosions occur without warning and pose a continuing hazard, especially in the crater area. An eruption as large or larger than that of 18 May 1980 (???0.5 km3 dense-rock equivalent) probably will occur only if magma rises from an inferred deep (???7 km), relative large (5-7 km3) reservoir. A conservative approach to hazard assessment is to assume that this deep magma is rich in volatiles and capable of erupting explosively to produce voluminous fall deposits and pyroclastic flows. Warning of such an eruption is expectable, however, because magma ascent would probably be accompanied by shallow seismicity that could be detected by the existing seismic-monitoring system. A future large-volume eruption (???0.1 km3) is virtually certain; the eruptive history of the past 500 years indicates the probability of a large explosive eruption is at least 1% annually. Intervals between large eruptions at Mount St. Helens have varied widely; consequently, we cannot confidently forecast whether the next large eruption will be years decades, or farther in the future. However, we can forecast the types of hazards, and the areas that will be most affected by future large-volume eruptions, as well as hazards associated with the approaching end of the current eruptive period. ?? 1992 Springer-Verlag.

Bulletin of Volcanology↗
USGS1980

Mount St. Helens eruptive behavior during the past 1500 yr

During the past 1,500 yr Mount St. Helens, Washington, has repeatedly erupted dacite domes, tephra, and pyroclastic flows as well as andesite lava flows and tephra. Two periods of activity prior to 1980, each many decades long, were both initiated by eruptions of volatile-rich dacite which were followed by andesite, then by dacite. A third eruptive period was characterized by the eruption of volatile-poor dacite that formed a dome and minor pyroclastic flows. The prolonged duration of some previous eruptive periods suggests that the current activity could continue for many years. The volatile-rich dacite that has been erupted to date probably will be followed by gas-poor magma, but it cannot yet be predicted whether a more mafic magma will be extruded during the current eruptive period.

Geology↗
USGS1977

Natural hazards on the island of Hawaii

The island of Hawaii and the other islands of the Hawaiian chain are products of volcanic eruptions. Lava flows from hundreds of thousands of eruptions through countless centuries have built the Hawaiian Islands. Some volcanoes on the island of Hawaii have been very active during historic time, and similar activity is expected to continue throughout the foreseeable future.

Hawai'i↗
USGS1976

Preliminary overview map of volcanic hazards in the 48 conterminous United States

Volcanic eruptions and related phenomena can be expected to occur in the Western United States, and in some places are potentially hazardous enough to be considered in longe-range land-use planning. But the immediate risk from volcanic hazards is low because eruptions are so infrequent in the conterminous United States that few, if any, occur during any one person 1s lifetime. Furthermore, severely destructive effects of eruptions, other than extremely rare ones of catastrophic scale, probably would be limited to areas within a few tens of kilometers downvalley or downwind from a volcano. Thus, the area seriously endangered by any one eruption would be only a very small part of the Western United States. The accompanying map identifies areas in which volcanic hazards pose some degree of risk, and shows that the problem is virtually limited to the far western States. The map also shows the possible areal distribution of several kinds of dangerous eruptive events and indicates the relative likelihood of their occurrence at various volcanoes. The kinds of events described here as hazards are those that can occur suddenly and with little or no warning; they do not include long-term geologic processes. Table 1 summarizes the origin and some characteristics of potentially hazardous volcanic phenomena. The map is diagrammatic. It does not show the specific location of the next expected eruption , because such an event cannot be reliably predicted . Instead, the map shows general areas or zones that, over a long period of time, are relatively likely to be affected in one or more places by various kinds of hazardous volcanic events. However, only a small part of one of these areas would be affected by any single eruption.

Miscellaneous Field Studies Map↗
USGS1975

Mount St. Helens volcano: Recent and future behavior

Mount St. Helens volcano in southern Washington has erupted many times during the last 4000 years, usually after brief dormant periods. This behavior pattern suggests that the volcano, last active in 1857, will erupt again - perhaps within the next few decades. Potential volcanic hazards of several kinds should be considered in planning for land use near the volcano.

Washington↗