Volcanoes and Earthquakes
My interest in volcanoes and earthquakes forms a subset of my general
interest in catastrophism. Volcanoes can
global climate changes
through injection of large quantities of ash into the atmosphere. These dust veils
can lead to lower temperatures and dimmer days, which in turn lead to crop failures,
which in turn lead to starvation and migration, which in turn lead
to war, the spread of disease, the fall of old civilizations, and the
birth of new ones. Extensive, prolonged vulcanism may play a part in
mass extinctions as well. See
catastrophism and mass extinctions
for more information.
Similar "nuclear winter" consequences can also arise from energetic impact
events of the super-Tunguska class. See
Clube and Napier's
Cosmic Winter for details.
- Alaska Volcano Observatory
is a cooperative program of the United States Geological Survey,
the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, and the
Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. Offers
information on current volcanic activity in Alaska and
- American Rescue Team
was founded in 1985 to save lives, reduce suffering and to assist
in the reduction of the devastating aftermath caused by catastrophic
events such as earthquakes.
- Arenal Volcano
discusses this volcano which lies about ten miles from Monteverde
in Costa Rica.
- British Antarctic Survey
seeks "to undertake a programme of first class science through
which an active and influential role can be sustained in the
Antarctic region, giving the UK an authoritative voice in Antarctic
affairs. BAS research covers all aspects of science and exploits
the unique natural laboratory conditions in the Antarctic to address
problems of global and regional relevance. BAS also discharges the
UK's responsibilities for complying with the Antarctic Treaty and
administers the British Antarctic Territory."
- Cascades Volcano Observatory
, located in Vancouver, Washington, USA, "strives to serve the
public interest by helping people to live knowledgeably and safely
with volcanoes and other natural hazards including earthquakes,
landslides, and debris flows, in the western United States and
elsewhere in the world." Site includes information on Mount St.
Helens among other volcanos, hydrologic information, monitoring
techniques, education outreach programs, and more.
- CoAxial Home Page
- Compiled Volcanology Data CD-ROMs
- Costa Rica-ARENAL Volcano Gallery
- Current seismicity (USGS)
- Deborah K. Smith's Volcanic Topography at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
discusses seafloor volcanic features and offers high resolution
side-scan sonar images of the axial zone of the slow-spreading
- Decade volcanoes
- Earth System Science Resource Center
- Earthquake Research Institute, University of Tokyo
- Earthquakes: Most destructive, etc.
- EPIX: Emergency Preparedness Information Exchange (Gopher)
- Eruptions of Mount Spurr Volcano, Alaska, Photographs of the 1992 Eruptions
- Geological Information Servers (Gopher)
- Gifford Pinchot National Forest
offers information on Mount St. Helens Volcanic Monument and
includes a volcanocam which presents live pictures of the volcano,
updated every ten minutes of so, from Johnston Ridge
is an active volcano located 30 km southeast of Mt. Fuji. The
latest eruption took place about 3,000 B.P. This site also offers
links to many other volcano resources, including home pages of
Japanese individuals interested in volcanos.
- Hawaiian Volcano Observatory "Volcano Watch"
from the University of Hawaii provides a weekly newsletter written
by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano
Observatory. "Article topics may range from volcanic features on
the Big Island, volcanic hazards, informational topics of Long
Island, Montserrat, or Alaska, to topics about the Hawaiian Volcano
- InterRidge Home Page
- Lamb's Dust Veil Index
offers H. H. Lamb's database of "dust veil indices (DVI) for the
period 1500 A.D. to 1983 A.D. along with estimates for the eruptions
of Santorin in 1470 B.C., Vesuvius in 79 A.D., and Oraefajokull in
1362 A.D. Lamb's Dust Veil Index (DVI) is a numerical index that
quantifies the impact of a particular volcanic eruption's release of
dust and aerosols over the years following the event, especially the
impact on the Earth's energy balance. The methods used to calculate
the DVI have been intercalibrated to give a DVI of 1000 for the
eruption of Krakatoa in 1883. The DVI for any volcanic eruption is
based on a review of the observational, empirical, and theoretical
studies of the possible impact on climate of volcanic dust veils.
The DVI allows one to compare volcanic eruptions by a single
numerical index. The data base includes the name of the erupting
volcano, year of eruption, volcano latitude and longitude, maximum
extent of the dust veil, veil duration, DVI for the entire globe,
DVI for the Northern Hemisphere, and DVI for the Southern
Hemisphere. The data are in one file (22.6 kB)."
- Long Valley Caldera
- Michigan Tech Univ. Volcanoes Page
, sponsored by the Keweenaw Volcano Observatory, offers information
on current global volcanic activity, research in remote sensing of
volcanoes and their eruptive products, hazard mitigation, "Decade
Volcanoes", links to government agencies and research institutions,
and even some volcano humor.
- NASA, EOS IDS Volcanology Team
- Natural Hazards Databases at National Geophysical Data Center
- Natural Hazards Mitigation Group, University of Geneva
at the University of Geneva (Switzerland) provides information
about natural hazards research programs and offers a catalog of
volcano pictures from around the world.
- Piton de la Fournaise Slide Set
was compiled by Pete Mouginis-Mark of the University of Hawaii. La
Fournaise is a volcano located on Reunion Island in the Indian
- Pompeii Forum Project
by John J. Dobbins "is a collaborative venture that focuses on the
urban center of Pompeii...There are three components to the project:
documentation of standing remains; archaeological analysis; and
urban study that seeks a) to interpret the developments at Pompeii
in the broader context of urban history and b) to identify at
Pompeii recurring patterns of urban evolution that can be applied to
contemporary issues in American urbanism." Pompeii was buried by
eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.
- Sakurajima Volcano
is located in Japan. About 7,000 people live at the foot of the
volcano. The city of Kagoshima, with a population of about half a
million, lies 10 km to the west.
- San Francisco History -- Earthquakes
from The Museum of the City of San Francisco offers information on
the many earthquakes suffered by San Francisco from 1769 to the
- Santorini bibliography
- Seismo-surfing the Internet
- Southern California Earthquake Center
(SCEC), founded in 1991, "is a Science and Technology Center of the
National Science Foundation (NSF) and is also funded by the United
States Geological Survey (USGS). SCEC brings scientists together for
joint research and problem solving to reduce earthquake hazard in
Southern California. The formal mission of the Center is to promote
earthquake hazard reduction by estimating when and where future
damaging earthquakes will occur, calculating the expected ground
motion, and disseminating that information to the public."
- Stromboli project
at the Universitadegli Studi di Udine discusses research about
Stromboli volcano, one of the Aeolian islands, located north of
Sicily. Stromboli has a permanent activity which has been reported
for thousands of years. This activity results, from the seismic
point of view, in a considerable number of explosion-quakes (several
per hour) and in a persistent volcanic tremor. Site includes
information on the seismic station located near the summit of the
volcano, photos of Stromboli and other volcanos, and a bibliography
of scientific papers about Stromboli.
- Surface and Atmospheric Effects of the 1991 Eruption of Mount Pinatubo
by Pete Mouginis-Mark provides a slide set and discussion.
- Tatsuro CHIBA's page
offers information on current and recent eruptions as well as
photographs of volcanos.
- Teide photos
offers several nice images of this volcano located in the Canary
- United States Geological Survey
is the largest earth science research and information agenvy in the
United States. "The USGS, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the
Interior, was established to provide a permanent Federal agency to
conduct the systematic and scientific 'classification of the public
lands and examination of the geological structure, mineral
resources, and products of the national domain.' The mission of
the USGS is to provide geologic, topographic, and hydrologic
information that contributes to the wise management of the Nation's
natural resources and that promotes the health, safety, and
well-being of the people. This information consists of maps,
databases, and descriptions and analyses of the water, energy, and
mineral resources, land surface, underlying geologic structure,
natural hazards, and dynamic processes of the earth."
- United States Global Change Regional Information Office (GCRIO)
"provides access to data and information on global change research,
adaptation/mitigation strategies and technologies, and global change
related educational resources on behalf the US Global Change
Research Program (USGCRP) and its participating Federal Agencies and
Organizations. GCRIO is implemented by The Consortium for
International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN)."
- Principal fields of research at the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute
include space physics, aeronomy, meteorology, climatology,
seismology, volcanology, glaciology, geology, and geophysics.
- University of Tokyo Volcano Research Center (VRC)
"conducts various scientific researches on magmatic processes and
volcano dynamics, which will help to improve prediction of volcanic
eruptions. Some of these researches are made in cooperation with
other domestic and overseas institutions. Some geophysical data are
available from permanent stations set at Asama, Kirishima,
Izu-Oshima, Kusatsu-Shirane, and Fuji volcanoes to study volcanic
phenomena. One of current major subjects is to reveal features of
magma plumbing systems, based on the study of crustal structure
below active volcanoes. Other subjects include analysis of various
data on volcanoes and characterization of eruptive processes."
- Volcanic Ash Forecast Transport And Dispersion (VAFTAD)
by Nick Heffter offers an example of real-time display of
dispersion models for volcanic ash.
- Volcano Information Center
by Richard V. Fisher seeks to inform "about general features of
volcanoes, volcanic eruptions and volcanic hazards in a simplified
way." Includes information on volcanic hazards, volcaniclastic
names, volcanic eruptions, hydrovolcanic processes, volcano forms,
pyroclastic flows and fallout, lahars, debris-flow avalanches, and
volcaniclastic sedimentation and facies.
by Robert I. Tilling offers an introduction to the subject,
including the nature and types of volcanoes, volcanic environments,
monitoring volcanoes, effects on people, and more.
- Volcanological Society of Japan
was established in 1932. There were 1,200 members as of 1996. The
Society publishes a quarterly bulletin. Indices are available at
- Welcome to Tsunami!
from the Department of Geophysics at the University of Washington
offers an online interactive tsunami resource. Tsunamis are often
associated with both volcanic eruptions and earthquakes as well as
cosmic impacts. Includes information on the physics of tsunamis,
links to related web sites, a survey of great tsunamis of the past,
discussions of tsunami hazard mitigation, and more.
- World-Wide Earthquake Locator
from the Department of Geography at the University of Edinburgh
provides basic information about earthquakes within hours of their
occurrence, using data from the National Earthquake Information
Center of the USGS. Also provides general information about
- Yellowstone National Park
in the state of Wyoming, USA lies atop a hot spot in the Earth's
mantle. Yellowstone has been the site of extensive volcanic
eruptions over the past 17 million years. The most recent caldera
forming eruption of 650,000 years ago produced a caldera 53x28 miles
in size, and dispersed ash, pumice, and gases over an area of more
than 3,000 square miles. Today it continues to offer a variety of
geothermal phenomena including geysers, hot springs, steam vents,
and mud pots.
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Last modified by
pib on July 17, 2010.