IngentaConnect Glaciervolcano interactions in the North Crater of Mt Wrangell, A...

Authors: Benson, Carl; Motyka, Roman; McNutt, Stephen; Lüthi, Martin; Truffer, Martin

Source: Annals of Glaciology, Volume 45, Number 1, October 2007 , pp. 48-57(10)

Publisher: International Glaciological Society

Abstract:

Glaciological and related observations from 1961 to 2005 at the summit of Mt Wrangell (62.00° N, 144.02° W; 4317 m a.s.l.), a massive glacier-covered shield volcano in south-central Alaska, show marked changes that appear to have been initiated by the Great Alaska Earthquake (Mw = 9.2) of 27 March 1964. The 4 × 6 km diameter, ice-filled Summit Caldera with several post-caldera craters on its rim, comprises the summit region where annual snow accumulation is 1-2 m of water equivalent and the mean annual temperature, measured 10 m below the snow surface, is −20°C. Precision surveying, aerial photogrammetry and measurements of temperature and snow accumulation were used to measure the loss of glacier ice equivalent to about 0.03 km³ of water from the North Crater in a decade. Glacier calorimetry was used to calculate the associated heat flux, which varied within the range 20-140 W m⁻²; total heat flow was in the range 20-100 MW. Seismicity data from the crater's rim show two distinct responses to large earthquakes at time scales from minutes to months. Chemistry of water and gas from fumaroles indicates a shallow magma heat source and seismicity data are consistent with this interpretation.

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Glacier-volcano interactions in the North Crater of Mt Wrangell, Alaska