The Kleinman Grants for Volcano Research are intended to perpetuate and memorialize the attributes embodied by Jack Kleinman, a USGS employee who died in a kayaking accident in 1994. The grants are available on a competitive basis to graduate students conducting research in volcanology, preferably in the Cascade Range, Aleutian volcanic arc, Hawaii, Yellowstone, or Long Valley caldera. The U.S. Geological Survey evaluates applications and provides scientific oversight for the program, which is administered by the Community Foundation of Southwest Washington. The 2003 Kleinman grant recipients are Jennifer N. Adleman, Stacey Hager, and Stephen Slaughter. Congratulations and best wishes!
- Jennifer N. Adleman
is an M.S. candidate at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her thesis project, under the direction of Dr. Jessica Larsen, is entitled “Analysis of composition and chronology of dome emplacement at Black Peak, Alaska, utilizing ASTER remote sensing data and field-based studies.” During the 2003 field season, Jennifer will accompany Game McGimsey and Christina Neal of the Alaska Volcano Observatory to Black Peak, a historically active stratovolcano on the Alaska Peninsula. They plan to produce a geologic map and collect rock samples to determine the relative ages and compositional range of over a dozen dacite lava domes in the volcano’s summit caldera. Jennifer will use high-resolution hyperspectral ASTER satellite images to identify compositional variations between the domes, to help determine relative ages and emplacement timescales, and to map vesicularity differences. The combination of intensive field study and remote sensing analysis will shed new light on Black Peak’s recent eruptive history and thereby contribute to an improved hazard assessment.
- Stacey Hager
is an M.S. candidate at the University of Oregon who is working under the direction of Dr. Paul J. Wallace. Her thesis topic is “CO2 emission rates at Kilauea volcano, Hawaii: Implications for magmatic processes.” Stacey is collaborating with chemists Tamar Elias and Jeff Sutton at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory to document and interpret short-term fluctuations in the carbon dioxide (CO2) flux from Kilauea. She plans to measure the CO2 flux from Kilauea’s summit area as often as practical over a period of several weeks to months. The long-term average CO2 flux is thought to reflect the average magma supply rate to Kilauea’s shallow magma reservoir. Stacey will determine to what extent the CO2 flux varies over periods of days to weeks and attempt to correlate any variations with inflation/deflation cycles at the summit, intrusions along the rift zones, seismic activity, or lava flux at a continuously active vent along the volcano’s East Rift Zone. The project is likely to improve understanding of Kilauea’s shallow magma transport system and to further the development of monitoring strategies and data reduction procedures that might be useful at other active volcanoes as well.
- Stephen Slaughter is pursuing an M.S. degree in Geological Sciences at Central Washington University under the direction of Dr. Lisa Ely, in collaboration with Kevin Scott at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory. The subject of his thesis research is “Debris flows from glacial outburst floods of Chocolate Glacier, Glacier Peak volcano, north Cascades: Origin, behavior, risk assessment, and correlation with global warming.” Stephen will investigate four debris flows in the Cascade Range that are associated with glaciers: the 1987 Tahoma and 1947 Kautz Glacier debris flows at Mount Rainier, the 1927 Deming Glacier debris flow at Mount Baker, and the 1938 Chocolate Glacier debris flow at Glacier Peak. The goal of the project is to advance our knowledge of debris flows that were initiated by outburst floods from retreating alpine glaciers, which are shrinking as a result of global warming. The 1987, 1947, and 1927 debris flows are well documented, but the 1938 Chocolate Glacier debris flow has not been studied in any detail. Stephen will conduct a field reconnaissance study of the source area in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, including an investigation of historical accounts, analysis of aerial photos, and precise tree dating to assess the influence of climate, drainage slope, valley topography, and vegetation coverage on the initiation and mobility of debris flows that result from glacial outburst floods. The project aims to identify factors that could create a risk of future outburst floods and debris flows at other similar glaciers in the Cascades.
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