LESSON 19
VOLCANOES CHANGE
THE
LANDSCAPE
Q What is it like to work on volcanoes?
A Volcanoes are beautiful places where forces
of nature combine to produce awesome events
and spectacular landscapes. For most of us,
they are also fun to work on! There’s something
moving about the idea of magma rising from
deep inside our restless planet to flow gracefully
onto its surface, as in Hawaii, or to explode violently into its atmosphere, as at Mt. St. Helens.
As one scientist put it, “I’m fascinated by the
knowledge that some of the gases I breathe
were once miles deep in the earth and arrived
in my lungs by way of a volcano.” Perhaps no
spot on earth is untouched by the effects of volcanoes. In fact, more than half of the earth’s
surface is covered by volcanic flows, especially
the sea floor. All forms of life on earth are
linked in some way to volcanic activity. With
this in mind, what could be more exciting or
rewarding than to work on an active volcano?
T. J. TAKAHASHI/USGS
Q Are you scared when you work on an
active volcano?
A “Excited” is the first word that comes to
mind when most of us think about our work at
active volcanoes. Safety is always our primary
A volcanologist collects samples from a still-molten lava
flow that has just crossed the shoreline and entered the
ocean.
222 STC/MS™ C ATA S T R O P H I C E V E N T S
T. J. TAKAHASHI/USGS
VOLCANOLOGISTS TALK
ABOUT THEIR WORK
A volcanologist reads a special instrument, called a
gravity meter, to monitor changes in the movement of
the magma inside a volcano.
concern, because volcanoes can be dangerous
places. But we manage personal risk in the same
way as police officers, astronauts, or those in any
other hazardous professions do. We try hard to
understand the risk that is built into any situation. Then we train and equip ourselves with the
right tools and support to be safe. Such training
involves learning the past and current activity of
the volcano, first aid, helicopter safety procedures, and wilderness survival techniques.
Some of us, however, have experienced situations that were more than exciting. In the words
of one scientist, “Scared? Oh sure. When a little
steam explosion occurred from the dome at Mt.
St. Helens in 1982, three of us were surveying
the dome from less than 100 meters away. As
soon as we saw the basketball size rocks streaming through the air, we ran for cover beneath a
huge block of ice on the crater floor. Until the
rocks stopped landing all around us, I was
absolutely terrified.”
VOLCANOES CHANGE
THE
LANDSCAPE
Q How about when the
volcano is showing signs
of activity and you have
concluded the volcano is
likely to erupt soon?
A This is the most anxious
time, because generally
there is nothing more to be
done than wait, watch, and
hope that your team is right
in its assessment of the situation. With modern monitoring instruments, an active
volcano can seem almost
overwhelming at this stage.
Earthquakes can happen virHawaiian Volcano Observatory staff members monitor a lava flow crossing
tually nonstop for hours or
the road in Kalapana Gardens Subdivision. This subdivision was completely
days. Swelling or cracking of
destroyed by lava in 1990.
the ground occurs at rates
that keep going up and up.
And changes happen in the kinds and amounts
Q What education do you need to become
of volcanic gases being released. Even so, there
a volcanologist?
are always uncertainties, including the very real
A There are many paths to becoming a volcapossibility that the process will simply stop
nologist. Most volcanologists have a college or
before magma reaches the surface, and you will
graduate school education in a scientific or
be asked to explain why there was so much fuss
technical field, but the range of specialties is
over a “failed eruption.”
very large. Training in geology, geophysics, geochemistry, biology, biochemistry, mathematics,
statistics,
engineering, atmospheric science,
Q What precautions do scientists take?
A Restless volcanoes can be very dangerous
remote sensing, and related fields can be
places, but it is possible to work safely around
applied to the study of volcanoes and the interthem if you are properly prepared. First and
actions between volcanoes and the environment.
foremost, scientists protect themselves by
The key ingredients are a strong fascination
working as a team to create a safety net in
and boundless curiosity about volcanoes and
which all the important bases are covered. Like
how they work. From there, the possibilities are
a professional driving team, a volcano-response
almost endless. team includes key staff who know the monitoring equipment extremely well. They include
experts in several scientific disciplines who can
interpret data from the field.
STC/MS™ C ATA S T R O P H I C E V E N T S
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D. WEISEL/USGS
LESSON 19