Novarupta Eruption 1912

 The Novarupta Eruption of 1912

The Novarupta Eruption began on June 6th, 1912 and lasted about 60 hours2. It occurred on the Alaska Peninsula and erupted from a Plinian pyroclastic vent with a plug dome3.  It was the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century. It is a unique eruption due to the three different magma types that were involved in the eruption. The three different magma types were rhyolite, dacite, and andesite, which all contain different amounts of silica6. This led to the magma swirling together and creating a pumice that had black and white bands6. The eruption was originally thought to have occurred at Mount Katmai. However, years after the occurrence of the event, it was shown that due to the collapse of Mount Katmai before the eruption, all of the lava was pushed underground and created pressure at the Novarupta vent, which is ultimately what ended up exploding6. Luckily, the impact on the human environment was fairly minimal. The population closest to the eruption was over 100 kilometers away and consisted of 667 individuals. There were no fatalities, but there was damage done to buildings. Up to a foot of ash landed in the town of Kodiak, where roofs collapsed and buildings were destroyed by ash flows 6. There were also buildings that burned after being struck by lightning from the ash cloud, and the water in Kodiak was undrinkable6. However the effects on the physical environment were catastrophic. This eruption resulted in what is known as the “Valley of 10,000 Smokes”6. Not only did the eruption affect the physical environment in the local area, it actually changed the climate of the northern hemisphere in 1912. The fine dust from the volcano was carried into the atmosphere and created a haze, which led to an unusually cool summer that year2. Because of this prolonged cooling period, the growth of trees and other plants5.

This is an image of the dome that caps the Novarupta vent. Photo by Tom Miller (Alaska Volcano Observatory, U.S. Geological Survey).

Due to the little impact that the eruption had on the human environment, not much mitigation can necessarily be done to help solve very many problems. The Novarupta vent is far enough away from significant human civilization that there is not much to change in that aspect. Individuals that were in the zone that had the most tephra fall were rescued before they suffered severe consequences4 . The most damage that was done was the collapse of roofs as mentioned previously. Reinforcing structures would allow for more stable roofs and less building damage. Making an evacuation plan for populations who are within the range of fallout from the volcano would also be a good way to mitigate possible future incidents, however there has been little to no action at the Novarupta vent since the 1912 eruption.The site has been of scientific significance since its eruption. It was one of the 5 largest in history7. It created the Valley of 10,000 Smokes, which was the large volume of pyroclastic flows that had settled on land7 and about 50 earthquakes nearby led to a collapsed caldera, one of the few in volcanic history1.

This graphic shows a comparison of large volcanic eruptions and their erupted magma volume. Photo by Fierstein (2012, National Park Service)

This image shows the Novarupta Dome and the surrounding volcanoes and geologic formations (Photo by NPS).

This video is a summary of the Novarupta Eruption of 1912. It uses pictures and graphics to explain what happened and the process by which the eruption occurred. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA-Av50wkqU)

 Sources 

1. Fierstein, W. H. and J. (n.d.). The novarupta-katmai eruption of 1912-largest eruption of the Twentieth Century: Centennial perspectives. USGS Publications Warehouse. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/1791 /

2. The impact of the 1912 Novarupta/Katmai eruption on the Pacific Northwest. The Impact of the 1912 Novarupta/Katmai Eruption on the Pacific Northwest | U.S. Geological Survey. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://www.usgs.gov/news/impact-1912-novaruptakatmai-eruption-pacific-northwest 

3. Novarupta description and information. novarupta - Introduction. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/volcinfo.php?volcname=novarupta 

4. Novarupta reported activity. Novarupta - Historic eruptions. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/activity.php?volcname=Novarupta&page=impact&eruptionid=456 

5. U.S. Department of the Interior. (n.d.). Effect of the novarupta (1912) eruption on forests of southcentral Alaska: Clues from the Tree Ring Record (U.S. National Park Service). National Parks Service. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://www.nps.gov/articles/aps-v11-i1-c12.htm#:~:text=The%20eruption%20of%20Novarupta%20on,1998). 

6. U.S. Department of the Interior. (n.d.). The Great Eruption of 1912 (U.S. National Park Service). National Parks Service. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://www.nps.gov/articles/aps-v11-i1-c2.htm 

7. U.S. Department of the Interior. (n.d.). Valley of ten thousand smokes and the 1912 novarupta-katmai eruption. National Parks Service. Retrieved October 31, 2022, from https://www.nps.gov/katm/learn/nature/valley-of-ten-thousand-smokes.htm#:~:text=Scientific%20Significance,largest%20eruptions%20in%20recorded%20history.