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USGS CMG InfoBank: 1912 Mount Katmai Eruption

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Comment: 15:26 - 16:40 (01:14)

Source: Annenberg/CPB Resources - Earth Revealed - 1. Down to Earth

Keywords: volcano, "volcanic eruption", "Mount Katmai", Alaska, "John Eichelberger"

Our transcription: In a research project underway in Alaska, geologists are studying one of the most powerful volcanic events of the Twentieth Century, the 1912 eruption of Mt. Katmai.

Scientists there believe this is an excellent setting in which to learn more about how explosive eruptions occur.

It all happened in about 60 hours.

We know exactly when, the date, the time, and, also, which is as very unusual is that it came up through an area where nothing much had happened volcanically before.

It came up through a very simple part of the Earth's crust, and, finally, the system is perfectly preserved.

Usually, in events of this type, there's an enormous amount of collapse at the vent, the area is flooded by water, or it occurs in a very complex area, and it gets eroded away.

In this case, the whole system is perfectly preserved, so the size, the simplicity geologically, and the preservation make it an exceptionally good place to try to understand the basic processes of explosive eruption.

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