Ice and Fire: An Analysis of Glacier-volcano Interactions in Iceland and the Pacific Northwest

• Main Author: Orr, Aaron
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Digital Commons@WOU 2018
• Subjects: Pacific; Antarc*; Antarctica; glacier; Iceland
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/aes_event/2018/all/156

Volcanoes and glaciers are both incredible natural structures that already pose looming threats to their surroundings. However, these two geologic entities are not always spatially isolated and can often occur together. Resulting glacier-volcano interactions can produce catastrophic events that wreak havoc on their surroundings in the form of floods, debris flows, and channelized lava flows. Glacier-volcano interactions are not only found in constantly frigid environments like Iceland and Antarctica, but also in areas like the Pacific Northwest along the northern Cascades. With such a widespread geographical occurrence, these interactions are not only important to polar regions. Understanding how glaciers and volcanoes affect one another—and how these glacial-volcanic phenomena affect humans and their environment—is imperative to predicting future catastrophes and reducing risk to human lives. This presentation will explore where volcanoes and glaciers co-occur, how they affect one another, and how these interactions impact humans and the environment.