Adams (United States)

Status Unknown Eruption 950 3742m
Stratovolcano (Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km))

Adams

Although lower in height than its neighbor to the north, Mount Rainier, Mount Adams rises above a lower topographic base and is second in volume only to Mount Shasta in the Cascade Range. The volcanic field includes the 200 km3 Mount Adams complex andesitic-dacitic stratovolcano, elongated along a NNW-SSE line, and more than 60 flank vents. Volcanism began about 940 ka, with three main cone-building stages occurring at about 500, 450, and 30 ka. It was active throughout the Holocene, producing two dozen minor explosive eruptions from summit and flank vents. Six Holocene lava flows are located on the flanks between 2100 and 2600 m altitude. The most voluminous Holocene lava flows, some of which traveled 10 km or more, were emplaced between about 7 and 4 ka. The latest eruption about 1000 years ago produced a minor tephra layer and possibly a small lava flow down the E flank.

Mount Adams rises above a cloud layer filling valleys in the Cascade Range, viewed from High Knob, NW of the volcano. Adams is constructed on a lower base than its neighbor Mount Rainier, and has a larger volume. Unlike Mount Rainier, where eruptions have mostly been restricted to the summit conduit, Mount Adams has also produced eruptions from numerous flank vents surrounding the volcano. A series of lava flows were erupted on the north, NW, south and east flanks between about 7000 and 1000 years ago.

Photo by Lee Siebert, 1981 (Smithsonian Institution).

Last updated 2019-08-04 00:28:03

View Adams Via Satellite

Camera

Latest activity