Scientists Looking at a Possibly Undetected Volcano in Alaska

Is there a previously undiscovered volcano within Alaska’s Aleutian chain of islands? A team of scientists recently presented their findings surrounding this possibility during a meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

- JIM BRACE-THOMPSON

According to a press release issued Dec. 3, 2020 by the AGU, if the ongoing research proves accurate, and the stratovolcanoes that form the Four Mountains islands within the central Aleutian Islands are part of a single gigantic volcano, it could be in the same category as the Yellowstone caldera.

The six stratovolcanoes are the most common idea of a volcano, with the possibility of intense eruptions, not unlike Mount St. Helen’s in 1980. However, the stratovolcanoes are lesser-known than the calderas that frequently erupt. The focus of the scientists’ research has centered on one of the stratovolcanoes, Mount Cleveland, which has been the more active of the Four Mountains group. According to the release, the researchers, which include scientists from various fields, are working together to gather evidence surrounding the idea that the islands may be part of an interconnected caldera.

“We’ve been scraping under the couch cushions for data,” said Diana Roman, of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., co-author of the study, referring to the difficulty of studying such a remote place. “But everything we look at lines up with a caldera in this region.”