Known Geologic Events at Mount Rainier
The purpose of this page is to list all known, dated gelogic events at Mount Rainier, including lahars, debris flows, large rockfalls, large avalanches, rockfalls, and other events. This list is currently being compiled, so if you find errors or a missing event, please
let Scott know.
Database ID#: 103
Date: Saturday, October 7, 2006
Location: Cowlitz Chimneys
Glacier Name: None
Drainage Basin:
Event Type: Earthquake
Weather:
Season: N/A
Notes:
J. Acker:
Saturday night two other birders met up with me to owl at Sunrise. When I arrived at the top of Sunrise at 6:30 the cloud layer had just moved in, but it dissipated shortly after sunset. The moon was near full, and the stars were gorgeous. It was 42 degrees, and clear. I started owling shortly after sunset, and had no responses for the first hour, which struck me as being weird. There should have been saw-whets responding.
And then it hit. The noise was like a sonic boom, only it went on for four or five seconds. Somewhat like rolling thunder, only it was at the same pitch and intensity. And then for the next several seconds, it was utterly quiet, followed by the avalanche of rocks and ice off the northeast side of Mt. Rainier. By the moonlight, the avalanche scar could easily be seen. The avalanche went on for what seemed like a minute, with the sounds of breaking ice and rock.
From Seth Moran:
I put out two seismic stations today (CMG-6TD sensors) at locations ~5 km east and ~3.5 km north of last night's epicenter. The first is 0.3 miles south of Cayuse Pass at 46 51' 50.7", 121 31' 57.4" (WGS84 coordinates), the site was functioning well when I left it at 11 am. The second is about 100' up (and ~25' into the woods from) the Owyhigh trail from the trailhead parking lot at 46 53' 25.0", 121 35' 37.5". I had a lot of trouble getting good GPS at the Owyhigh site, as the site's in a steep-sided valley and in a small clearing surrounded by tall trees. After an hour the seismometer's GPS clock had yet to sync up, staying ~45 seconds or so behind true time (as gauged by my watch). It was mid-afternoon when I left, which is at a lull in GPS coverage. So, hopefully the clock will sync up in the next day and we'll get good data out of it from then on. Heard two booms while I was out, the second at around 2:16-ish. I didn't feel the ground move, but there was a larger-than-average aftershock at about that time. Stranger things have happened. Everyone I spoke with who was at the Park last night felt it & heard the eq very strongly, and apparently the Park maintenance crews were out last night sweeping rocks off the Stevens' Canyon and 123/410 roads.
The seismometers will be collected in a week or so unless the swarm energizes. The White River entrance closes Tuesday;
http://www.morageology.com/earthquake_range.php?t0=1160247600&t1=1160598600&dt_length=50
Estimated Velocity:
Estimated Peak Flow:
Estimated Volume:
References:
J. Acker [mailto:owler@sounddsl.com]
Seth Moran
Data references:
Beason, S.R., 2012, Small glacial outburst flood occurs on Mount Rainier - October 27, 2012: Unpublished National Park Service Science Brief, 3 p.
Beason, S.R., et al., in prep, Glacial outburst floods and debris flows from the South Tahoma Glacier, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington: August and September, 2015: National Park Service Natural Resource Report NPS/MORA/NRR-2015/XXX.
Copeland, E.A., 2010, Recent periglacial debris flows from Mount Rainier, Washington: M.S. Thesis, Oregon State University, 125 p.
Copeland, E.A., P.M. Kennard, A.W. Nolin, S.T. Lanscaster and G.E. Grant, 2008, Initiation of recent debris flows on Mount Rainier, Washington: A climate warming signal? American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Crandell, D.R., 1971, Postglacial lahars from Mt. Rainier volcano, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 677, 75 p.
Donovan, K.H.M, 2005, An investigation into the 2003 Van Trump Creek debris flow, Mt. Rainier, Washington, United States of America: BSc Geological Hazards Thesis, University of Portsmouth (UK), 58 p.
Driedger, C.L. and A.G. Fountain, 1989, Glacier outburst floods at Mout Rainier, Washington State, USA: Anals of Glaciology, Vol. 13, 5 p.
Hodge, S., 1972, The movement and basal conditions of the Nisqually Glacier, Mount Rainier: Ph.D Thesis, Univeristy of Washington, xxx p.
Legg, N.T., 2013, Debris flows in glaciated catchments: A case study on Mount Rainier, Washington: M.S. Thesis, Oregon State University, 162 p.
Legg, N.T., A.J. Meigs, G.E. Grant and P.M. Kennard, 2014, Debris flow initiation in proglacial gullies on Mount Rainier, Washington: Geomorphology, Vol. 226, p. 249-260.
Richardson D., 1968, Glacier outburst floods in the Pacific Northwest: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 600-D, D79-D86.
Samora, B., 1991, Chronology of flood events as noted in the superintendent's annual reports 1940-1991, Unpublished Internal Document, Mount Rainier National Park, WA, 13 p.
Scott, K.M., J.W. Vallance, and P.T. Pringle, 1995, Sedimentology, behavior, and hazards of debris flows at Mount Rainier, Washington: United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1547, 56 p.
Vallance, J.W., C.L. Driedger and W.E. Scott, 2002, Diversion of meltwater from Kautz Glacier initiates small debris flows near Van Trump Park, Mount Rainier, Washington: Washington Geology, Vol. 30, No. 1/2, p. 17-19.
Vallance, J.W., M.L. Cunico and S.P. Schilling, 2003, Debris-flow hazards caused by hydrologic events at Mount Rainier, Washington: United States Geological Survey Open-File Report 2003-368, 4 p.
Walder, J.S. and C.L. Driedger, 1994, Geomorphic changed caused by outburst floods and debris flows at Mount Rainier, Washington, with emphasis on Tahoma Creek valley: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 93-4093, 100 p.
Walder, J.S. and C.L. Driedger, 1994, Rapid geomorphic change caused by glacial outburst floods and debris flows along Tahoma Creek, Mount Rainier, Washington, USA: Arctic and Alpine Research, Vol. 26, No. 4, p. 319-327.
Walder, J.S. and C.L. Driedger, 1995, Frequent outburst floods from South Tahoma Glacier, Mount Rainier, USA: relation to debris flows, meterological origin and implications for subglacial hydrology: Journal of Glaciology, Vol. 41, No. 137, 11 p.