Skip to main content
← Back to map
⇄ Compare

Mount Adams

Adams

Stratovolcano · United States · 3742m

Mount Adams in the Cascade Range is seen here in 1981 from High Knob to the NW. Its base is at a lower elevation than its neighbor Mount Rainier and it has a larger volume. Numerous flank vents surround the volcano and a series of lava flows have erupted on the N, NW, S and E flanks.
Mount Adams in the Cascade Range is seen here in 1981 from High Knob to the NW. Its base is at a lower elevation than its neighbor Mount Rainier and it has a larger volume. Numerous flank vents surround the volcano and a series of lava flows have erupted on the N, NW, S and E flanks. · Photo: Photo by Lee Siebert, 1981 (Smithsonian Institution). · Wikimedia Commons
Type
Stratovolcano
Country
United States
Region
North America Volcanic Regions / High Cascades Volcanic Arc
Elevation
3742m
Coordinates
46.206, -121.490
Last eruption
950
Tectonic setting
Subduction zone / Continental crust (> 25 km)
Landform
Composite
Major rock type
Andesite / Basaltic Andesite
Geological summary

The andesitic-dacitic Mount Adams stratovolcano is second in volume only to Mount Shasta in the Cascade Range. The volcanic complex is elongated along a NNW-SSE line, and includes more than 60 flank vents over 200 km2. 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 2,100 and 2,600 m elevation. The most voluminous Holocene lava flows, some of which traveled 10 km or more, were emplaced between about 7,000 and 4,000 years ago. The latest eruption about 1,000 years ago produced a minor tephra layer and possibly a small lava flow down the E flank.

From Wikipedia

Mount Adams is a stratovolcano located in the Cascade Range of Washington, United States. Standing at 12,276 ft (3,742 m) feet, it is the second-highest mountain in Washington and a prominent feature within the Cascade Volcanic Arc, which formed as a result of the subduction of the Juan de Fuca Plate beneath the North American Plate. Adams is near two more-frequently erupting neighbors, Mount St Helens and Mount Rainier. It has twelve named glaciers descending its slopes.

Wikipedia · CC BY-SA · Read full article →

Eruption history

Summary (VEI over time)
Click a bar to see individual eruptions
7050 BCE~6783 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 25183 BCE~4917 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 24650 BCE~4383 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 24117 BCE~3850 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 23850 BCE~3583 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 13583 BCE~3317 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 23317 BCE~3050 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 23050 BCE~2783 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 12783 BCE~2517 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 21983 BCE~1717 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 1650 BCE~383 BCE · 2 eruptions · max VEI 2383 BCE~117 BCE · 1 eruptions · max VEI 2150~417 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 2683~950 · 1 eruptions · max VEI 27050 BCE5183 BCE3050 BCE1183 BCE683

Detailed timeline

  1. 950VEI 2Geological estimate
    950 – Ongoing
    East flank?
  2. 200VEI 2Geological estimate
    200 – Ongoing
  3. 300 BCEVEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 300 – Ongoing
  4. 400 BCEVEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 400 – Ongoing
  5. 550 BCE (±1000 yrs)VEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 550 – Ongoing
  6. 1850 BCEVEI 1Geological estimate
    BCE 1850 – Ongoing
    SSE flank (2100 m)
  7. 2650 BCE (±300 yrs)VEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 2650 – Ongoing
  8. 2950 BCE (±100 yrs)VEI 1Geological estimate
    BCE 2950 – Ongoing
    SSE flank (2600 m)
  9. 3250 BCE (±300 yrs)VEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 3250 – Ongoing
  10. 3550 BCEVEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 3550 – Ongoing
  11. 3800 BCE (±1950 yrs)VEI 1Geological estimate
    BCE 3800 – Ongoing
    NNE flank (2100-2250 m)
  12. 4050 BCE (±500 yrs)VEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 4050 – Ongoing
    Upper SW flank?
  13. 4550 BCEVEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 4550 – Ongoing
    NW flank (2200-2400 m)
  14. 5150 BCE (±500 yrs)VEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 5150 – Ongoing
  15. 7050 BCE (±1000 yrs)VEI 2Geological estimate
    BCE 7050 – Ongoing

External links

⚠ For reference only. Not for emergency response.