Selected Examples of Mass Wasting
on Mount Shasta

A Term Paper
by Bob Musgrove
Geography 581 Geomorphology
Professor: Dr. Mairs
Southern Oregon University 
 Introduction | Snow Avalanches | Jokulhlaups | A Unique Debris Flow | Conclusion | Sources

 

INTRODUCTION

When most people consider the hazards of living on or near a volcano, eruptive threats usually come to mind first . Anyone who has visited an inhabited, active volcanic area cannot help but wonder how local residents deal with the dramatic and explosive menaces associated with lava flows, lahars, pyroclastic flows, and nuee ardentes. The world media and and the viewing public were gripped by the recent eruptive episodes on the Caribbean island of Monseratt, and potential volcanic activity makes the news whenever and wherever vulcanologists release their forecasts. While the fiery and the dramatic may be good headline grabbers, the mountain environment of large volcanoes may present serious, non-eruptive threats to humans, property, and the ecosystem.

Mass wasting events are a very real hazard on the Cascade volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest. As a citizen of Siskiyou County, California, I am particularly interested in geologically recent mass wasting phenomona on Mount Shasta, the 14,165-foot volcano in my backyard. Three specific types of mass wasting on Mount Shasta are loosely associated with high mountain environment. Snow avalanches, jokulhlaups, and debris flows are caused by a variety of conditions which are influenced by similar principles of physics.

 

 

 Introduction | Snow Avalanches | Jokulhlaups | A Unique Debris Flow | Conclusion | Sources

web page authored by Bob Musgrove