Benjamin R Edwards

Benjamin R Edwards
Dickinson College · Department of Geosciences

Ph.D., M.Sc., B.A.
Finally finishing up descriptions of lava textures from 2010 Gigjokull lava flow! Hopefully something submitted soon!

About

139
Publications
27,400
Reads
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2,143
Citations
Introduction
All aspects of global glaciovolcanism and glacier response to volcanism and climate change. Also broadly focused on Arctic Studies and geospatial analysis of the Arctic. Leading student expeditions to Arctic environments to teach/demonstrate methods for quantifying climate impacts of global warming. Leading alumni tours to Iceland, Italy, Galapagos. Writing geo-parodies (Red Lava Flow, We Didn't Start the [rock] Cycle, The Wreck of Planet Earth's Climate, etc).
Additional affiliations
May 2018 - June 2022
Dickinson College
Position
  • Chair
Description
  • Led trips to Arctic and sub-Arctic to teach students field methods for documenting short and long-term climate change (glaciers, glaciovolcanic deposits)
May 2020 - June 2023
Dickinson College
Position
  • Professor (Full)
Description
  • Teach courses in Arctic Studies and coordinate Arctic field expeditions for undergraduate researchers
July 2006 - May 2016
Dickinson College
Position
  • Professor (Associate)
Description
  • Taught courses in Petrology, Mineralogy, Earth Materials, Natural Hazards, Soils, Physical Geology, Volcanology; supervised research in volcanology; Depart Head; led/co-led trips to Hawaii, Costa Rica, Iceland, Arizona/NM, North Carolina, New York State
Education
September 1992 - November 1997
University of British Columbia
Field of study
  • Physical and Chemical Volcanology, Igneous Petrology, Thermodynamics
January 1990 - May 1993
University of Wyoming
Field of study
  • Igneous Petrology, Geochemistry
September 1985 - June 1989
Carleton College
Field of study
  • Geology, Natural History

Publications

Publications (139)
Article
We created a global database of glacierized volcanoes, using a projection optimized for each volcano, to identify locations where land ice (glaciers and ice sheets) and volcanoes co-exist on Earth. Our spatial database melds the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Database (SGVD) and the Randolph Glacier Inventory 6.0 (RGI). We identified all Holocene vol...
Chapter
Full-text available
The Tuya-Kawdy region of northern British Columbia is well established as a place where glaciation and volcanism overlapped in space. However, no modern work has integrated observations from the region's volcanic and glacial deposits with geo-chronologic constraints to summarize how they might overlap in time. Here, we provide a general overview of...
Article
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Volcanic heating is predicted by theory to affect the velocity of nearby glaciers. However, conclusive studies on a large scale are lacking. Here, we conduct a global comparison of the velocities of glaciers near active volcanoes (i.e. within 5 km) and those located elsewhere ( > 5 km from an active volcano). Our findings show that, when considered...
Article
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Determining how and why eruptive outputs are modulated by the loading and unloading of ice is key to understanding whether ongoing and accelerating deglaciation across mid- to high-latitudes will impact future activity at many volcanoes. Here, we address two central questions. First, does decompression of the upper crust during rapid thinning of ic...
Article
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Determining how and why eruptive outputs are modulated by the loading and unloading of ice is key to understanding whether ongoing and accelerating deglaciation across mid- to high-latitudes will impact future activity at many volcanoes. Here, we address two central questions. First, does decompression of the upper crust during rapid thinning of ic...
Article
Mocho-Choshuenco volcano (39.9°S, 72.0°W) produced ∼75 explosive eruptions following retreat of the >1.5-km-thick Patagonian Ice Sheet associated with the local Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, from 35 to 18 ka). Here, we extend this record of volcanic evolution to include pre- and syn-LGM lavas that erupted during the Pleistocene. We establish a long-te...
Article
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The Canadian Cordillera hosts numerous Pleistocene and Holocene volcanoes and volcanic deposits, including a number of volcanoes that have erupted within the last several hundred years. The nature and composition of volcanic edifices and deposits are diverse and dictated by the complex configuration of tectonic plates along the western margin of Br...
Article
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Glaciovolcanic landforms provide global-scale records of paleoenvironmental conditions and yield insights into subglacial eruption processes. Models for the formation of glaciovolcanic ridges, or tindars, are relatively simple, proposing a monogenetic eruption and a fairly uniform stratigraphy with or without a single transition from effusive pillo...
Article
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Veniaminof Volcano on the Alaska Peninsula of southwest Alaska is one of a small group of ice-clad volcanoes globally that erupts lava flows in the presence of glacier ice. Here, we describe the nature of lava-ice-snow interactions that have occurred during historical eruptions of the volcano since 1944. Lava flows with total volumes on the order o...
Article
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In contrast to water and air, ice is the most dynamic enveloping medium and unique environment for volcanic eruptions. While all three environments influence volcanic activity and eruption products, the cryospheric eruption environment is unique because: 1) it supports rapid changes between those environments (i.e. subglacial, subaqueous, subaerial...
Article
Passage zones are stratigraphic surfaces found in littoral settings separating deposits diagnostic of subaqueous environments from overlying sequences of subaerial deposits. In glaciovolcanic settings, passage zone surfaces are unequivocal records of the heights and depths of paleo-englacial lakes at a specific point in time and space, thereby, inf...
Article
Full-text available
Globally, about 250 Holocene volcanoes are either glacier-clad or have glaciers in close proximity. Interactions between volcanoes and glaciers are therefore common, and some of the most deadly (e.g., Nevado del Ruiz, 1985) and most costly (e.g., Eyjafjallajökull, 2010) eruptions of recent years were associated with glaciovolcanism. An improved und...
Article
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In this study, we use aerial photographs, satellite imagery and field observations to quantify changes in the area, terminus length, snowline elevation and surface elevation of eight glaciers in the Alexandra Fiord region, eastern Ellesmere Island, between 1959 and 2019. Comparisons to written and pictorial descriptions from the British Arctic Expe...
Article
Magma-carbonate interactions and the subsequent CO2 release can occur before and during an eruption, critically affecting magma storage and ascent processes. However, the mechanisms and timescales of those interactions are unclear, particularly during the fast magma withdrawal that feeds high-intensity eruptions. In order to better understand magma...
Poster
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We present findings of impacts on ice-clad volcanoes via a systematic search of freely available satellite images for three locations in Chile, Alaska and Iceland. These include the formation of depressions and cauldrons, crevassing and tephra coverage.
Article
Full-text available
Comments on ‘Area changes of glaciers on active volcanoes in Latin America’ by Reinthaler and others (2019) - William Kochtitzky, Benjamin Edwards
Article
Full-text available
Basanite lavas near Craven Lake, British Columbia, host a spinel-lherzolite xenolith containing cross-cutting veins with pargasitic amphibole (+minor apatite). The occurrence of vein amphibole in spinel lherzolite is singular for the Canadian Cordillera. The vein crosscuts foliated peridotite and is itself cut by the basanite host. The amphibole is...
Article
On the basis of new petrological, radiometric, and other geotectonic data, we rationalize the character and onset of Neogene-Quaternary volcanism in the northern Cordilleran volcanic province of British Columbia. From 20 Ma to present, volcanism across the northern Cordillera is attributable to incipient rifting of the continental margin of northwe...
Article
The northern Cordilleran volcanic province encompasses a broad area of Neogene to Qua-ternary volcanism in northwestern British Columbia, the Yukon Territory, and adjacent eastern Alaska. Volcanic rocks of the northern Cordilleran volcanic province range in age from 20 Ma to ca. 200 yr B.P. and are dominantly alkali olivine basalt and hawai-ite. A...
Conference Paper
The feeding systems of numerous explosive volcanoes (e.g. Somma-Vesuvius, Colli Albani, Merapi, Popocatepetl) are developed within carbonate bedrocks. Geochemical and petrological evidence of magma–limestone interaction has been documented in their volcanic deposits. During this reaction large amounts of crustal CO2 can be released with possible si...
Article
Full-text available
Accurate quantification of rates of glacier mass loss is critical for managing water resources and for assessing hazards at ice-clad volcanoes, especially in arid regions like southern Peru. In these regions, glacier and snow melt are crucial dry season water resources. In order to verify previously reported rates of ice area decline at Nevado Coro...
Chapter
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Ключевская группа вулканов (КГВ) располагается в северной части Центральной Камчатской депрессии (ЦКД) и является одной из самых крупных и наиболее активных вулканических структур на Камчатке и в мире. В южной части КГВ находится позднеплейстоцен-голоценовый Толбачинский массив, который извергался неоднократно в течение голоцена и исторического вре...
Book
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The study of volcano-ice interactions, or 'glaciovolcanism', is a field experiencing exponential growth. This comprehensive volume presents a discussion of the distinctive processes and characteristics of glaciovolcanic eruptions, their products, and landforms, with reference to both terrestrial and Mars occurrences. Supported by abundant diagrams...
Article
During the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption in South Iceland, a 3.2-km-long benmoreite lava flow was emplaced subglacially during a 17-day effusive-explosive phase from April 18 to May 4. The lava flowed to the north out of the ice-filled summit caldera down the outlet glacier Gígjökull. The flow has a vertical drop of about 700 m, an area of ca. 0.5...
Data
Full-text available
The Tolbachik volcanic massif, which comprises two stratovolcanoes, Ostry Tolbachik and Plosky Tolbachik, as well as numerous scoria cones and related lava flows, is one of the largest and most active volcanic areas in Kamchatka. The massif has erupted repeatedly during the Holocene and historical times, but became recognised as a volcano of global...
Article
This volcano, informally named Kima’Kho, is one of more than 30 Pleistocene volcanoes on the Tuya-Kawdy plateau of northern British Columbia that record interactions with the Cordilleran ice sheet. This basaltic glaciovolcano features deposits resulting from explosive and effusive eruptions at 1.9 Ma and hosts multiple passage zones (transition sur...
Article
The results of fieldwork completed during 2009 and 2010 at Kima’Kho Mountain, north- western British Columbia, comprising a geological map and complementary stratigraphic and petrological data are presented herein. The geological map shows the distribution of three distinct basaltic lithofacies. The lithofacies are denoted as volcaniclastic, cohere...
Article
We present a broad overview of the 2012–13 flank fissure eruption of Plosky Tolbachik Volcano in the central Kamchatka Peninsula. The eruption lasted more than nine months and produced approximately 0.55 km 3 DRE (volume recalculated to a density of 2.8 g/cm 3) of basaltic trachyandesite magma. The 2012–13 eruption of Tolbachik is one of the most v...
Data
e-Fig. 1 Interactive Google Earth electronic map of the Tolbachik monogenetic scoria cones showing the ages, locations and compositions of vents and lava flows. The ages are from Braitseva et al. (1984), based on tephrochronological dating of lava flows with the help of regional marker tephra layers (Table 1). Six age groups were identified and com...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
We have created a database documenting the global occurrence of potentially active volcanoes and nearby glaciers from existing sources (Global Volcanism Program and GLIMS). Our analysis shows that 267 terrestrial volcanoes presently have at least one glacier within 1 km, 290 have glaciers with 2.5 km, and 318 have glaciers within 5 km. South Americ...
Chapter
This edited volume, showcasing cutting-edge research, addresses two primary questions - what are the main drivers of change in high-mountains and what are the risks implied by these changes? From a physical perspective, it examines the complex interplay between climate and the high-mountain cryosphere, with further chapters covering tectonics, volc...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Tolbachinsky Dol, one of the largest zones of monogenetic volcanism in Kamchatka, has formed throughout the Holocene by numerous eruptions of high-Al sub-alkaline basalts and basaltic andesites, and since 2 ka also of high-Mg medium-K basalts. A new fissure eruption happened here at the end of November 2012; it lasted for 9 months and produced abou...
Chapter
Glaciovolcanism (a.k.a., subglacial volcanism, volcano–ice interaction) involves all interactions between magmatic-volcanic systems and ice in any form, including meltwater derived directly from ice melting. The earliest studies to recognize connections between characteristic volcanic deposits and an ice-rich environment were conducted in Iceland (...
Article
Full-text available
Glaciovolcanism (a.k.a., subglacial volcanism, volcano-ice interaction) involves all interactions between magmatic-volcanic systems and ice in any form, including meltwater derived directly from ice-melting. The earliest studies to recognize connections between characteristic volcanic deposits and an ice-rich environment were conducted in Iceland (...
Article
Understanding interactions between volcanic eruptions and the cryosphere (a.k.a. glaciovolcanism) is important for climate reconstructions as well as for hazard mitigation at ice-clad volcanoes. Here we present unique field observations of interactions between snowpack and advancing basaltic lava flows during the 2012-13 eruption at Tolbachik volca...
Chapter
Full-text available
Hoodoo Mountain ice cap, Hoodoo Glacier, and Twin Glacier are located about 250 km southeast of Juneau, Alaska, in the Coast Mountains (near 56.8°N, 131.3°W, northwestern British Columbia). Several outlet valley glaciers flow towards the south from an ice cap centered approximately 16 km northeast of Hoodoo Mountain; some glaciers are relatively cl...
Article
Undirhlíðar quarry on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwest Iceland exposes an almost complete cross-section of a pillow-dominated tindar. Detailed mapping and geochemical analyses of the quarry walls show that glaciovolcanic lithologies are controlled not only by ice conditions, but also by complex changes in magmatic conditions. Undirhlíðar’s glac...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Alexander Belousov (1), Marina Belousova (1), Benjamin Edwards (2), Anna Volynets (1), Dmitry Melnikov (1), Viktor Dvigalo (1), and Sergey Senyukov (3) (1) Institute of volcanology and seismology, Petropavlovsk, Russian Federation (belousov@mail.ru), (2) Department of geology, Dickinson College, PA, USA, (3) Kamchatka branch of geophysical survey,...
Article
We present a descriptive genetic classification scheme and accompanying nomenclature for glaciovolcanic edifices herein defined as tuyas: positive-relief volcanoes having a morphology resulting from ice confinement during eruption and comprising a set of lithofacies reflecting direct interaction between magma and ice/melt water. The combinations of...
Article
Studies of terrestrial glaciovolcanic deposits have elucidated the utility of these deposits as tools to constrain ice conditions at the time of their emplacement. Very few studies, however, have documented the emplacement of effusion-dominated, basaltic glaciovolcanic eruptions. The Tennena volcanic center (TVC), located at 57° 40′ 57.705″ N 130°...
Data
Full-text available
Quantitative measurements of interactions between lava and ice/snow are critical for improving our knowledge of glaciovolcanic hazards and our ability to use glaciovolcanic deposits for paleoclimate reconstructions. However, such measurements are rare because the eruptions tend to be dangerous and not easily accessible. To address these difficultie...
Article
On 27 November 2012 at 1715 local time, a focused swarm of earthquakes was interpreted as the start of a new ongoing eruption on the south flank (Tolbachinsky Dol) of Plosky Tolbachik volcano in east central Kamchatka, Russia (Figure 1a) [Samoylenko et al., 2012]. Visual observations on 29 November showed ash shooting from two fractures as well as...
Article
Volcanoes are increasingly recognized as agents and recorders of global climate variability, although deciphering the linkages between planetary climate and volcanism is still in its infancy. The growth and emergence of subaqueous volcanoes produce passage zones, which are stratigraphic surfaces marking major transitions in depositional environment...
Conference Paper
The summit eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in April 14 – May 22 2010 can be divided into at least three main phases based on eruption styles. The first was a powerful, explosive, with magma-water interaction. The second phase (April 21 - May 5) was mixed explosive/effusive. A lava flow slowly advanced towards north while a rather mild explosive erupti...
Article
Full-text available
The 20 March-12 April basaltic effusive eruption at Fimmvörðuháls, southern Iceland, was an important opportunity to directly observe interactions between lava and snow/ice. The eruption site has local perennial snowfields and snow covered ice, and at the time of eruption it was covered with an additional ˜1-3 m of seasonal snow. Syn-eruption obser...
Article
Full-text available
Andisols are soils derived from tephra/volcanic bedrock and are generally considered to be fertile for plant growth (cf. University of Hawaii at Manoa, CTAHR). However, few studies have been published examining the immediate effects of the addition of volcanic ash to soils immediately after an eruption. Our research is motivated by unpublished acco...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
One of the least accessible products of the 2010 Eyjafjallajokull eruption is the trachyandesite lava that flowed north from the summit eruption site down through Gigjökull glacier. Based on numerous overflights during 2010, syn-eruption satellite imagery and two on-site investigations in 2011, we have developed a preliminary model to illustrate th...
Article
Full-text available
Many of the original models for glaciovolcanic (subglacial) eruptions reported an ordered stratigraphy of basal pillow lavas, followed by tephra (hyaloclastite + pillow lava breccia), and capped by subaerial lava flows (e.g. Mathews 1947; Jones, 1969, 1970). These facies were interpreted to represent an effusive eruption onset, followed by slowly b...
Article
Accretionary lapilli are common products of volcanic eruptions and their presence is important for constraining eruption conditions. Armoured lapilli, a specific type of accretionary lapilli featuring discrete cores coated by ash occur within the proximal pyroclastic deposits of Kima'Kho tuya, northern B.C., Canada. The armoured lapilli are absent...
Article
The composition and detailed morphology of dome-shaped features located in western Arcadia Planitia and just west of Utopia Planitia were examined in this study utilizing data from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey sensors. The domes have diameters averaging 1.5 km and heights averaging 160 m, and are generally dark-toned, although some...
Article
On March 20th a small basaltic fissure opened at the northern edge of Fimmvorduhals, a popular hiking pass between Eyjafjallajökull, to the west, and Myrdalsjökull, to the east. Immediately prior to the eruption, the vent area was covered with typically 1-3 meters of snow and locally snow-covered, isolated remnants of glacial ice. Fieldwork conduct...
Article
The hazards associated with 2010 eruption from Eyjafjallajokull were well documented, and included flooding, pyroclastic activity, and local/regional ash and aerosol dispersal (e.g., Gudmundsson et al, 2010, Session V27). At least two ice-capped, alkaline volcanoes in northwestern British Columbia could produce similar styles of eruptive activity w...
Article
Full-text available
An exceptional opportunity to sample several large blocks sourced from the same region of the growing Soufrière Hills lava dome has documented a significant increase in the presence of mafic enclaves in the host andesite during the course of a long‐lived eruptive episode with several phases. In 1997 (Phase I) mafic inclusions comprised ∼1 volume pe...
Article
Petrological, volcanological and geochronological data collected at Mathews Tuya together provide constraints on paleoclimate conditions during formation of the edifice. The basaltic tuya was produced via Pleistocene glaciovolcanism in northern British Columbia, Canada, and is located within the Tuya volcanic field (59.195°N/130.434°W), which is pa...
Article
Constraints on pre-LGM ice-sheet positions and characteristics in North America have been hampered by the difficulty of identifying features that formed before the LGM and survived its immense erosive powers. Fortunately for paleo-climate reconstruction efforts in northwestern NA, sporadic volcanism accompanied the presence of ice over at least the...
Article
Peridotite and pyroxenite xenoliths from the glaciovolcanic Craven Lake center (Edwards et al., 2006) provide local evidence for a texturally diverse, hydrous lithosphere beneath the Stikine terrane, in the Canadian Cordilleran lithosphere. Although the xenolith suite is dominated by spinel lherzolite, websterite and Ol websterite xenoliths also oc...
Article
Stratigraphic features such as passage zones are indicative of changes in eruption environment and sometimes a change in the style of eruption, ie. explosive vs. effusive (Mathews, 1947; Smellie 2006). Here, we present preliminary volcanic stratigraphy for two tuyas located in northern B.C.; both tuyas feature at least two passage zones. Tanker tuy...
Article
One of the most significant difficulties with understanding terrestrial Pleistocene climate change is that the depositional record of ancient ice sheets is frequently destroyed by successive glaciations. Given their resistance to erosion, glaciovolcanic features provide unique opportunities at which to look for evidence of multiple glaciations. Evi...
Article
CRISM and HiRISE data covering domes in western Arcadia and Utopia Planitiae were analyzed. MGM analysis indicates the presence of augite and Fe-rich olivine. Light-toned areas around the domes display a "brain terrain" morphology associated with the presence of ice.