Proposal
The Novarupta-Katmai eruption of June 6-8, 1912, is the largest volcanic eruption of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Located in a remote corner of Southwest Alaska, the predominantly rhyolitic eruption provides many opportunities for researchers who agree that high-energy, short-term events are the major shapers of earth’s surface. The 60-hour eruption produced 30 km3 of deposits, over 200 m deep in places. Most of this was released during the first 16 hours, forming The Valley of 10,000 Smokes. Deposits include massive, non-welded to highly welded ignimbrites, finely-layered high energy, proximal ignimbrite (HEPI) deposits, pyroclastic density current (PDC) deposits, mudflows, and large quantities of pumice and ash. Within a few years of the eruption, streams gouged 20-30 m deep canyons through valley floor deposits. The author’s photogeologic evidence and 40Ar/39Ar analysis revealing excess argon, combined with recent secular neocatastrophist research on volcanism, allows for reinterpretation or rejection of several uniformitarian-biased models. Topics covered include radioisotopes, bedrock incision rates, timing of magma formation and crystallization, frequency of volcanic activity over time, and tuyas. Novarupta-Katmai testifies to the biblical pattern of Creation/Flood/Ice Age/Stasis, freeing us from unrealistic uniformitarian bias.
Keywords
Novarupta, volcanism, fountains of the deep, bedrock incision, ignimbrite, magma chamber, Creation, Flood, Ice Age, stasis, deep time, rhyolite, dacite, andesite
Disclaimer
DigitalCommons@Cedarville provides a publication platform for fully open access journals, which means that all articles are available on the Internet to all users immediately upon publication. However, the opinions and sentiments expressed by the authors of articles published in our journals do not necessarily indicate the endorsement or reflect the views of DigitalCommons@Cedarville, the Centennial Library, or Cedarville University and its employees. The authors are solely responsible for the content of their work. Please address questions to dc@cedarville.edu.
Recommended Citation
Shormann, David
(2013)
"The Giant 1912 Eruption of Novarupta-Katmai: Laboratory Illustrating Earth's Catastrophic Past,"
Proceedings of the International Conference on Creationism: Vol. 7, Article 12.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/icc_proceedings/vol7/iss1/12