Document Type

Thesis

Date of Degree Completion

Spring 2026

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Geological Sciences

Committee Chair

Hannah Shamloo

Second Committee Member

Chris Mattinson

Third Committee Member

Kristina Walowski

Fourth Committee Member

Dawn Ruth

Abstract

Mount Baker is a very-high threat Cascade volcano and is located near densely populated areas in northern Washington, putting many at risk if an eruption were to occur. Schreibers Meadow cinder cone is located on the southern flank of Mount Baker and produced the Sulphur Creek (SC) tephra and lava 9.8 ka. Previous work on the SC eruption used petrology and geochemistry to reconstruct the pre-eruptive magmatic architecture beneath Mount Baker Volcanic Field, including olivine-hosted melt inclusions to determine crystallization pressures, as well as plagioclase- and clinopyroxene-derived diffusion timescales to determine magma storage timescales of several months and recharge-to-eruption timescales of days in crystals sourced only from the SC lava. However, olivine diffusion chronometry, a reliable chronometer, has yet to be utilized on either tephra or lava from the SC eruption. Petrology of olivine and in lesser amounts plagioclase from both lava and tephra in this study record multiple recharge events prior to the SC eruption, just as determined by previous work. Utilizing rim zone transects in olivine sourced from both SC tephra and lava resulted in timescales that represent one of two processes, storage-to- eruption or recharge-to-eruption timescales. Storage-to-eruption median timescales are ~7 – 70 days and recharge-to-eruption median timescales are ~10 days which are in relative iv agreement with previous work utilizing other mineral chronometers. In this study, we report the first-of-its-kind olivine-derived timescales for the Mount Baker Volcanic Field. This work provides crucial insight into the active magmatic system of the Cascades and aids in future hazard and risk mitigation at Mount Baker.

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