A Historical Perspective on Lateral Collapse and Volcanic Debris Avalanches

Abstract

In the four decades since the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, debris-avalanche deposits generated by gravitational lateral collapse of volcanoes have become widely recognized. Selected regionally sequenced case studies highlight the evolution of thought regarding these events prior to 1980 in contrast to subsequent research with benefit of insights from the events of May 18, 1980. These typically hummocky deposits, of volcanic materials but lying far beyond volcanoes, had puzzled geologists for more than a century and been interpreted as a wide range of primary and secondary volcanic or non-volcanic features. Contrary to general perception, however, the volcanological literature contained multiple accounts prior to 1980 that recognized the landslide origin of some of these deposits, albeit mostly in regional publications not widely known. The burst of interest in lateral-collapse events after 1980 has led to an average of one regional or global debris-avalanche inventory annually in terrestrial or submarine settings and the recognition of a thousand events from nearly 600 volcanoes. The last major volcaniclastic process to be widely recognized and understood, large-volume debris avalanches originating from lateral collapse of volcanic edifices have been found to be a relatively common occurrence across a wide spectrum of volcanic features and settings.