Muskingum News

This event has been postponed. A future date will be announced.

Muskingum University is hosting the John Glenn Distinguished Lecture Series in Earth and Planetary Sciences at 4 p.m. on March 28, in The Boyd Science Center, Room 343.

Muskingum University will welcome Dr. Erik Klemetti who will present Before, During and After the Eruption: Using Mineral Ages and Compositions to Read the History of Magmatism in Cascade Range Volcanoes.

Although most of us can picture a volcanic eruption, not many know all that happens inside volcanoes before, during and after an eruption. he will discuss what we know about the processes that get volcanoes ready to erupt (or not erupt), focusing on the Cascade Range of Oregon and California. His students and he have analyzed zircon ages and compositions from Mt. Hood and the Tumalo Volcanic Center (TVC) in Oregon along with the Lassen Volcanic Center (LVC) in California.

These zircon crystals are a record of changes in magma stored beneath these potentially active volcanoes. Across all these volcanoes, a story of rapid reheating and mobilization of a "mush" of crystals and magma stored for hundreds to over ten thousand years. However, Mt. Hood appears to be tapping very young "mush" while the TVC and LVC are both tapping long-lived "mushes". This may be one of the most important factors for why composition of lava and ash erupted from Mt. Hood is different than what erupted from the TVC and LVC.

Erik is an associate professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences and volcanologist at Denison University. He works on volcanoes all over the planet, from Chile to New Zealand to the Cascades of Oregon and California.

“The Muskingum community is very excited that Dr. Klemetti has accepted our invitation to be a part of this wonderful lecture series,” said Bill and Martha Lovejoy Professor of Biology James Dooley, PhD. “We are looking forward to his presentation.”

The John Glenn Distinguished Lecture Series in Earth and Planetary Sciences, founded in 2017, brings an annual speaker to campus who is chosen by faculty members from the biology, geology, and physics departments. The lectureship was established by the late Bill ‘51 and Martha Johnson Lovejoy ‘52 to honor the legacy of one of the school’s most accomplished alumni, John Glenn ‘43.  

In the past, the lectures have featured professionals such as Dr. Tim M. Berra, academy professor and professor emeritus of evolution, ecology, and organismal biology at The Ohio State University, and Dr. Jan Ramer, Vice President at The Wilds.

Questions can be directed to Dr. Dooley at jdooley@muskingum.edu.