Mageik 1953/2
Start: February 21, 1953 [1]
Event Type: Not an eruption
Description: MacDonald (1953) reports that on February 21, 1953, the Kodiak Mirror reported that Mount Mageik had erupted. Addiontal reports of activity at Mageik ("steaming and smoking badly") are found in the July 13 and 14 editions of the Anchorage Daily News. Fierstein and Hildreth (2001) doubt the validity of these reports, stating: "Not a single one of the 20th century tephra eruptions of Mageik listed in Simkin and Siebert's (1994) "Volcanoes of the World" seems plausible. Configuration of the crater has not changed since it was first photographed in 1923; there are no juvenile ejecta in the crater or around its rim (except a scattering of 1912 pumice clasts from Novarupta); and the only late Holocene fall deposits on the or near the lower flanks of Mageik are the Novarupta pumice falls of 1912 and the black Trident ash of 1953." Many other accounts report that Mount Mageik was steaming during 1953 (MacDonald, 1953; Military observers, 1953; Muller and others, 1954; Snyder, 1954). Such steam does not constitute a volcanic eruption.
References Cited
[1] Activity of Trident Volcano, 1953
MacDonald, G. A., 1953, Activity of Trident Volcano: The Volcano Letter, v. 520, p. 5-6.
full-text PDF 558 KB [2] Preliminary volcano-hazard assessment for the Katmai volcanic cluster, Alaska, 2001
Fierstein, Judy, and Hildreth, Wes, 2001, Preliminary volcano-hazard assessment for the Katmai volcanic cluster, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-0489, 50 p., 1 plate, scale not applicable.
full-text PDF 28.8 MB [3] Volcano observations, 1954
Unknown, 1954, Volcano observations: Unpublished volcano observation sheets filled out by U.S. military and stored on file at the Geophyiscal Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, unpaged.[4] Eruption of Trident Volcano, Alaska, 1953
MacDonald, G. A., 1953, Eruption of Trident Volcano, Alaska: The Volcano Letter, v. 519, p. 7.
full-text PDF 271 KB [5] Current volcanic activity in Katmai National Monument, 1954
Muller, E. H., Juhle, R. W., and Coulter, H. W., 1954, Current volcanic activity in Katmai National Monument: in Luntey, R. S., Interim report on Katmai Project, Washington D.C., U.S. National Park Service, p. 62-66.[6] Eruption of Trident Volcano, Katmai National Monument, Alaska, Feb.-June 1953, 1954
Snyder, G. L., 1954, Eruption of Trident Volcano, Katmai National Monument, Alaska, Feb.-June 1953: U.S. Geological Survey Circular C 0318, 7 p., 2 sheets, scale unknown.[7] Mount Spurr erupts again, 1953
Unknown, 1953, Mount Spurr erupts again: Anchorage Daily Times, July 13, 1953, p. 1.Complete Eruption References
Preliminary volcano-hazard assessment for the Katmai volcanic cluster, Alaska, 2001
Fierstein, Judy, and Hildreth, Wes, 2001, Preliminary volcano-hazard assessment for the Katmai volcanic cluster, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 00-0489, 50 p., 1 plate, scale not applicable.
full-text PDF 28.8 MB 
Geology of the Mount Katmai area, Alaska, 1959
Keller, A. S., and Reiser, H. N., 1959, Geology of the Mount Katmai area, Alaska: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1058-G, p. 261-298, 2 sheets, scale 1:250,000.
full-text PDF 4 MB
plate 29 PDF 32 MB 
Activity of Trident Volcano, 1953
MacDonald, G. A., 1953, Activity of Trident Volcano: The Volcano Letter, v. 520, p. 5-6.
full-text PDF 558 KB 
Eruption of Trident Volcano, Alaska, 1953
MacDonald, G. A., 1953, Eruption of Trident Volcano, Alaska: The Volcano Letter, v. 519, p. 7.
full-text PDF 271 KB 
Current volcanic activity in Katmai National Monument, 1954
Muller, E. H., Juhle, R. W., and Coulter, H. W., 1954, Current volcanic activity in Katmai National Monument: in Luntey, R. S., Interim report on Katmai Project, Washington D.C., U.S. National Park Service, p. 62-66.
Hard Copy held by AVO at FBKS - CEC file cabinet
Volcano observations, 1954
Unknown, 1954, Volcano observations: Unpublished volcano observation sheets filled out by U.S. military and stored on file at the Geophyiscal Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, unpaged.
Hard Copy held by AVO at FBKS - CEC file cabinet
Eruption of Trident Volcano, Katmai National Monument, Alaska, Feb.-June 1953, 1954
Snyder, G. L., 1954, Eruption of Trident Volcano, Katmai National Monument, Alaska, Feb.-June 1953: U.S. Geological Survey Circular C 0318, 7 p., 2 sheets, scale unknown.
Hard Copy held by AVO at FBKS - CEC file cabinet
Mount Spurr erupts again, 1953
Unknown, 1953, Mount Spurr erupts again: Anchorage Daily Times, July 13, 1953, p. 1.
Spurr eruption creates lake, 1953
Unknown, 1953, Spurr eruption creates lake: Anchorage Daily News, v. VI, n. 61, July 14, 1953.
Volcanoes of the world [2nd edition], 1994
Simkin, Tom, and Siebert, Lee, 1994, Volcanoes of the world [2nd edition]: Tucson, Arizona, Geoscience Press, 349 p.
Hard Copy held by AVO at FBKS - CEC shelf