Wendell Duffield
I'm a PhD geologist who has studied volcanoes here and there around the world for a bit more than four decades. I retired from the U.S. Geological Survey in 1997, following 32 years with that organization. But for me retirement is just a word, not a state of relative activity. So from 1997 on I have been an Adjunct Professor of geology at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, where I give the occasional classroom lecture, mentor students, and write things geological and just plain popular for a broad readership. I have 6 books in print, and have contributed many articles to magazines and newspapers. You can get the flavor of these writings by visiting my personal homepage. Now, I hope to contribute general interest articles to suite101.
Latest Articles
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Phreatomagmatism: An Enigmatic Volcanic Hazard in Desert Settings
Phreatomagmatism usually occurs in wet settings with a shallow water table. Recent research indicates that desert environments can also host such eruptions.
Mar 3, 2012
- Wendell Duffield
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Humans Create More Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Than Volcanoes Do
A discussion of current data that document the relative amounts of carbon dioxide added to Earth's atmosphere by human activities versus active volcanoes.
Jul 8, 2011
- Wendell Duffield
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Crustal Rebound Worsens Flooding by the Red River of the North
A discussion of the Quaternary geologic history of central North America that increases the odds for flooding by the Red River of the North each spring
Apr 3, 2011
- Wendell Duffield
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The Yucca Mountain Conundrum: Where to Store Radioactive Waste
The pros and cons of storing high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, in light of the current (March 2011) situation at Fukushima, Japan.
Mar 21, 2011
- Wendell Duffield
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Geothermal Electricity: Natural Green-Energy Contributor and More
The world's largest geothermal-electric development, The Geysers of Northern California, injects reclaimed wastewater to supplement nature's natural steam.
Mar 14, 2011
- Wendell Duffield
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Life-Changing Facets of Carbon Dioxide
Discussion of properties of carbon dioxide that threaten oxygen-dependant life, and of how an increase in this gas to Earth's atmosphere may impact climate
Mar 3, 2011
- Wendell Duffield
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El Chichon Volcano, Oral Tradition, Anthropology and Serendipity
A description of an eruption of El Chichon Volcano, Mexico, in 1982, and how that eruption solved the meaning of a puzzling oral tradition of Mayan origins.
Feb 21, 2011
- Wendell Duffield
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A Hidden Continental Divide in North America
Continental divides are often thought of as mountain ranges. But in the upper midwest, Pleistocene glaciation created a divide in nearly flat terrain.
Feb 15, 2011
- Wendell Duffield
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When Geologists Step Too Close to Kilauea's Lava Flows
The author's personal experience of learning to work with Kilauea's active lava flows, plus a description of two colleagues who fell into such flows.
Feb 7, 2011
- Wendell Duffield
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How Kilauea's Lava Flows Affect Homes and Forests
When a lava flow encounters homes in lush tropical forests on Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, it both destroys and creates. Homes go while tree molds grow.
Feb 1, 2011
- Wendell Duffield
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