Joshua Ring, Upper School science faculty member, was recently published in the Geological Society of America Bulletin. The article will be part of the Geological Society of America Bulletin's January/February issue.

The paper is about Mammoth Mountain, a volcano east of the Sierra Nevada range in California, which caused quite a scare to the resort town of Mammoth Lakes in 1980 with swarms of earthquakes and gas releases indicating magma was rising to the surface. The activity died down without eruption, but the area has since been studied at length and is intensely monitored.

Josh and the others' research focused on dating the history of volcanic eruptions of Mammoth Mountain and surrounding areas using an Argon dating method. Their study indicated that mafic magma injection may trigger melting and initiation of more silicic magmas leading to more potential violent eruptions. They also were used to more accurately constrain the timings of past glaciations in the region. The group found an anitcorrelation between volcanic eruptions and glaciations.

Josh said his research began 10 years ago, but he edited and revised his work a few times over the last decade before finally submitting it. Other authors on the paper include Gail A. Mahood, Simone Manganelli and Michael O. McWilliams. Josh said it is nice to see the work he did available for others to use.