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Mt. Saint Helens Photo By Jucelino Nóbrega d luz – Wikimedia Commons
10 Most Famous Volcanoes in the United States
The United States is one of the most volcanically active countries in the world, with over 10% of the world’s potentially active volcanoes.
There are approximately 169 active volcanoes in the country, according to scientists. The majority of these are in Alaska, where eruptions occur almost every year.
The good news is that there are eight fewer volcanoes in the United States that pose a threat to “American lives and property” than there were in 2005, according to the United States Geological Survey.
The following are the ten most famous volcanoes in the United States.
1. Mount Saint Helens
Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano in Skamania County, Washington, in the United States’ Pacific Northwest region with an elevation of 2,549 m.
It was named by Captain George Vancouver of the British Royal Navy in honour of fellow countryman Alleyne Fitzherbert, who held the title ‘Baron St. Helens’. The Indigenous Cowlitz people call it Lawetlat’la, and the Klickitat call it Loowit or Louwala-Clough.
Mount St. Helens is most known for the May 18, 1980, massive eruption, which was the bloodiest and most economically devastating volcanic event in US history, killing 57 people.
The volcano has had three smaller eruptions since 1980. Unlike most volcanoes, which erupt upwards, this mountain’s eruption began horizontally, blowing out a big section of the mountain and giving it its current appearance.
Mount St. Helens is also part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire.
2. Mt. Hood
Mount Hood Photo By Walter Siegmund – Wikimedia Commons
Mount Hood, located in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, is a potentially active stratovolcano. It is the fourth highest mountain in the Western United States and was named after Admiral Arthur Hood, a famous British naval officer.
It has been relatively dormant for the last 15 years, but there was an increase in seismic activity in the twentieth century.
Mt. Hood, at 3,429 m, is possibly the most popular mountain in the Western Hemisphere. It is the world’s second most climbed mountain, trailing only Japan’s holy peak, Mt. Fujiama.
It is not only Oregon’s highest mountain, but it is also one of the loftiest mountains in the country based on prominence, and it has the only year-round lift-served skiing in North America.
3. Mt. Rainier
At a height of 4,392 m, Mt. Rainier also known as Tahoma, Tacoma or Tacobet, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park.
While surveying the Pacific coast in 1792, Captain George Vancouver of the British Royal Navy noticed the mountain and decided to name it after his friend, Rear Admiral Peter Rainier.
It is the highest contiguous volcanic peak in the United States. It has the world’s largest volcanic glacier cave system in the summit crater and the world’s largest alpine glacial system outside of Alaska.
This mountain is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and it is on the Decade Volcano list, due to its high likelihood of eruption in the near future.
The Decade Volcanoes are a group of 16 volcanoes identified by the IAVCEI as deserving of special attention due to their history of large, destructive eruptions and proximity to densely populated areas.
4. Yellowstone Caldera
The Yellowstone Caldera, also known as the Yellowstone Supervolcano, is a volcanic caldera and supervolcano located in Yellowstone National Park in the United States.
It is named after the Yellowstone River, which runs through it and reaches a height of 2,805 meters.
It is famous for its three calderas, which were formed nearly 2.1 million years ago in an eruption that was one of the largest volcanic eruptions ever recorded, covering 5,790 square miles of land as far away as Missouri with ash.
As the underground magma chamber emptied, the ground above it collapsed, forming Yellowstone’s three famous calderas.
5. The Three Sisters
The Three Sisters Photo By Chris Mitchell – Wikimedia Commons
The Three Sisters are a trio of peaks near Canmore, Alberta, Canada. Big Sister, Middle Sister, and Little Sister are their names.
With an elevation of 3,159 m, Albert Rogers, a nephew of Major A. B. Rogers, named the mountain Three Nuns. This was the morning after a heavy snowstorm the night before, which had left the three peaks with a thick veil of snow on the north side. It was later renamed “Three Sisters.”
Climbing is unfortunately prohibited on the Three Sisters as a mark of respect for Aboriginal cultural heritage and to protect it from erosion. It has not been permitted since 2001, and there is widespread agreement among the rock climbing community.
The Three Sisters are significant figures in Aboriginal history, and legend has it that they were once three beautiful sisters named Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo. The sisters fell in love with three brothers from a neighbouring tribe, which was against tribal law.
The Three Sisters are important figures in Aboriginal history. According to legend, they were once three beautiful sisters named Meehni, Wimlah, and Gunnedoo. The sisters were transformed into rocks to protect them, and their magnificent rock formation will serve as a reminder of the battle for future generations.
6. Kīlauea
Kīlauea is the world’s most active shield volcano, located in Hawaii state, United States, on the southeastern part of the island of Hawaii.
In Hawaiian, the word Kīlauea means “spewing” or “much spreading.” According to the US Geological Survey, Hawaiians first used the name Kilauea to refer to the summit caldera, from which lava flowed frequently.
With a height of 1,247 meters, the mountain is known for its frequent activity and has erupted continuously for more than 35 years, beginning in 1983.
However, its frequent eruptions are usually non-explosive and are contained within Halema’uma’u as a boiling lake of active lava that occasionally rises and overflows along the caldera’s floor and flanks.
7. Mt. Shasta
Mt Shasta Photo By CraigCarter400 – Wikimedia Commons
Mount Shasta is a potentially active volcano in Siskiyou County, California, at the southern end of the Cascade Range.
It is the second-highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth-highest in the state, standing at 4322 m.
On February 14, 1827, Peter Skene Ogden, a chief trader with the Hudson’s Bay Company, is credited with naming Mount Shasta after the local Native Americans.
It is well-known for the lenticular clouds that form over its summit. The lens-shaped clouds are formed by the mountain’s sheer prominence, which rises nearly 10,000 feet above the surrounding land.
The Shasta–Trinity National Forest includes the mountain and its surroundings.
8. Mount Redoubt
Redoubt Volcano, also known as Mount Redoubt, is an active stratovolcano in Alaska’s largely volcanic Aleutian Range.
The mountain’s official name is Redoubt Volcano, which is a translation of the Russian name “Sopka Redutskaya,” which refers to “a fortified place,” as does the word “redoubt.” A local name, “Ujakushatsch,” also means “fortified place,” but it’s unclear whether one is derived from the other.
With a summit elevation of 3,108 meters, it is the highest peak in the Aleutian Range – a major mountain range located in southwest Alaska.
Mount Redoubt, which has erupted four times since its discovery: in 1902, 1966, 1989, and 2009, with two questionable eruptions in 1881 and 1933, has been designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.
9. Mount Adagdak
Mount Adagdak Photo By Chris Waythomas – Wikimedia Commons
Mount Adagdak is a Pleistocene stratovolcano on the northernmost tip of Adak Island in Alaska’s the Aleutian Islands.
Its name is derived from Cape Adagdak, which was discovered in 1948 by the United States Geological Survey. The mountain is approximately 1.4 kilometres south of Cape Adagdak.
John Hunter of Quicklaunch has twice proposed Mount Adagdak’s western slope as the emplacement site for a light-gas gun to launch small payloads into orbit for use at the International Space Station.
The volcano is made up of rock from three different periods of activity, which is an interesting fact. The most recent rock was argon-dated to be between 205,000 and 215,000 years old.
10. Lassen Peak
Lassen Peak, also known as Mount Lassen, is the southernmost active volcano in the Western United States’ Cascade Range.
The park and Lassen Peak are named after Peter Lassen, one of the first white settlers in the northern Sacramento Valley, who discovered the Lassen Trail, a route through the mountains.
With an elevation of 3,187 meters, the mountain has been significantly eroded by glaciers over the last 25,000 years and is now covered in talus deposits, a spectacular sight!
