Mount Augustine was also the site of an early near-disaster for Johnston, when he became trapped on Augustine Island as the volcano was building toward another eruption. He graduated in 1978 with his Ph.D., having shown that (1) the emplacement mechanism of the pyroclastic flows had changed over time, as they became less pumaceous, (2) the magmas contained high quantities of volatile water, chlorine, and sulfur, and (3) underground mixing of the felsic (silicic) magmas with less-viscous mafic (basaltic) magmas could have triggered eruptions. When Mount Augustine erupted in 1976, Johnston raced back to Alaska, shunting his former work on the Cimmaron Volcano into a master's thesis, and making Mount Augustine the focus of his Ph.D. Johnston's first experience with active volcanoes was a geophysical survey of Mount Augustine in Alaska in 1975. Johnston's reconstruction of the eruptive history of the extinct volcanoes prepared him to study active volcanoes. This work became the inspiration for the first phase of his graduate work at the University of Washington in Seattle, in which he focused on the Oligocene Cimarron andesitic volcanic complex in the western San Juans. Johnston spent the summer after college in the San Juan volcanic field of Colorado working with volcanologist Pete Lipman in his study of two extinct calderas. After working hard to learn the subject, he graduated with "Highest Honors and Distinction" in 1971. The experience planted the seed of Johnston's passion for volcanoes. There he investigated the remains of an ancient volcano: a suite of metamorphosed basalts, a gabbroic sill, and volcanic roots in the form of a dioritic and gabbroic intrusion. His first geologic project was a study of the Precambrian rock that forms Michigan's Upper Peninsula. He planned to study journalism, but became intrigued by an introductory geology class, and changed his major. Richards High School in Oak Lawn, Johnston attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Johnston often took photographs for his mother's newspaper and contributed articles to his school's newspaper. His father worked as an engineer at a local company and his mother as a newspaper editor. They originally lived in Hometown, Illinois, but moved to Oak Lawn shortly after Johnston's birth, where he grew to adulthood. Johnston was born at the University of Chicago Hospital on December 18, 1949, to Thomas and Alice Johnston. A biography of his life, A Hero on Mount St. Johnston's life and death are featured in several documentaries, films, docudramas and books. Two volcano observatories were established and named after him: one in Vancouver, Washington, and another on the ridge where he died. To date, Johnston, along with Harry Glicken, is one of two American volcanologists known to have died in a volcanic eruption.įollowing his death, Johnston was commemorated in several ways, including a memorial fund established in his name at the University of Washington to fund graduate-level research. His story became intertwined with the popular image of volcanic eruptions and their threat to society, and a part of volcanology's history. They maintained the closure despite heavy pressure to re-open the area their work saved thousands of lives. Helens to the public before the 1980 eruption. His work, and that of fellow USGS scientists, convinced authorities to close Mount St. Johnston felt scientists must do what is necessary, including taking risks, to help protect the public from natural disasters. After his death, other scientists lauded his character, both verbally and in dedications and letters. This, along with his enthusiasm and positive attitude, made him liked and respected by many co-workers. Johnston was a meticulous and talented scientist, known for his analyses of volcanic gases and their relationship to eruptions. Johnston's career took him across the United States, where he studied the Augustine Volcano in Alaska, the San Juan volcanic field in Colorado, and long-extinct volcanoes in Michigan. He was the first to report the eruption, transmitting "Vancouver! Vancouver! This is it!" before he was swept away by a lateral blast despite a thorough search, Johnston's body was never found, but state highway workers discovered remnants of his USGS trailer in 1993. A principal scientist on the USGS monitoring team, Johnston was killed in the eruption while manning an observation post six miles (10 km) away on the morning of May 18, 1980. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ( BS)ĭavid Alexander Johnston (Decem– May 18, 1980) was an American United States Geological Survey (USGS) volcanologist who was killed by the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Killed by a pyroclastic flow caused by the volcanic eruption of Mount St.
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