Mount Baker Active Volcano
US Geological Survey
Mount Baker (3,285 meters; 10,778 feet) is an ice-clad volcano in the North Cascades of Washington
State about 50 kilometers (31 miles) due east of the city of Bellingham. After Mount Rainier,
it is the most heavily glaciated of the Cascade volcanoes: the volume of snow and ice on Mount Baker
(about 1.8 cubic kilometers; 0.43 cubic miles) is greater than that of all the other Cascades volcanoes
(except Rainier) combined. Isolated ridges of lava and hydrothermally altered rock, especially in the
area of Sherman Crater, are exposed between glaciers on the upper flanks of the volcano: the lower flanks
are steep and heavily vegetated. The volcano rests on a foundation of non-volcanic rocks in a region that is
largely non-volcanic in origin. -- Gardner, et.al., 1995
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Estimated Mud Flows
US Geological Survey
Historical Activity Historical activity at Mount Baker includes several explosions during the mid-19th century,
which were witnessed from the Bellingham area, and since the late 1950s, numerous small- volume debris avalanches.
In 1975, increased fumarolic activity in the Sherman Crater area caused concern that an eruption might be imminent.
Additional monitoring equipment was installed and several geophysical surveys were conducted to try to detect the
movement of magma. The level of Baker Lake was lowered and people were restricted from the area due to concerns
that an eruption- induced debris avalanche or debris flow might enter Baker Lake and displace enough water to either
cause a wave to overtop the Upper Baker Dam or cause complete failure of the dam. However, few anomalies other than
the increased heat flow were recorded during the geophysical surveys nor were any other precursory activities observed
to indicate that magma was moving up into the volcano. An increased level of fumarolic activity has continued at
Mount Baker from 1975 to the present, but there are no other changes that suggest that magma movement is
involved. -- Gardner, et.al., 1995
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