Mount Rainier

Mount Rainier is a glaciated stratovolcano in Washington and the highest summit in the Cascade Range. Its extensive glaciers feed rivers and contribute to hazards including lahars.

Lahar: A fast-moving flow of water-saturated volcanic debris that travels down valleys. Rainier’s glaciers and loose volcanic deposits can feed destructive lahars.
Cascade Volcanic Arc: A chain of volcanoes formed above the subducting Juan de Fuca Plate in the Pacific Northwest. Rainier is one of the arc’s prominent volcanoes.
Osceola Mudflow: A massive lahar from Mount Rainier that reached the Puget Sound lowlands roughly 5,600 years ago. It demonstrates that Rainier’s debris flows can travel far from the volcano.
Mount Rainier Volcano Lahar Warning System: A system of sensors and alerts designed to detect lahars moving down Mount Rainier’s valleys. It aims to provide warning time for communities in threatened valleys.
Mount St. Helens: An active stratovolcano in Washington that underwent a major explosive eruption in 1980. Its 1980 eruption contrasts with Rainier’s long interval without a major historical eruption.
Mount Rainier glaciers: The ice bodies covering Mount Rainier, including the largest glacier system in the contiguous United States. Their meltwater sustains rivers, while sudden release can intensify lahars.
Subduction: The descent of one tectonic plate beneath another into Earth’s mantle. Subduction beneath Washington supplies magma to the Cascade volcanoes.
Electron Mudflow: A Mount Rainier lahar that descended the Puyallup River valley about 500 years ago. It is a comparatively recent example of a major Rainier debris flow.
United States Geological Survey: A federal science agency that studies Earth, natural hazards, and the nation’s resources. The agency monitors Rainier and assesses its volcanic hazards.
Mount Baker: A glaciated stratovolcano in northern Washington and one of the Cascade Range’s highest peaks. Baker shares Rainier’s glacier-covered volcanic setting but is smaller and farther north.

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