A HISTORY OF THE MAPPING AND GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL EXPLORATION OF THE ALEUTIANS: COMBINING ORAL HISTORY, ARCHIVAL RESEARCH AND DETECTIVE WORK

In 1998, I began to record the oral histories of individuals who had conducted geological studies of the Aleutian Islands (1945-54). These were men with the USGS Volcano Investigations unit, as well as others who had mapped in the Aleutians with the Coast & Geodetic Survey. Most of the geological studies had been published as USGS Bulletin 1028 between 1959-71. I suspected, however, that the "story behind the story" remained to be told. I have interviewed over 40 individuals, including most of the USGS geologists and field assistants, as well as the founder of the project, G.D. Robinson, and two seamen of the M.S. Eider, the project’s ship. The impetus for the Aleutian project was the June 1945 eruption of Okmok Caldera on Umnak Island, close to a key Army Air base. USGS geologist Robinson was sent to Umnak to evaluate the hazards. The Alaskan commander, Gen. Emmons, knew of the power of volcanoes, having survived the 1912 eruption of Kamai. He lobbied for War Dept. support of Robinson’s brainchild, a study of Aleutian volcanoes and the geology of the islands. They were able to get enough military and USGS funding to accomplish much, but not all, of their projected goals. There would be twists and turns along the way. Many of the young field assistants would be bitten by the bug and begin lifelong careers in field geology. In searching the National Archives, I found papers and photos from a geophysical observatory set up on Adak. The existence of this observatory has been non-existent in the literature. I found and interviewed several of those involved, but a key player, Austin E. Jones (1898-1985) was unavailable. Jones had first gone to the Aleutians in 1929, setting up seismographs for T. Jaggar. He would return in 1949, to Adak. Nothing has been written about Jones, but his unpublished notes show a sharp analytical mind of broad interests in volcanology and seismology. In 1952, he sketched a crustal cross-section thru Adak, showing magma rising from a dipping "Zone of Weakness", supplying the Aleutian volcanoes. This figure is virtually identical the figure published by R. Coats in his seminal paper in 1962, Magma Type and Crustal Structure in the Aleutian Arc. Coats knew Jones, but I have found no written communications. It appears that Jones’ work was lost to science, and Coats independently developed similar ideas about a decade later.