The White River Ash: Largest Holocene Plinian tephra

The White River Ash is a bi-lobate tephra in eastern Alaska, Yukon Territory, and western Northwest Territories. Plinian-type eruptions produced the north lobe similar to 1900 years BP and the larger east lobe similar to 1250 years BP (C-14 years). Present evidence favors the vent for the east lobe to be beneath the Klutlan Glacier. East lobe pumice is not present atop Mt. Churchill, so the pumice there must belong to the north lobe and is also likely to have come from a vent beneath the Klutlan Glacier. Isopachs of the east lobe, now known to stretch as far east as Great Bear Lake, indicate ail east lobe volume of similar to 47 km(3). Thickness and grain size of the cast lobe decay in exponential fashion, producing straight line plots when the thickness half-distance and clast half-distance are plotted against the square root of file isopach area, the proximal slope being steeper than the distal. The east lobe eruption is indicated to have been into a wind of about 10 m/s and to have produced an eruptive cloud height of similar to 45 km. The eruption rate was at least 2.8 x 10(8) kg/s.