Leif Karlstrom

Summary

I work on problems in volcanology, petrology, geodynamics, glaciology, and geomorphology. Active projects include the eruption cycle, melt focusing and crustal thickening in arcs, the Columbia River Flood Basalts, landscape evolution in volcanic environments, supraglacial hydrology, unsteady behavior in volcanic eruptions, and the interpretation of volcanic seismicity.

My research involves a combination of theoretical and numerical models, field measurements, and laboratory experiments. My CV is here

National Parks Traveler interview about Kilauea seismicity and the Volcano Listening Project

People Behind the Science interview about my research and life in science and music (so far).

Earthbird Seminar conversation with Cin-Ty Lee from Rice University on science and art.

Popular Press/not Peer-reviewed


1. Karlstrom, L. and J. S. Byrnes (2018), "More bad news for dinosaurs: Chicxulub meteorite impact triggered global volcanic eruptions on the ocean floor," WEBLINK


Peer-reviewed Papers (Google Scholar profile):

In review/In revision:

  1. Cooke, M.L., Crider, J.G., Morell, K.D., Karlstrom,L., Yanites, B.J. (2024) "Energy budget of subduction zone hazards"

  2. Karlstrom, L., N Klema, GE Grant, C Finn, PL. Sullivan, S Cooley, A Simpson, B Fasth, K Cashman, K Ferrier, L Ball, and D McKay (2024) “State shifts in the deep Critical Zone drive landscape evolution in volcanic terrains.”

  3. Goughnour R. L., K. E. Murray, L. Karlstrom, J. Biasi, S. E. Cox, P. O’Sullivan , and B. Finney (2024) "Sensitivity of thermal histories to diverse data constraints: co-inversion of multiple geochronometers and paleomagnetic thermometer at a Columbia River Basalt feeder dike"

  4. Albonico M, KE Karlstrom, M Heizler, M Gilam, A Aslan, L Crossey, C Reed, N Klema, L. Karlstrom, and D Granger (2024) "Incision History of the San Juan River, U.S.A. in the Past Two Million Years"

Accepted/In print:

  1. Black, BA, Karlstrom, L, Mills, BJW, Mather, TA, Rudolph, ML, Longman J, Merdith, A (2024) "Cryptic degassing and protracted greenhouse climates after flood basalt eruptions" Nature Geoscience https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01574-3

  2. Hutchison AK, L Karlstrom, T Mittal (2024) LinkingLines: Using the Hough Transform to Cluster Line Segments and Mesoscale Feature Extraction, Journal of Open Source Software 9 (98), 6147. https://zenodo.org/records/11321509

  3. Bussard, R., Harper, C., Cashman, K., Karlstrom, L., (2024) "A Novel Area-Based Methodology to Deriving an Intrinsic Length Scale of Clustering for Variety of Volcanic Fields", accepted at Bulletin of Volcanology

  4. Crozier, J., Dufek, J., Karlstrom, L., Anderson, K.R., Cahalan, R., Thelen, W., Benage, M. and C. Liang (2024) "Explosive 2018 eruptions at Kīlauea driven by a collapse-induced stomp-rocket mechanism." Nature Geoscience. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-024-01442-0

  5. Klema, N., Karlstrom, L., Cannon C., Jiang, C., Wells, R., O'Connor, J., Schmandt, B. (2023) "The magmatic origin of the Columbia River Gorge, U.S.A.", Science Advances, 9, 51, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adj3357.

  6. Crozier, J., L. Karlstrom, E. Montgomery-Brown, M. Angarita, V. Cayol, M. Grace Bato, T. A. Wang, R. Grapenthin, T. Shreve, K. Anderson, A. Astort, O. Bodart, F. Cannavò, G. Currenti, F. Dabaghi, B. A. Erickson, D. Garg, M. Head, A. Iozzia, Y. Cheol Kim, H. Le Mével, C. Novoa Lizama, C. Rucker, F. Silverii, E. Trasatti, Y. Zhan (2023) "Understanding the drivers of volcano deformation through geodetic model verification and validation", Bulletin of Volcanology, 85 (12), 74, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00445-023-01687-4.

  7. Kubo Hutchinson, A., L. Karlstrom and T. Mittal (2023) "Multiscale Spatial Patterns in Giant Dike Swarms Identified through Objective Feature Extraction", accepted at Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 24, 9, e2022GC010842. pdf.

  8. Karlstrom, L., B. Holtzman, A. Barth, J. Crozier, and A. Paté (2023), Earth is noisy. Why should its data be silent?, Eos, 104, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023EO230196. Published on 9 June 2023. link.

  9. O'Hara, D. and L. Karlstrom (2023) "The arc-scale spatial distribution of volcano erosion implies coupled volcanism and regional climate in the Cascades arc, USA", 11, Published June 2023. pdf.

  10. White, L., Malysheva, T., and L. Karlstrom (2023) "Estimation of plate parameters from vertical displacement data using a family of plate models," Electronic Journal of Differential Equations, 2023 (15), pp. 1-24. pdf

  11. Pivarunas, A., M. Avery, J. Biasi, and L. Karlstrom (2023), "Baked contacts focus a lens on ancient lava flows", EOS, 104, https://doi.org/10.1029/2023EO230026. Published on 1 February 2023. link.

  12. Liao, Y., Karlstrom, L., and B. A. Erickson (2022) "History-dependent volcanic ground deformation from broad-spectrum viscoelastic rheology around magma reservoirs". Geophysical Research Letters, 50(1), e2022GL101172. pdf.

  13. Rucker, C., Erickson, B. A., Karlstrom, L., Lee, B., and Gopalakrishnan, J. (2022) "A computational framework for time dependent deformation in viscoelastic magmatic systems." Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(9), e2022JB024506. pdf

  14. Crozier, J., and L. Karlstrom (2022) "Evolving shallow magma temperature and volatile contents over the 2008-2018 eruption of Kilauea Volcano", 8, eabm4310,pdf.

  15. Biasi, J., and L. Karlstrom (2021) "Timescales of magma transport in the Columbia River flood basalts, determined by paleomagnetic data", Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 576, 117169 pdf.

  16. O'Hara, D., Klema, N., and L. Karlstrom (2021) "Development of magmatic topography through repeated stochastic intrusions", Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 419, 107371 pdf.

  17. Black, B., L. Karlstrom, T. A. Mather (2021) "The life cycle of Large Igneous Provinces", Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, 1-18, pdf.

  18. Paté, A., Farge, G., Holtzman, B., Barth, A.C., Poli, P., Boschi L., and L. Karlstrom (2021) "Combining audio and visual displays to highlight temporal and spatial seismic patterns", Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12193-021-00378-8 pdf.

  19. Crozier, J. and L. Karlstrom (2021) "Wavelet-based characterization of very-long-period seismicity reveals temporal evolution of shallow magma system over the 2008-2018 eruption of Kilauea Volcano", Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth, 126, e2020JB020837. https://doi. org/10.1029/2020JB020837 pdf.

  20. McQuillan, M., and L. Karlstrom (2021) "Fluid resonance in elastic-walled englacial transport networks", Journal of Glaciology, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1017/ jog.2021.48 pdf.

  21. Barth, A., L. Karlstrom, B. Holtzman, A. Pate, A Niyak (2021) "Sonification and animation of multivariate data to illuminate dynamics of geyser eruptions", Computer Music Journal, 44 (1): 35–50 pdf.

  22. O'Hara, D., L. Karlstrom, D. W. Ramsey (2020), "Time-evolving surface and subsurface signatures of Quaternary volcanism in the Cascades Arc", Geology, https://doi.org/10.1130/G47706.1, pdf.

    University of Oregon press release

    Bend Bulletin news article

  23. Wada I., L. Karlstrom (2020) "Modeling fluid migration in subduction zones", EOS, 101, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EO145551.

  24. Bindeman, I.N., N.D. Greber, O.E. Melnik O.E., A.S. Artyomova, L. Karlstrom, D. Colon (2020) "Pervasive Hydrothermal Events Associated with Large Igneous Provinces Documented by the Columbia River Basaltic Dikes", Nature Scientific Reports, 10, 10206, pdf.

    University of Oregon press release

  25. Lerner, A.H., D. O'Hara, L. Karlstrom, S.K. Ebmeier, K.R. Anderson, S. Hurwitz (2020), "The prevalence and significance of offset magma reservoirs at arc volcanoes", Geophysical Research Letters, 47, 14, pdf.

    Scientific American profile

  26. Wu, S.-M., F.-C. Lin, J. Farrell, B. Shiro , L. Karlstrom, P. Okubo (2020), "Spatiotemporal Seismic Structure Variations Associated with the 2018 Kilauea Eruption based on Temporary Dense Geophone Arrays", Geophysical Research Letters, 47, e2019GL086668. pdf

  27. Morriss, M.C., L. Karlstrom, M. Nasholds, J. Wolff, (2020) "The Chief Joseph Dike Swarm of the Columbia River Flood Basalts, and the Legacy Dataset of William H. Taubeneck", Geosphere, v. 16. pdf

  28. Liang, C., J. Crozier, L. Karlstrom, and E. M. Dunham (2020) "Magma oscillations in a conduit-reservoir system, application to very long period (VLP) seismicity at basaltic volcanoes--Part II: Data inversion and interpretation at Kilauea Volcano", Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 125, e2019JB01745. pdf

  29. Liang, C., L. Karlstrom, and E. M. Dunham (2020) "Magma oscillations in a conduit-reservoir system, application to very long period (VLP) seismicity at basaltic volcanoes--Part I: Theory", Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 125, e2019JB01743. pdf

  30. Bodmer, M., D.R. Toomey, J.J. Roering, L. Karlstrom, (2020) "Asthenospheric buoyancy and the origin of high-relief topography along the Cascadia forearc" Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 531, 115965. pdf

  31. Karlstrom, L., K. E. Murray, and P. W. Reiners (2019) "Bayesian Markov-Chain Monte Carlo inversion of low-temperature thermochronology around two 8-10 m wide Columbia River Flood Basalt dikes", Frontiers in Earth Science, 7, 90, doi: 10.3389/feart.2019.00090. pdf

  32. Richardson, P. R. and L. Karlstrom (2019) "The multi-scale influence of topography on lava flow morphology." Bulletin of Volcanology, 81,21. pdf

  33. O'Hara, D., L. Karlstrom, and J. J. Roering (2019) "Distributed landscape response to localized uplift and the fragility of steady states." Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 506, 243-254. pdf

  34. Yang, K, L. C., Smith, L Karlstrom, M. C. Cooper, M. Tedesco, D. van As, X. Cheng, Z. Chen, M. Li (2018) “A new surface meltwater routing model for use on the Greenland Ice Sheet surface.” The Cryosphere, 12, 3791-3811. pdf

  35. Perry-Houts, J. and L. Karlstrom (2018) "Anisotropic viscosity and time-evolving lithospheric instabilities due to aligned igneous intrusions." Geophysical Journal International, https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggy466. pdf

  36. Crozier, J., L. Karlstrom, and K. Yang (2018) "Basal control of supraglacial meltwater catchments on the Greenland Ice Sheet," The Cryosphere, 12, 3383-3407. pdf

  37. Karlstrom, L., P. R. Richardson, D. O'Hara, and S. K. Ebmeier (2018), "Magmatic landscape construction", Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface, v. 123, https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JF004369, pdf

  38. Byrnes, J. and L. Karlstrom (2018), "Anomalous K-Pg–aged seafloor attributed to impact-induced mid-ocean ridge magmatism", Science Advances, v.4, no. 2, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao2994, pdf,

    Los Angeles Times article,

    AAAS art department animation

  39. Karlstrom, L., S. R. Paterson, and A. M. Jellinek, (2017) "A reverse energy cascade for crustal magma transport", Nature Geoscience, DOI: 10.1038/NGEO2982. pdf,

    University of Oregon Press Release

  40. Bletery, Q., Thomas, A. M., Rempel, A. W., Karlstrom, L., Sladen, A., De Barros, L., (2016) "Mega-Earthquakes rupture flat megathrusts", Science, 354, 6315, 1027-1031. pdf

  41. Gill, Y., C. David, I. Demir, B. T. Essawy, R. W. Fulweiler, J. L. Goodall, L. Karlstrom, H. Lee, H. J. Mills, J-H. Oh, S. Pierce, A. Pope, M . W. Tzeng, S. R. Villamizar, X. Yu., (2016) "Towards the Geoscience paper of the future: Best practices for documenting and sharing research from data to software to provenance" Earth and Space Science, 3. pdf

  42. Yang, K., Karlstrom, L., Smith, L. C., and Li, M., (2016) "Automatic High Resolution Satellite Image Registration Using Supraglacial Rivers on the Greenland Ice Sheet." IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. pdf

  43. Karlstrom, L. and E. M. Dunham (2016), "Excitation and resonance of acoustic-gravity waves in a column of stratified, bubbly magma", Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 797, 431-470, doi:10.1017/jfm.2016.257 pdf

  44. Karlstrom, L. and K. Yang (2016 ), " Fluvial supraglacial landscape evolution on the Greenland Ice Sheet," Geophysical Research Letters 43, doi:10.1002/2016GL067697. pdf,

    American Geophysical Union press release

  45. Karlstrom, L., H. M. Wright and C. R. Bacon (2015), "The effect of pressurized magma chamber growth on melt migration and pre-caldera vent locations through time at Mount Mazama, Crater Lake, Oregon," Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 412, 209-219. pdf

  46. Richards, M.A., W. Alvarez, S. Self, L. Karlstrom, P.R. Renne, M. Manga, C.J. Sprain, J. Smit, L. Vanderkluysen, S. M. Gibson (2015), "Triggering of the largest Deccan eruptions by the Chicxulub impact", GSA Bulletin, doi:10.1130/B31167.1. pdf

  47. Karlstrom, L., C.-T.A. Lee and M. Manga, (2014) "The role of magmatic crustal thickening on arc front migration", Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 15, 2655-2675. pdf

  48. Jutzeler, M., R. Marsh, R.J. Carey, J.D.L. White, P.J. Talling and L. Karlstrom, (2014) "On the fate of pumice rafts formed during the 2012 Havre submarine eruption", Nature Communications, 5:3660.

  49. Karlstrom, L., A. Zok and M. Manga, (2014) "Near-surface permeability in a supraglacial drainage basin on the Llewellyn glacier, Juneau Ice Field, British Columbia," The Cryosphere, 8, 2, 537-546. pdf

  50. Vandemeulebrouck, J., R. A. Sohn, M. L. Rudolph, S. Hurwitz, M. Manga, M. J. S. Johnston, S. A. Soule, D. McPhee, J. M. G. Glen, L. Karlstrom, F. Murphy (2014), "Eruptions at Lone Star Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, USA, Part 2: Constraints on Subsurface Dynamics," Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth, DOI: 10.1002/2014JB011526.

  51. Karlstrom, L., P. Gajjar and M. Manga (2013), "Meander formation in supraglacial streams," Journal of Geophysical Research Earth Surface, 118, F20135. pdf

  52. Karlstrom, L., S. Hurwitz, R. A. Sohn, J. Vandemeulebrouck, F. Murphy, M. L. Rudolph, M. J. S. Johnston, M. Manga, and R.B. Mcleskey (2013), "Eruptions at Lone Star Geyser, Yellowstone National Park, USA, Part 1: Energetics and Eruption Dynamics", Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth, 118, B50251. pdf,

    Physics Today press

  53. Rudolph, M.L., M. Manga, S. Hurwitz, M. Johnston, L. Karlstrom, and C.-Y. Wang (2012), "Mechanics of Old Faithful Geyser, Calistoga, California," Geophysical Research Letters, 39, L24308.

  54. Karlstrom, L., M. L. Rudolph and M. Manga (2012), "Caldera size modulated by the yield stress in a crystal-rich magma reservoir," Nature Geoscience, 5, 6, 402-405. pdf

  55. Karlstrom, L. and M. A. Richards (2011), "On the evolution of large ultramafic magma chambers and timescales for flood basalt eruptions," Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth, 116, B08216. pdf

  56. Rudolph, M. L., L. Karlstrom and M. Manga (2011), "A prediction of the longevity of the Lusi mud volcano, Indonesia" Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 308, 124-130. pdf

  57. Karlstrom, L., J. Dufek and M. Manga (2010), "Magma chamber stability in arc and continental crust," Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 190, 249-270. pdf

  58. Karlstrom, L., J. Dufek and M. Manga (2009), "Organization of volcanic plumbing through magmatic lensing by magma chambers and volcanic loads," Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth, 114, B10204. pdf

  59. Karlstrom, L. and M. Manga (2006), "Origins and implications of zigzag rift patterns on lava lakes," Journal of Volcanolgy and Geothermal Research, 154, 317-324. pdf


Book Chapters


  1. Dufek, J., C. Huber and L. Karlstrom (2012), "Magma chamber dynamics and thermodynamics," Chapter in book 'The Mathematics and Physics of Volcanism,' edited by S.A. Fagents, T.K.P. Gregg, and R.C. Lopez, Cambridge University Press.