smith: volcanic ash 407 



brown and very fine-grained. The largest grains in a specimen 

 examined by Dr. Albert Johannsen are reported to have been 

 from 0.02 mm. to 0.06 mm. in diameter. The material consists 

 chiefly of fine volcanic glass but there are also a few grains that 

 show polarization colors, tho they are too small for mineralogical 

 identification. Dr. Johannsen reported that there is no magnetite 

 in the ash collected near Nome but certain of the specimens from 

 the western part of the peninsula, notably those from York and 

 Lost River, show a little of this mineral. 



The amount of ash that fell is variously estimated by different 

 observers but many of the stories are evidently exaggerated and 

 there seems to be no marked difference in quantity in the different 

 parts of the region. The most trustworthy estimate was fur- 

 nished by Arthur Gibson of Nome, who is the local observer for 

 the Weather Bureau. He weighed the ash that collected in the 

 official rain gage and found that 11 grains fell per square foot of 

 surface. If this is correct, it follows that nearly 22 tons of ash fell 

 on each square mile in the vicinity of Nome. 



Nothing definite is known of the location of the volcano from 

 which the ash came. Natives at Candle are said to have reported 

 "Big mountain peluk (gone), smoke!" and to have signified a loca- 

 tion to the north of Kotzebue. There are no recent volcanoes 

 known in that region and considerable doubt is felt of the accuracy 

 of this story. The records of the Weather Bureau at Nome 

 show that the winds were prevailingly from the west and north 

 during the shower. This suggests a Siberian or northwestern 

 Alaskan location for the volcanic outburst, possibly in so sparsely 

 inhabited a region that the eruption was not observed. The 

 well-known difference in direction of upper and lower air currents, 

 however, makes the wind direction an unsatisfactory criterion, 

 especially as eruptions are known to have been in progress in the 

 Bogoslof Islands to the south at least as late as October, 1907. 



