Dwight Raymond "Rocky" Crandell (25 January 1923 – April 6, 2009) was an American
volcanologist
A volcanologist, or volcano scientist, is a geologist who focuses on understanding the formation and eruptive activity of volcanoes. Volcanologists frequently visit volcanoes, sometimes active ones, to observe and monitor volcanic eruptions, col ...
who alongside Donal R. Mullineaux correctly predicted that
Mount St. Helens
Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...
would erupt before the end of the 20th century.
Early life and education
Born in
Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, United States. The city is northwest of Peoria. At the 2010 census, its population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County and the principal city of the Galesburg Micropolitan Statistical ...
, Crandell fought in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
as a lieutenant in an Army mortar platoon. Once the war had finished he returned to America and earned a
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
from
Yale
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
.
Career at USGS
He was placed at the
USGS
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...
office in Colorado where he met Donal R. Mullineaux with whom he began to work on the theory that Mount St. Helens will erupt, before the end of the century.
Mount Rainier
They proved that about 5,600 years earlier, the summit of
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a s ...
had collapsed and caused
a landslide filling some valleys up to 400 feet deep. That awakened the recognition that a similar event could endanger hundreds of thousands of people living atop the ancient mudflows.
Mount St. Helens
Their 1978 report claimed that Mount St. Helens is “an especially dangerous volcano” and it would more than likely erupt before the end of the 20th century.
[Pioneer volcano scientist Dwight Crandell dies]
''The Daily News''
On May 18, 1980 their predictions came true when the volcano erupted killing 57 people and caused more than $1 billion worth of damage. He retired shortly after the eruption.
Later life
Crandell died in a hospice in Colorado on April 6, 2009 after suffering a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
. He was survived by his two daughters, three grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. His wife died in 2006 and her ashes were scattered at Mount Rainier where he had worked many years before.
[ A son predeceased both parents in 1965.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crandell, Dwight
1923 births
2009 deaths
American volcanologists
Yale University alumni
People from Galesburg, Illinois
United States Army personnel of World War II