3 Geology Seth 5/7/07 Mount St. Helens Volcanoes are not anything that we should fear, but volcano eruptions are another case. Volcano eruptions have a great potential of being disastrous to Earth by destroying living and non-living things. Volcano eruptions vary from a certain location to another, and are often different because of their location. Lava and magma is sustained at extremely hot temperatures that make them merely indestructible. Once the lava comes running down the side of a mountain, it is well capable of taking down anything in its path. In accordance to eruptions, it is important that people study active volcanoes to know the status of them at all times. It would be highly beneficial and much easier to avoid disaster if people can expect when an eruption would occur. In order to understand the effects of a volcano on Earth, I have researched Mount St. Helens, an active volcano. Mount St. Helens is part of the "ring of fire", which includes over 160 active volcanoes. Mount St. Helens is located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It was formed when the North American and the Juan de Fuca tectonic plates collided. Mount St. Helens is a stratovolcano because of many of its characteristics. Stratovolcanoes are generally composed of many layers that form from the lava, debris, and volcanic ash. An online encyclopedia also states, "The lava that flows from them is viscous, and cools and hardens before spreading very far." (1)
Scientists and geologists discover and learn extensively each day. Recent cases are considered to be very important to examine as our understanding of volcanoes increase. According to the Mount St. Helens Institute, "Mount St. Helens is the youngest and most active Cascade Range volcano, born 40,000 years ago. It erupts roughly once each century." (2). St. Mount Helens is famous for its fairly recent eruption that took place on may 18, 1980. The eruption was devastating to for everything that was on and near the mountain. At 8:32 a.m., a 5.1 earthquake stuck one mile below the mountain. (3). Apparently, the north side of the peak slid away which exposed the partly molten, steam, and gas in the volcano to lower pressure. Just after the eruption, the north side of the mountain suffered a great landslide which consisted of the lava taking out all of the trees and everything else on the mountain. There was huge debris that followed the eruption flow. Ash rained down over 22,000 square miles, blew more than twelve miles into the atmosphere, and circled the globe in seventeen days. The eruption left Mount St. Helens with a great impact that destroyed the mountain. Mount St. Helens sat at an elevation of 9,677 feet before the eruption and 8,363 feet after. The mountain was reduced by 1,314 feet when the ash finally cleared. Although the Forest Service and local authorities had worked diligently to keep visitors away, 57 people were killed. Along with the loss of human life, it seemed the plants and animals in the area were almost completely wiped out as well. It is estimated that 5,000 black-tailed deer, 1,500 Roosevelt elk, 200 black bears, and 15 mountain goats fell victim. Millions of small game, fish, birds and insects were also in the path of the eruption (4). We should be aware of Mount St. Helens at all times to avoid any similar
tragedy from occurring. There is not much we could do to change the past. The eruption on May 18, 1980 was much unexpected. We did not have a chance to predict the eruption because it was marked by an earthquake; however, we are able to learn more about the volcano in the eruption aftermath.
Works Cited 1. 2. 3. 4. www.wikipedia.org www.mshinstitute.org www.usgs.gov www.olywa.net