Mount St. Helens is a volcano in Washington State that is famed for its May 18, 1980 eruption. I will commemorate the eruption on the date. For now, I want to write about Mount St. Helens current "active" phase which started in October 2004. Originally, activity on the mountain made national news. But after a few months, nothing really changed and people lost interest. Over 18 months later, the activity on the mountain is continuing strong. A large new dome of rock and debris has formed in the crater and is growing every day. The most interesting aspect of the current active phase is a giant slab of rock protruding out of the new dome. The rock fin grows 4 to 5 feet everyday and is already over 300 feet tall! See this article to find out more.
Here are some recent pictures of this very interesting volcanic output from the Cascade Volcanic Observatory/USGS website:
Totally wacky looking isn't it? It's amazing how powerful the earth is.
As you can see, the mountain is still fuming with daily seismic activity, small ash eruptions, rock falls, some lava upflow, but nothing major. They are even opening the observatory closest to the mountain because the level of activity has remained consistent throughout and posses no real danger outside the crater. See the CVO/USGS website for more pics.
Other news: Lots of review and studying today. Same for tomorrow!
Arrillaga: A good thorough workout today at the gym working back and leg muscles. It was nice to spend some time in there again. I can't get too carried away though!
Leor Pantilat's Adventures