Mount St. Helens
By Kyle Lockhead
Volcanoes destroy and volcanoes create. The catastrophic eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 was devastating. It shows the destructive power of a volcano. Yet, over a time span longer than human memory. Volcanoes have played a key role in forming and modifying the planet we live on. More than 80 percent of the Earth's surface is from a volcano and the eruption from Mt St. Helens is big part in the environment but the mountain of Mt St. Helens will never be the same since the 1980 eruption.
How Volcanoes Work Volcanoes are just a natural way that the Earth and other planets have of cooling off and releasing internal heat and pressure.
Volcanoes erupt because of density and pressure. The lower density …show more content…
Mount St. Helens is most notorious for its major 1980 eruption, the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United State. The eruption started at 8:32 am after 123 years of sleep. A massive debris avalanche triggered by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale caused the eruption. The avalanche reduced the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 ft (2,950 m) to 8,363 ft (2,549 m), leaving a 1 mile (1.6 km) wide horseshoe-shaped crater. The debris avalanche was up to 0.7 cubic miles (2.9 km3) in volume. An ash cloud of 80,000ft high rose into the sky. It got so dark street lights had to be turned on. The whole ash cloud went across the US in 3 days. As with most other volcanoes in the Cascade Range, Mount St. Helens is a large eruptive cone consisting of lava rock interlayered with ash, pumice, and other deposits. The mountain includes layers of basalt and andesite which several domes of dacite lava had erupted from. The eruption released 24 megatons of thermal energy. All around Washington at least 2 inches of ash was on the ground. All around the volcano all wildlife was killed by either scorching heat ,or a giant mudslide. Fifty-seven people were kill, 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles (24 km) of railways, and 185 miles (298 km) of highway were destroyed. Nearest the volcano, the explosion completely toppled trees, an …show more content…
Helens 37 years ago today devastated the surrounding landscape, with the hot gas and debris killing countless animals and damaging or destroying large amounts of forest. But, life did not entirely end then and there. Among the reasons the ecology rebounded are some surprising factors, including the early morning timing of the eruption, the fact that spring had been late to arrive that year, and the amazing ability of insects to parachute in once a recovery was underway. Some species managed to survive the the volcano's eruption on May 18, 1980. Together they sowed the seeds of a comeback that progressed in fits and starts and continues today. The recovery of the Mount St. Helens area was "a wonderful living laboratory" to investigate how ecosystems and species respond to and recover from major disturbances, said Charlie Crisafulli, a research ecologist with the Pacific Northwest Research Station in Amboy, Washington .This natural experiment gave scientists like Crisafulli plenty of surprises and has revealed some important factors that influence how an ecosystem recovers from such widespread devastation, which they have used to study other areas impacted by volcanic eruptions. One critical factor that influenced what species were impacted was timing – both the time of day and the season, because the major explosion occurred at 8:32 a.m. local time, many nocturnal animals were already bedded down for the day and so were more likely to have been
By Kyle Lockhead
Volcanoes destroy and volcanoes create. The catastrophic eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 was devastating. It shows the destructive power of a volcano. Yet, over a time span longer than human memory. Volcanoes have played a key role in forming and modifying the planet we live on. More than 80 percent of the Earth's surface is from a volcano and the eruption from Mt St. Helens is big part in the environment but the mountain of Mt St. Helens will never be the same since the 1980 eruption.
How Volcanoes Work Volcanoes are just a natural way that the Earth and other planets have of cooling off and releasing internal heat and pressure.
Volcanoes erupt because of density and pressure. The lower density …show more content…
Mount St. Helens is most notorious for its major 1980 eruption, the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United State. The eruption started at 8:32 am after 123 years of sleep. A massive debris avalanche triggered by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale caused the eruption. The avalanche reduced the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 ft (2,950 m) to 8,363 ft (2,549 m), leaving a 1 mile (1.6 km) wide horseshoe-shaped crater. The debris avalanche was up to 0.7 cubic miles (2.9 km3) in volume. An ash cloud of 80,000ft high rose into the sky. It got so dark street lights had to be turned on. The whole ash cloud went across the US in 3 days. As with most other volcanoes in the Cascade Range, Mount St. Helens is a large eruptive cone consisting of lava rock interlayered with ash, pumice, and other deposits. The mountain includes layers of basalt and andesite which several domes of dacite lava had erupted from. The eruption released 24 megatons of thermal energy. All around Washington at least 2 inches of ash was on the ground. All around the volcano all wildlife was killed by either scorching heat ,or a giant mudslide. Fifty-seven people were kill, 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles (24 km) of railways, and 185 miles (298 km) of highway were destroyed. Nearest the volcano, the explosion completely toppled trees, an …show more content…
Helens 37 years ago today devastated the surrounding landscape, with the hot gas and debris killing countless animals and damaging or destroying large amounts of forest. But, life did not entirely end then and there. Among the reasons the ecology rebounded are some surprising factors, including the early morning timing of the eruption, the fact that spring had been late to arrive that year, and the amazing ability of insects to parachute in once a recovery was underway. Some species managed to survive the the volcano's eruption on May 18, 1980. Together they sowed the seeds of a comeback that progressed in fits and starts and continues today. The recovery of the Mount St. Helens area was "a wonderful living laboratory" to investigate how ecosystems and species respond to and recover from major disturbances, said Charlie Crisafulli, a research ecologist with the Pacific Northwest Research Station in Amboy, Washington .This natural experiment gave scientists like Crisafulli plenty of surprises and has revealed some important factors that influence how an ecosystem recovers from such widespread devastation, which they have used to study other areas impacted by volcanic eruptions. One critical factor that influenced what species were impacted was timing – both the time of day and the season, because the major explosion occurred at 8:32 a.m. local time, many nocturnal animals were already bedded down for the day and so were more likely to have been