Mt. St. Helenas releasing lava

[helemon]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/12/30/st.helens.ap/index.html
Roughly every three seconds, the equivalent of a large dump truck load of lava -- 10 cubic yards -- oozes into the crater of Mount St. Helens, and with the molten rock comes a steady drumfire of small earthquakes.

The unremitting pace, going on for 15 months now, is uncommon, said U.S. Geological Survey geologist Dave Sherrod. Experts say it is unclear what the activity signifies or how much longer it will continue.

How's the view from your house Luna? I hope your new home is a safe distance away!

[lunaverse]

I'm not worried. St. Helens has been gurgling and spewing and quaking off and on for the last decaded.

Mount St. Helens Watch (http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/)

Right now the site is having some camera problems, which they expect to fix after the new year. But it's cool when it works. Another site has a sizemograph, but it crashed Firefox so I'm angry at it and you may not have the link.

:)

Truthfully, I hope Helens keeps up these little gurgles, because it helps release the pressure under there. Helens is way down by the border of Oregon, far from large cities. Based on my limited knowledge of geology, I don't think it can blow again at the same level it did before, because it now has a nice lava dome where pressure can be released slowly instead of in a giagantic explosion.

And if that also helps release pressure from Mt. Rainier, the tallest mountain in the conteninental United States, it suits me fine. You see, Rainier is only a 45 minute drive from Seattle. We can easily see it on clear days, looming on the horizon, taller than the closer skyscrapers. It's shown some minor signs of activity in the past decade as well -- small earthquakes, landslides (indicating warmth), and small spews of ash.

If Rainier goes off like Helens did in '81? And the wind is blowing at all northward?

Seattle is a goner.

Luna

[skeptic]

I'm not worried. St. Helens has been gurgling and spewing and quaking off and on for the last decaded.

Mount St. Helens Watch (http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/)

Right now the site is having some camera problems, which they expect to fix after the new year. But it's cool when it works. Another site has a sizemograph, but it crashed Firefox so I'm angry at it and you may not have the link.

:)

Truthfully, I hope Helens keeps up these little gurgles, because it helps release the pressure under there. Helens is way down by the border of Oregon, far from large cities. Based on my limited knowledge of geology, I don't think it can blow again at the same level it did before, because it now has a nice lava dome where pressure can be released slowly instead of in a giagantic explosion.

And if that also helps release pressure from Mt. Rainier, the tallest mountain in the conteninental United States, it suits me fine. You see, Rainier is only a 45 minute drive from Seattle. We can easily see it on clear days, looming on the horizon, taller than the closer skyscrapers. It's shown some minor signs of activity in the past decade as well -- small earthquakes, landslides (indicating warmth), and small spews of ash.

If Rainier goes off like Helens did in '81? And the wind is blowing at all northward?

Seattle is a goner.

Luna
_________________________________________________

From what I’ve read the gradual stress releases are good. I’ve come to very much respect Mother Nature. I’m on an Incident Management Team and we were assigned to the initial Hurricane Katrina Recovery for a month. It became most frustrating when could not get the needed supplies and equipment we needed. The magnitude of the Hurricane just completely overwhelmed all levels of Government. Then there were some really dumb things that happened like being told some communication equipment we really needed was being held up because human remain shipments had priority. The communication equipment we needed was to be set up for the SAR’s (search and rescue) operation for survivors and the dead. By the time it finally came it was too late. I saw complete neighborhoods that were turned into bones of rubble. From some of the reports I’ve read it appears if something really big happens again we will be in the same boat. I hope the Katrina survivors will not be forgotten. So many have lost everything.

SoUtSkeptic