Mt. St. Helens Magma Reaches Surface 292
daquake writes "Volcanic rock has flowed to the surface of Mount St. Helens' crater, creating a new lava dome after weeks of seismic activity, the bulge had risen at least 330 feet since scientists noticed it September 30. Geologists said there is still a chance of explosive ash eruptions from the 8,364-foot mountain, and the immediate area around the volcano remained closed."
VolcanoCam (Score:5, Informative)
Re:VolcanoCam (Score:3, Funny)
Oh, it's night. Never mind.
It might be night, but you can still see the lava. (Score:3, Interesting)
One of the coolest things to happen with the volcano cam recently is that night has gotten slightly more interesting. For the first couple weeks, all you could see at night was a dark noisy image. In the last couple days, a faint glow from the magma in the dome has been visisble.
Re:VolcanoCam (Score:5, Interesting)
Jonah Hex
Re:VolcanoCam (Score:3, Informative)
Re:VolcanoCam Archives (Score:5, Informative)
Also the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network, a parent network to the St Helens area has the daily shots as a loop, with more info here [pnsn.org]. The earthquake maps plotted out over time [pnsn.org] are also very interesting.
loop = 2.5 hours (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:loop = 2.5 hours (Score:2)
Jonah Hex
Re:VolcanoCam Archives (Score:5, Informative)
Seismogram is viewable here [pnsn.org].
Interestingly enough, they actually had a seismogram that was on top of the lava dome, but it was destroyed in the first steam explosion at the beginning of the month.
Re:VolcanoCam (Score:4, Interesting)
You'll have your very own mirror of images. Of course, you'll also have an intensive task running every 5 minutes which takes a fair amount of disk space...
Try this... (Score:3, Informative)
#!/bin/bash
while (:); do
export name=`date +%m.%d.%y-%H:%M:%S`
wget http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/images/m shvolcanocam.jpg -O $name.jpg
#sleeps for 15 minutes
sleep 900
done
Re:VolcanoCam (Score:2, Funny)
Flash! Mt. St. Helens destroys Microsoft! (Score:2, Funny)
After weeks of seismic activity, Mt. St Helens shot off its lava dome that had been building for 20 years.
The solid 5000 ton piece of rock shot off like a cannonball out of the crater of the volcano.
It traveled 100 miles north in a perfect parabola. Then it smashed into the main administrative center of Microsoft corporation outside Redmond.
"All our source code and back-ups were destroyed", said a Microsoft spokescreature. "We'll have to start all over from MS-DOS 6.2 again".
"It's as
Re:Flash! Mt. St. Helens destroys Microsoft! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Flash! Mt. St. Helens destroys Microsoft! (Score:2)
Re:VolcanoCam (Score:2)
Love the St. Helens news. (Score:2, Funny)
How truly appropriate is the "Nothing to see here, move along..."
Re:Love the St. Helens news. (Score:3, Funny)
ash? (Score:5, Funny)
uh this is a lie. ash died a long time ago. nowadays, people use zsh, bash, or csh.
Re:ash? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:ash? (Score:2, Funny)
You're fucking dreaming. Just you wait: let even one Deadite show his ugly mug, and Ash will return!
Re:ash? (Score:2)
Yes, but... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Yes, but... (Score:2)
Also csh eruptions might be possible during hurricanes...
And ksh eruptions happen when you put too much popkourne (sp?) in your microwave.....
Nonononono..... (Score:2)
Re:ash? (Score:2)
links (Score:5, Informative)
http://news.google.com/news?q=MOUNT+ST.+HELENS [google.com]
Re:links (Score:5, Funny)
Mt. St helens history (Score:5, Interesting)
Mount Saint Helens [und.edu]
Re:Mt. St helens history (Score:2)
Re:Mt. St helens history (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Mt. St helens history (Score:2)
not many got it right... (Score:4, Informative)
I guess we will need to wait to see if they are in fact right, or if the 55% (KABOOM, ASH AND LAVA) people got it right.
For those that don't know what I'm talking about: the poll [slashdot.org]
Re:not many got it right... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:MOD UP! (Score:2)
Just in every single other story about Mount St. Helens the past few weeks.
Re:not many got it right... (Score:2)
I understand that the kaboom happens when built up forces give way
We can measure seizmic vibrations all day long, but the built up pressures, deep underground, are harder to see.
Re:not many got it right... (Score:2)
Re:not many got it right... (Score:3, Interesting)
Farewell (Score:5, Funny)
Let it be said that we went down, without fear as we hastily tried to upload our porn collections to a separate, safer place, so that our lives, and porn collecting will not have been in vain.
This is Seattle,
signing off
Re:Farewell (Score:5, Informative)
Have you looked at a map lately? The closest "large" metropolis is Portland, Oregon.
The only people in legitimate danger are the folks living around Spirit Lake, or the Toutle River, or anyone one of the other stupid towns nearby like Cougar or Amboy.
Even though we wish that all of the Microsoft campuses were situated smack dab on the lava dome, the worst they're going to see is a slightly greyer day.
But if you were really from around here, that wouldn't be anything new.
Re:Farewell (Score:2)
Re:Farewell (Score:2)
if you need the referance I can probably find it somewhere.. or probably another slashdot user has it bookmarked
Re:Farewell (Score:3, Insightful)
This appears to be something those still living here regret - I don't wonder why when someone starts insulting us for correct, British spelling.
Re:Farewell (Score:2)
Re:Farewell (Score:2)
I think they both spell stuff the same way: S-T-U-F-F
hot magma (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Re:What a tease! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:What a tease! (Score:2)
Re:What a tease! (Score:2)
Re:What a tease! (Score:5, Funny)
Actually.. no. It's funny what you see when you mass download a bunch of.. uh... research material.
Potentially Catastrophic Eruption Imminent? (Score:5, Funny)
SCO and RIAA problems... solved.
Re:Potentially Catastrophic Eruption Imminent? (Score:2)
ugh!
I For One... (Score:5, Funny)
Communism (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Communism (Score:2, Funny)
plagiarism (Score:2, Insightful)
If you're going to copy verbatim, credit your source.
Re:plagiarism (Score:3, Funny)
If you're going to copy verbatim, credit your source.",
What's your name?
this calls for some B-52's (Score:3, Funny)
My body's burnin' like a lava from a Mauna Loa
My heart's crackin' like a Krakatoa
Krakatoa, east of Java, molten bodies, fiery lava
Fire, fire, burnin' bright
Turn on your love lava
Turn on your lava light
Fire, oh volcano, over you
Don't let your lava love turn to stone
Keep it burnin'
Keep it burnin' here at home
Oooo Hot Lava
Oooo Hot Lava
Ob. South Park Reference: (Score:2, Funny)
Eruption... (Score:4, Interesting)
why (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:why (Score:2, Insightful)
I was at MSH a week ago... (Score:4, Interesting)
Also, I climbed MSH the day before they shut down the mountain. There were a couple dozen earthquakes while I was on it, including one right when we were at the top. Of course I didn't know it at the time, only when I got home and checked the website. If you're close by, I highly recommend going, even if it doesn't blow while you're there. Supposedly (!!!) it's safe, plus you can see the lava dome and its new little buddy from the visitors center.
To be expected (Score:5, Informative)
The lack of major earth tremors in the last couple of days was also a tell-tale sign. Much less resistance to the molten rock, so it was likely heading to the surface much faster than before.
Mount St. Helens, however, is apparently not the volcano the scientists are most concerned with. Sure, it's interesting and all that, but there's no expectation of anything life-threatening or spectacular. The warning level was downgraded a few days ago, and the vulcanologists now largely expect it to quietly build its lava dome in peace.
Apparently, there's a bit more concern over Mt. Rainier and Mt. Hood. Mt. Rainier isn't showing much activity, at the moment, but is expected to be by far the most devastating of all the Cascades volcanos when it does decide to explode. Most of Seattle is built on ash deposits from a prior eruption. An eruption on the OTHER side of the mountain. That thing has absolutely no concern for the environment, whatsoever.
The other volcano getting attention is Mt. Hood. Partly because it is so close to Portland, but also because there's been a bit of activity there the past few years. Nothing major, but definitely signs of life. I've not seen any predictions made as to the sort of timeframe an eruption could be expected, but I think it's not too unreasonable to suggest that recurrent activity means it's likely to be sooner rather than later.
Seattle is apparently spending a small fortune on monitoring the volcanos in its vicinity. Not surprising, given that it IS built on volcanic ash. Maybe someone paid attention when the history class covered Pompeii. Given that the Cascades are part of the so-called "Ring of Fire" (a name to inspire tranquility in anyone!
Even so, volcanos are not to be trifled with and they are (by nature) unpredictable. It's extremely hard to evacuate even relatively small cities on the Southeast coast, whenever there's a hurricane, despite weeks of warning and the fact that these events are so frequent that both officials and residents have considerable experience.
In the worst-possible case, a volcano might give a few day's notice, and the road infrastructure in the Portland-Vancouver-Seattle stretch is not exactly built to handle mass evacuations. It's not entirely clear how many of the bridges in Portland would even be safe, in the event of a mass exodus.
The problem isn't helped by a lack of immediacy. There's no evidence that there's going to be a problem in the near future, so (other than the aforementioned monitoring) there's very little money going into dealing with the problem once it does happen.
(Hey, California's no better. They've not even fixed the damage from the last major earthquake, nevermind made improvements to handle another crisis, even though there's a quite significant risk of another crisis in the comparatively near future. Roads don't build themselves and emergency crews aren't exactly equipt with all-terrain vehicles. Though that would probably not be a bad idea, for high-risk areas.)
Re:To be expected (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:To be expected (Score:2)
I kid you not. The Mount Bloedel Conservatory is perched on top of it.
Of course, I went looking for some confirmation of this online and came up blank, so YMMV.
Re:To be expected (Score:2)
Ah, some hope at last. Now I can hope that Mt. Rainier will finally blow its top and chase all those damn Seattleites to Canada where they belong.
Gutless wonders, all of them. Heh.
Re:To be expected (Score:5, Informative)
Err what?
Since the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, every major freeway interchange in Southern California has been retrofitted with steel and cement sleeves to make them seismically safe. They should be able to stand most earthquakes that are thrown at them, except perhaps the I-10/I-215 interchange which is built directly on top of the San Jacinto Fault (oops!). If that decides to rupture, write that part of the freeway off.
It is also against the law to build within 60 feet of an active fault line as well. Not to mention, new buildings today are built to strict codes, ensuring they should stand up in an earthquake.
Even factoring 1994's M6.7 Northridge Earthquake, which was one of the most expensive natural disasters in U.S. history, there were 51 deaths. This is considerably less deaths than similiar (and even smaller sized) quakes in Iran, Turkey, Indonesia or even Mexico. It is definitely a testiment to strict building codes, which have gotten better with more research and understanding of wave/crustal/structural dynamics.
you missed one.. (Score:3, Interesting)
You missed the bulge that is building in the The Three Sisters in Central Oregon.
http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/03/25/a1
Cut and paste from the above article..
confirming geologists' belief that a large bulge that has grown over the past seven years near the dormant volcanoes could be caused by an upwelling of molten rock miles underground.
Re:To be expected (Score:4, Interesting)
(One of the reasons Ranier is such a danger isn't so much the size of the eruption itself that would likely occur, but the pretty magestic white slopes. In an eruption all those icy glaciers will liquify and make a massive rushing flood of muddy goo all the way to Puget Sound, ruining all cities in the way. Ranier has the most ice of any mountain in the United States.)
Re:To be expected (Score:3, Funny)
You say that like that's a bad thing.
Re:To be expected (Score:2)
As a side-note, the entirity of Yellowstone Park is one gigantic volcano. If that went up, I imagine it could do quite a bit of damage. If activity there started going up, I think you can expect US home insurance premiums to rise quite dramatically.
(You can also expect insurance agents to start lining up for the next manned Mars mission.)
New Microsoft Headquarters! (Score:4, Funny)
Let me tell you of this new place where you can move Microsoft HQ to... oh wait
Re:New Microsoft Headquarters! (Score:3, Funny)
Clarification (Score:4, Informative)
There seems to be a little confusion among those who didn't actually read the article, so I might as well waste a few seconds:
There is no lava actually coming out visibly. When they say there is magma at the surface, the geologists really mean it's just below the surface. I guess the point of the article is that this is new growth inside the lava dome, as opposed to lava deep down pushing up the whole dome from beneath. Microsoft is still safe baring any truly cool explosions and there's really no danger of forest fires. Any lava would have a lot of crater filling to do before it spilled over the north face. Plus I read somewhere that the lava tends to come out of Mt. St. Helens pretty viscous (thick crust?) so it doesn't flow well anyways.
Re:Clarification (Score:5, Insightful)
There is no lava actually coming out visibly. When they say there is magma at the surface, the geologists really mean it's just below the surface. I guess the point of the article is that this is new growth inside the lava dome, as opposed to lava deep down pushing up the whole dome from beneath. Microsoft is still safe baring any truly cool explosions and there's really no danger of forest fires. Any lava would have a lot of crater filling to do before it spilled over the north face. Plus I read somewhere that the lava tends to come out of Mt. St. Helens pretty viscous (thick crust?) so it doesn't flow well anyways.
Yeah, the magma below the Cascade ranges have quite a high silica content. The higher the silica content, the more viscous the lava is, as well as more explosive.
So any magma that does reach the surface will be extremely viscous, not move very far and be quite irregular as it cools. Most likely, it will form a type of volcanic rock called rhyolite or dacite, rather than basalt, which is what people usually associate with lava flows (and is the stuff produced from low silica content eruptions, such as the Hawaiian Islands).
Wha? (Score:2, Funny)
May 18, 1980 I made a prediction that didn't come (Score:3, Funny)
Business as usual. (Score:4, Interesting)
It is formed after all from many small eruptions, such as this one, that deposit lava onto the sides of the volcano and thereby causing it to grow larger. IANAG (I Am Not A Geologist).
What's the big deal other than its interesting to watch it unfold infront of your eyes, and it probably will keep on doing this for some time to come so now isn't your last chance to see this happen. Granted with all the new technology available to us it can provide us with some valuable insight into the inner workings of the earth, but it seems the geologist know exactly whats going on here.
Other than these few scientific points of interest, there really is not much point in sucking up this story from every single media outlet. Its business as usual for the volcano and time we worried about more important things (at least those we can influence).
And no I don't live on the other side of the world. I'm from just a wee bit North of the border.
'Scimitar SL-2' (Score:3, Interesting)
It's not a very good novel (in fact, it's downright ludicrous, as it's one of those where all the world's terrorists seem to be working together as one unified group, a concept which Parker and Stone are ridiculing in 'Team America') and it's insanely right-wing, ultra-militaristic and reactionary, as such books are wont to be, but Robinson might now get some extra sales just because he was lucky with the timing.
Think Of The Terrorists... (Score:4, Funny)
I would hope all
Magma visible? (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/
and
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/image
Keep an eye on the one steam plume on the upper right of the crater. As the sun goes down on the camera (roughly 22:00 Oct 12), you can see a prominant reddish spot that remains all the way through, well, the time I write this.
Re:Pay up... (Score:3, Funny)
Bet's not over yet. Of course I need KABOOM, ASH AND LAVA before I see any money..
Re:Pay up... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Pay up... (Score:2)
When I told my gf about this article, my gf said "I hope it happens on Friday, that's the day I bet on!" Evidently, some site's offering a prize for whoever guesses it. hehe
Re:Pay up... (Score:2)
- Thomas;
Re:Forest fires? (Score:2)
Re:Forest fires? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Forest fires? (Score:3, Funny)
Pretty simple: Tommy Lee Jones will dynamite a high rise conveniently located near the path of the flow and divert the lava into the Pacific.
Don't you watch any movies? This is done all the time.
Re:Forest fires? (Score:2)
Re:Ignore the Kyoto Accord at your own peril... (Score:2)
Ummmm......... Sanctions against Mt. St. Helens!
Re:Ignore the Kyoto Accord at your own peril... (Score:5, Insightful)
There are other countries you know, like Canada, People's Republic of China, India, Japan, New Zealand, and all of the European Union.
-Colin [colingregorypalmer.net]
Re:Ignore the Kyoto Accord at your own peril... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ignore the Kyoto Accord at your own peril... (Score:2)
Of course China and India coted for Kyoto - they aren't affected, if everyone implemented it, then China and India would do better then everyone else.
The only way kyoto would work is if every country was treated equally.
Re:Ignore the Kyoto Accord at your own peril... (Score:5, Funny)
The Senate voted against it 99-1. No one supported it.
That statement is obviously self contradictory.
Re:Ignore the Kyoto Accord at your own peril... (Score:2, Insightful)
Maybe Kyoto was too big a step to take at once (though I have my doubts about that) but the big problem is the Bush administration wants to ignore the problem entirely.
Actually... (Score:2)
Re:Ignore the Kyoto Accord at your own peril... (Score:2)
That's funny, because the Senate never even voted on ratification of the treaty. They did vote 95-0 against a bill which sought to enact some of the provisions of the treaty, but they never voted against the treaty itself, because it never reached the floor.
Re:Ignore the Kyoto Accord at your own peril... (Score:2)