There has been written so much about the 1980 eruption that we have decided not to include that event on our pages. A search on the Internet will give several hundred pages and pictures from that now so famous eruption. So what we do here, is to start with what might become the next big explosion - or just to follow what happens in the meantime.... See also our Web-Cam page: Click here! Latest news from USGS: Click here! Latest Earthquake info: Click here! Friday, March 11th, 2005 The volcano is clear yesterday morning and sporting an intermittent steam plume. There have been no explosive events since 5:25 p.m. local time on Tuesday. After the event Tuesday, seismicity returned to a level similar to that in the several hours prior to the explosion, and it remains at about that level at this time. Yesterday, the new dome was found to be remarkably intact. Ballistics up to ~1 m in diameter were hurled as far as the northern flank of the old dome. No ballistics were found along or beyond the crater rim. Ash deposits were found along a narrow eastward swath. Ash up to ~1 inch thick was deposited along the east flank of the volcano. Although no obvious vent was observed, the distribution of ballistics and ash suggest the explosion emanated from a source very near that of the October 1, 2004 and January 16, 2005 explosions. Today, crews will conduct more visual observations, measure gases, do routine maintenance on some far-field instrument stations, and redeploy GPS units. Tuesday, March 8, 2005, 6:00 P.M. PST A small explosive event at Mount St. Helens volcano began at approximately 5:25 p.m. PST. Pilot reports indicate that the resulting steam-and-ash plume reached an altitude of about 36,000 feet above sea level within a few minutes and drifted downwind to the east-northeast. The principal event lasted about 30 minutes with intensity gradually declining throughout. The USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory lost radio signals from three monitoring stations in the crater soon after the event started. The cause of the outage wont be known until scientists can visit the crater tomorrow to assess the situation, weather permitting. The event followed a few hours of slightly increased earthquake activity that was noted but not interpreted as precursory activity. There were no other indications of an imminent change in activity. Wednesday, December 15th, 2004 Fueled by hot rock coming from below, the lava dome has risen to about 1,000 feet above the crater floor. The dome is now about 1,500 feet long and 800 feet wide and is broken roughly into three segments, with the central segment rising faster than the others. The risk of collapse depends on how fast and how steeply the dome continues growing. Studies of other volcanoes show that lava domes can rise for years if there is relatively little new rock fueling the eruption. At Mount St. Helens, 5 cubic yards - a small truckload - of hot rock has been coming out of the ground every second. After the 1980 eruption, a lava dome grew for six years, occasionally
collapsing. The new dome lies to the south of the old dome. The force
of its growth has pushed a large glacier - 600 feet thick in places
- against the crater wall.
Another quake hits at 15:23 UTC (07:23 local time), probably same size as the two below. An earthquake with magnitude 2.9 hit the center at 02.59 UTC this morning (yesterday evening local time). Another quake at 08.49 UTC seems to be of same size, but is still not confirmed. Thursday, December 2nd, 2004 From photographs taken on Monday, we now know that the GPS instrument, or Spider, that had been riding along on the new lava dome since November 20 is lost. The crumbling southwest margin of the dome probably neared the Spider on Saturday, radio communications became intermittent, and were lost on Sunday when the Spider evidently fell off the cliff into the talus below. In its week-long journey it moved about 75 meters (250 feet) south-southeastward and about 8 meters (26 feet) upward. Mount St. Helens has been pumping out up to 250 tons of sulfur dioxide a day. At its worst, that's a rate more than double the amount of sulfur dioxide produced by all the state's industries combined, according to several US-newspapers today. The volcano has been Washington's top polluter since its newest erupting began in early October. And a state official says there's nothing anybody can do about it, because, in his words, "You can't put a cork in it." Wednesday, December 1st, 2004 From the east, view of the glacier uplift agains the south crater wall. USGS Photograph taken on November 29, 2004, by Jim Vallance and Matt Logan. The lava emerges from the vent with enough strength that it can push earlier-extruded lava southward toward the crater wall. The leading edge of the extrusion has now reached the crater wall, so it will be interesting to see what happens over coming days. Will new lava start to well upward over the vent and piggyback on the south side of the 1980s dome rather than continue to push against the buttress provided by the crater wall? Or will new lava move eastward or westward in a pattern similar to its southward movement? Tuesday, November 30th, 2004 Looks like we had another one about 04.10 UTC today. Three earthquakes between magnitude 2.6 and 2.8 occurred last evening and early yesterday morning amidst the ongoing sequence of smaller (mostly less than M1.5) earthquakes. Along with Saturdays M3.1 event and similar-sized earthquakes that occurred in mid-November, they represent nothing unusual in the expected sequence of events accompanying lava-dome growth. USGS Sunday, November 28th, 2004 USGS report from Saturday 10:15 am PST (1815 UTC) Mount St. Helens crater and dome from the east. USGS Photograph taken on November 26, 2004, by John Pallister Aerial views taken late yesterday afternoon show that growth of the welt and lava dome continue. Most of the east arm of the crater glacier that is adjacent to the welt is now deformed. Ice close to the welt is steeply inclined and intensely fractured; farther away the ice surface is beginning to rumple into broad ridges as the welt grows eastward.
A magnitude 3.1 earthquake occurred at a shallow level in the crater about 5 a.m. this morning --the first earthquake greater than M3 that has been recorded since the new lava dome emerged in mid-October. It appears to be a larger version of the small earthquakes that have been occurring for many weeks at the rate of about one per minute. Tuesday, November 23rd, 2004 Mount St. Helens' new growth, from the south. USGS Photograph taken on November 20, 2004, by Dan Dzurisin. The steep west face of the dome is crumbling piecemeal, but, as fractures grow, there is an increasing chance of large slabs of hot rock toppling westward and forming ash clouds that drift out of the crater and hot avalanches, or pyroclastic flows. The flows would sweep over, erode, and melt snow and ice and produce lahars, or volcanic debris flows, that pour northward out of the crater onto the Pumice Plain. The three instrument packages, called Spiders, that were lowered from a helicopter into the crater on Saturday are operating well and sending back data in real time. The GPS site placed near the top of the new lava dome is moving at an impressive rate southeastward and upward. In 24 hours it moved about 10 meters (33 feet) southeastward and 2 meters (6.5 feet) upward, confirming visual and photographic observations. Gas measurements made on Saturday were of high quality and show that daily gas emissions remain at a more or less constant rate of a couple hundred tons of sulfur dioxide, about 1000 tons of carbon dioxide, and several tons of hydrogen sulfide. Monday, November 22nd, 2004 Saturdays clear, calm weather, coupled with a relatively low level of steaming, created ideal conditions for observations and instrument installations. Thermal-imaging and geologic observations revealed further expansion of the welt, the broad area of uplift south of the 1980-86 lava dome, toward the southeast and development of several deep pits on the uplift that may be the result of melting of blocks of glacier ice and collapse of overlying debris. Three instrument packages called Spiders, two with GPS instruments and one with a seismometer, were lowered from a helicopter. One GPS sits near the top of the new lava dome. Processing of the first several hours of data, showed that the highest point on the new lava dome is at an altitude of 2256 m (7400 ft), or about 76 m (250 ft) higher than the summit of the 1980-86 lava dome. Hopefully this instrument can survive in its harsh environment and allow us to track movement of that point in real-time, both horizontally and vertically. This will provide a method for assessing how lava-dome growth is progressing. The new seismometer is located on the upper east side of the old lava dome and will help in obtaining better locations of earthquakes. USGS Saturday, November 13th, 2004 Mount St. Helens' new growth as seen from the east. USGS Photograph taken on November 12, 2004, by Willie Scott Aerial view of Mount St. Helens' crater and lava dome, as seen from the west. USGS Photograph taken on November 10, 2004, by John Pallister. No changes in activity yet. Friday, November 12th, 2004 Yesterday field crews conducted visual and thermal-imaging observations and a gas-sensing flight. Strong winds made interpretation of gas data difficult. Good viewing conditions revealed continued growth of the lava dome. Current estimates are that the welt, the broad area of deformation, is about 600 m (about 1950 feet) in diameter. The new lava dome, which occupies the central and western parts of the welt, is about 400 by 180 m (1300 by 600 feet). The highest point on the new lava dome is about 250 m (820 feet) above the former surface of the glacier that occupied that point in mid-September. Maximum surface temperatures on the new dome remain at about 700 degrees C (1300 degrees F). GPS instruments on the welt show rates of movement of up to several meters per day, while GPS instruments on the 1980-86 lava dome show movements of up to 1-2 cm (less than one inch) per day northward, away from the growing welt and new dome.
Wednesday, November 10th, 2004 The latest estimate of the volume of the uplifted area and new lava dome from detailed analysis of aerial photographs taken on 4 November is about 20 million cubic meters (26 million cubic yards). This compares with volumes of about 5 million cubic meters on 4 October and 12 million cubic meters on 13 October. The apparent decrease in rate of volume change (7 million cubic meters in the earlier 9-day period versus 8 million cubic meters in the later 22-day period) doesnt take into account millions of cubic meters of glacier ice that have been removed from a large part of the area of uplift. Work is underway to assess this effect. The 20-million-cubic-meter volume of the new uplift and lava dome is now more than 25% of the volume of the lava dome that grew in the crater between 1980 and 1986. Tuesday, November 9th, 2004
A dome of brilliantly hot rock at the volcano's summit grows bigger every day - by as much as a dump-truck load a second, according to U.S. Geological Survey. At night, the 1,300 degree-Fahrenheit rock glows. But the expanding lava dome and its fiery temperature don't signal
an explosive eruption.
Growth of the new lava dome inside the crater of Mount St. Helens continues, and is accompanied by intermittent emissions of steam and ash. Although considered less likely at this time, the current eruptive
activity could evolve into a more Visibility is excellent at present. A steam plume is rising passively
and drifting northward out of
Seismicity remains at a low level compared to that observed early in
this unrest. The current |
|