Mount Saint Helens Spews Ash

[ecoli]

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/US/03/08/mount.saint.helens/index.html

 

Tuesday evening a coloumn of smoke 6 miles high appeared over Moun Saint Helens, and lava is visible in the inside of the volcano. Will the volcano erupt again? What do you think?

[Ophiolite]

Well, technically it is erupting already. I take it you mean will it erupt in the spectacular fashion of twenty five years ago in the near future. I would rather think not, and more significantly, neither would the USGS.

To keep up to date with global eruptions this joint Smithsonian/USGS site is excellent.

http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/

[syntax252]

Well' date=' technically it is erupting already. I take it you mean will it erupt in the spectacular fashion of twenty five years ago in the near future. I would rather think not, and more significantly, neither would the USGS.

To keep up to date with global eruptions this joint Smithsonian/USGS site is excellent.

http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/

Your link wouldn't load..Was it my browser or the link?

[coquina]

Your link wouldn't load..Was it my browser or the link?

 

It wouldn't load for me, either - try this one - direct USGS site:

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Cascades/CurrentActivity/current_updates.html

[AzurePhoenix]

America needs a good pyroclastic explosion. I'm not ashamed to admit that one of my fantasies is that an as-yet-to-be discovered supervolcanic caldera would erupt below New York City. Imagine the total devastation. Nothing short of a comet strike in Tokyo or Honk-Kong could rival something like that, in terms of sheer cataclysmic carnage. The power of such an event is more powerful than thousands of nuclear missiles, the entire face of the planet would be changed, human civilization as we know it would end..... Groovy.

 

Oh, here's Mr.Orderly with my happy pills.... stupid court-order

[Ophiolite]

Your link wouldn't load..Was it my browser or the link?

Strange. It works for me, even from within the quote. Coquina's link is good for St Helens, but the other link has current info on all the world's currently active volcanoes. (Sorry AzurePhoenix, still nothing in NY.)

Here it is again. Perhaps try typing it, rather than direct click, or copy and paste.

http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/

[coquina]

America needs a good pyroclastic explosion. I'm not ashamed to admit that one of my fantasies is that an as-yet-to-be discovered supervolcanic caldera would erupt below New York City.

 

Not New York, but you might keep an eye on the Yellowstone Caldera:

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Yellowstone/description_yellowstone.html

 

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_america/yellowstone.html

 

http://www.focusproductions.com/HTML/mtncntrypages/mtncntry3.htm

[coquina]

Here it is again. Perhaps try typing it' date=' rather than direct click, or copy and paste.

http://www.volcano.si.edu/reports/usgs/

 

Worked that time - thanks.

[AzurePhoenix]

It's really a shame thatsomplace as beautiful of yellowstone will one day be burnt off the map, but a place like NYC is pretty safe. Nature should get its priorities straight.

[Ophiolite]

Remember that Yellowstone's beauty is the result of several previous cataclysmic eruptions. Also NY hasn't always had it easy, as this excellent summary of the state's geology will reveal.

http://gretchen.geo.rpi.edu/roecker/nys/nys_edu.pamphlet.html

[coquina]

Remember that Yellowstone's beauty is the result of several previous cataclysmic eruptions. Also NY hasn't always had it easy' date=' as this excellent summary of the state's geology will reveal.

http://gretchen.geo.rpi.edu/roecker/nys/nys_edu.pamphlet.html

 

Has anyone read it? It is a compilation of McPhee's former books, "Basin and Range", "In Suspect Terrane", "Rising from the Plains", "Assembling California", and "Crossing the Craton". It describes the geology of a cross-section of the US at about the 40th parallel, roughly along I80. It starts at the foot of the George Washington Bridge, just across the river from NYC and goes across to San Francisco. The last book "Crossing the Craton" is more about general theory. He does discuss the geological history of the Yellowstone area.

 

I enjoy McPhee's descriptions and think it's a very good book for anyone who would like to learn more about geology in an entertaining way. Aside from the actual geology he describes, he inserts "set pieces" that will explain what he is about to describe.

 

Unfortunately - there isn't anything specifically about Mt. St. Helens. However, there is a lovely description of Ophiolites beginning on page 476

 

..."This rock had assembled in vertical laminations, like successive layers of wallboard. It had frozen not all in one piece but in continual fashion, layer after layer, a history that could be read from one lamination to the next, like bar codes, infinitely extended"... ..."It was rock of the ocean crust. Formed at spreading centers, ocean crust gradually turns cold as it travels away from the hot rift of its beginnings..."

 

It's a long book - almost 700 pages.

[Ophiolite]

However, there is a lovely description of Ophiolites beginning on page 476

Remember that all accurate descriptions of ophiolites are lovely.

____________-

Ophiolite

[coquina]

Remember that all accurate descriptions of ophiolites are lovely.

____________-

Ophiolite

 

Would you describe that one as acccurate? Have you read any of McPhee's books?

[Ophiolite]

Sorry coquina - didn't spot these questions earlier:

 

I think it is a good basic description of the structural character of ophiolites as they form (and one that conveys a mental picture very effectively). I confess more of an interest in their mineralogical and geochemical nature, so for me it is incomplete.

I'm not familiar with McPhee's work. I shall keep my eyes open for them as I rummage through second hand book stores. (Being Scottish I am genetically unable to buy new books unless they are heavily discounted.)

 

Back on topic, here is the latest from the USGS:

Friday, March 25, 2005 MOUNT ST. HELENS UPDATE

Growth of the new lava dome inside the crater of Mount St. Helens continues, accompanied by low rates of seismicity, low emissions of steam and volcanic gases, and minor production of ash. During such eruptions, episodic changes in the level of activity can occur over days to months. The eruption could also intensify suddenly or with little warning and produce explosions that cause hazardous conditions within several miles of the crater and farther downwind. Small lahars could suddenly descend the Toutle River if triggered by heavy rain or by interaction of hot rocks with snow and ice. These lahars pose a negligible hazard below the Sediment Retention Structure (SRS) but could pose a hazard along the river channel upstream.

Taken from http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/update.html#cascades

[coquina]

Sorry coquina - didn't spot these questions earlier:

 

I think it is a good basic description of the structural character of ophiolites as they form (and one that conveys a mental picture very effectively). I confess more of an interest in their mineralogical and geochemical nature' date=' so for me it is incomplete.

I'm not familiar with McPhee's work. I shall keep my eyes open for them as I rummage through second hand book stores. (Being Scottish I am genetically unable to buy new books unless they are heavily discounted.)

 

[/quote']

 

Tried to PM you - your message box is full. There's a copy of "Annals" up for auction at EBayUK - current bid is 3.74 pounds.

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=29223&item=6952461444&rd=1&ssPageName=WD2V

 

(Cover price is $35 US)