New St. Helens dome producing eerie glow
09:51 AM PDT on Thursday, October 14, 2004
Associated Press and NWCN Staff Reports
MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. The ongoing dome-building eruption at Mount St. Helens has produced glowing red lava that can be seen in nighttime aerial views of the peak, scientists say.
Low-hanging clouds and steam from the 8,364-foot volcano also reflect the glow of red-hot molten rock surfacing at nearly 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit, making it visible from the valley below the craters open north side.
The emerging fin of rock appears to have grown somewhat from an earlier estimate of 60 to 90 feet tall and 150 to 180 feet wide, but as of late Wednesday scientists had not developed new measurements, geologist Tina Neal of the U.S. Geological Survey said at the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash.
"It's likely to get bigger, said Neal. Actually what we expect is for that thing to get bigger and bigger until it becomes unstable and it will collapse."
Scientists pegged the growth rate at about 2 to 3 cubic meters a second, enough to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool in about 15 minutes, and geologist Willie Scott has dubbed the new formation the 21st century dome, said Jeff Wynn, chief scientist for volcano hazards.
The growth indicates lava is continuing to emerge within the crater, Neal said. The growing mass is just behind an existing dome that began forming in the months after St. Helens blew its top on May 18, 1980.
The fin, about 750 degrees, has a pinkish cast like medium roast beef, and the eerie glow from within the crater is entirely consistent with these kinds of temperatures, Neal said.
She and other scientists say they dont know how long the eruption might continue or whether it will be marked by explosive blasts of ash. In its last major eruptive phase before the 1980 blast, the mountain stirred intermittently for 57 years, starting in 1800.
Mount St. Helens has been the most active volcano in the lower 48 states and Canada over the past 4,500 years.
Seismic levels remained low at the mountain, indicating a steady flow of magma inside the volcano, Neal said.
Areas immediately around the peak remained closed with the alert level at a mid-range volcano advisory, but scientists have said an explosive eruption could occur with very little warning.
"The alert level may change very suddenly, and sometimes without warning, so the alert level can change very suddenly depending on the activity, said Mike Cylnne, USGS geologist. We would expect fluctuations in the level and vigor of activity to continue for days, weeks, and months."
Explosive discharges and other abrupt changes, mostly from variations in the flow of gas-rich magma, occurred throughout the six-year dome-building process that followed the 1980 eruption. The top of the new dome is nearly level with the old one, which rises nearly 1,000 feet from the sloping crater floor.
The emergence of lava Monday followed 2 weeks of earthquakes and steam and ash bursts that began Sept. 23.
Experts say that with nothing blocking the upward flow of magma, any explosion would likely send gritty ash and steam straight up, raising concern for aircraft and cars in the area.
It likely would be far less dangerous than the lateral blast of 1980, which hurled rock nearly 20 miles north, killed 57 people and paralyzed much of the state with gritty, machine-clogging ash.
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09:51 AM PDT on Thursday, October 14, 2004
Associated Press and NWCN Staff Reports
MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. The ongoing dome-building eruption at Mount St. Helens has produced glowing red lava that can be seen in nighttime aerial views of the peak, scientists say.
Low-hanging clouds and steam from the 8,364-foot volcano also reflect the glow of red-hot molten rock surfacing at nearly 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit, making it visible from the valley below the craters open north side.
The emerging fin of rock appears to have grown somewhat from an earlier estimate of 60 to 90 feet tall and 150 to 180 feet wide, but as of late Wednesday scientists had not developed new measurements, geologist Tina Neal of the U.S. Geological Survey said at the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Wash.
"It's likely to get bigger, said Neal. Actually what we expect is for that thing to get bigger and bigger until it becomes unstable and it will collapse."
Scientists pegged the growth rate at about 2 to 3 cubic meters a second, enough to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool in about 15 minutes, and geologist Willie Scott has dubbed the new formation the 21st century dome, said Jeff Wynn, chief scientist for volcano hazards.
The growth indicates lava is continuing to emerge within the crater, Neal said. The growing mass is just behind an existing dome that began forming in the months after St. Helens blew its top on May 18, 1980.
The fin, about 750 degrees, has a pinkish cast like medium roast beef, and the eerie glow from within the crater is entirely consistent with these kinds of temperatures, Neal said.
She and other scientists say they dont know how long the eruption might continue or whether it will be marked by explosive blasts of ash. In its last major eruptive phase before the 1980 blast, the mountain stirred intermittently for 57 years, starting in 1800.
Mount St. Helens has been the most active volcano in the lower 48 states and Canada over the past 4,500 years.
Seismic levels remained low at the mountain, indicating a steady flow of magma inside the volcano, Neal said.
Areas immediately around the peak remained closed with the alert level at a mid-range volcano advisory, but scientists have said an explosive eruption could occur with very little warning.
"The alert level may change very suddenly, and sometimes without warning, so the alert level can change very suddenly depending on the activity, said Mike Cylnne, USGS geologist. We would expect fluctuations in the level and vigor of activity to continue for days, weeks, and months."
Explosive discharges and other abrupt changes, mostly from variations in the flow of gas-rich magma, occurred throughout the six-year dome-building process that followed the 1980 eruption. The top of the new dome is nearly level with the old one, which rises nearly 1,000 feet from the sloping crater floor.
The emergence of lava Monday followed 2 weeks of earthquakes and steam and ash bursts that began Sept. 23.
Experts say that with nothing blocking the upward flow of magma, any explosion would likely send gritty ash and steam straight up, raising concern for aircraft and cars in the area.
It likely would be far less dangerous than the lateral blast of 1980, which hurled rock nearly 20 miles north, killed 57 people and paralyzed much of the state with gritty, machine-clogging ash.
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