Return to the Magmadome
"Lava has been pushing up through [Mt. St. Helens'] crater floor at a prodigious rate, building a new dome that now stands as tall as the Empire State Building and encompasses enough rock to fill Safeco Field 16 times, seismologists say. At one point, the volcano was spitting out a dump-truck load of lava every second.
"The growth rate has slowed slightly, but the dome is still expanding by 20 or 30 feet every day -- and it didn't miss a beat after Tuesday's explosion.
"The new dome is now about half the size of an older lava dome that [grew during the six years] after the eruption that blew off the volcano's top and killed 57 people in 1980.
"Volcanoes usually build domes through short eruptions that spew out a lot of material, or long-term trickles of lava. Mount St. Helens has been breaking those patterns.
"'What makes this unique is how long it's been going at such a good clip,' USGS seismologist Seth Moran said.
"The growth rate has slowed slightly, but the dome is still expanding by 20 or 30 feet every day -- and it didn't miss a beat after Tuesday's explosion.
"The new dome is now about half the size of an older lava dome that [grew during the six years] after the eruption that blew off the volcano's top and killed 57 people in 1980.
"Volcanoes usually build domes through short eruptions that spew out a lot of material, or long-term trickles of lava. Mount St. Helens has been breaking those patterns.
"'What makes this unique is how long it's been going at such a good clip,' USGS seismologist Seth Moran said.
Return to the Magmadome
mr damon, 12:19
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< 22 over 7