Cascades - Disturbing Activity at St Helens & Rainier!!

You are out west Val? Does this mean you are gonna take pics?

I'm not that far, Indy, sorry. I'm in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Skadi is in the Seattle area, and I think ZZZ is in the area (not sure of that one).

I believe we've got several out there.

I have a friend that is a stones throw from MSH and the butthole hasn't gotten me a single pic yet. lol.

WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP RED ALERT

MAGMA OOZING OUT OF MSH...lol

USGS scientists have broke into regularly scheduled programming to announce "intrusion has happened"

Press conference going on now? unsure of that part.

Can watch press conference live right now here:

www.nwcn.com...

P.S. Just heard her confirm "new lava dome" is currently being created.

[edit on 10-12-2004 by Valhall]

I wonder what happens to the older one now

I'm no expert but I think the old one blew up in 1980.

No, the new older one. The one that formed after the '80 eruption. The one that's been rising for the past couple of weeks...

This one:


Are they saying a new one is forming besides this one, or is this one giving way to a new one?

I believe they said the new dome was forming on the southside of the old dome, uplifting the glacier that is on the old dome

Dang Val. You had me thinking for a second that magma had broken through and was flowing down the mountain. Agh. Now I need a soda.

Originally posted by magickalworld
I believe they said the new dome was forming on the southside of the old dome, uplifting the glacier that is on the old dome

Yep. Just saw one of the articles.

story.news.yahoo.com.../ap/20041013/ap_on_re_us/mount_st__helens

SEATTLE - Molten rock that has been rising inside Mount St. Helens after weeks of earthquakes and steam eruptions has finally pushed its way to the surface, forming a new lava dome just behind the existing one in the volcano's crater.

Dang Val. You had me thinking for a second that magma had broken through and was flowing down the mountain. Agh. Now I need a soda.

Not quite.
From the above article:

Unlike the dramatic rivers of red-hot lava from Hawaii's volcano, St. Helens' extrusion of new rock was subtle and difficult to see from outside the crater. A lazy plume of steam rose slowly from the mountain for much of Tuesday.

Just to bring this thread up to semi-date

Mount St. Helens Volcano Activity

Mount St. Helens Volcano Activity
Mount St. Helens Special Conditions - October 12, 2004 - 1200 Hours (Noon) PDT

Seismic activity remained at low levels. Small earthquakes about magnitude 1.0 have continued at a rate of about 1 every 5 to 10 minutes. In the last few days, seismologists have seen a transition from earthquakes that reflect rock breaking events to those that are more consistent with the flow of hot water, steam or gas. GPS measurements continue to show no significant deformation of the north side of the 1980-86 lava dome or the outer flanks of the volcano.

Yesterday visual observations and thermal imaging of the crater, the 1980-86 lava dome, and the intensely deformed and uplifted area on the south side of the 1980-86 dome were conducted. Thermal imaging of the western part of uplifted area revealed temperatures of 900-1100 degrees Fahrenheit on a large pinkish-gray fin of rock (approximately 60-90 feet high and 150-180 feet long) and in nearby fumaroles and cracks.

These observations are consistent with new lava having reached the surface. Based on the appearance of the new material at the surface, the USGS is now comfortable with calling this uplifted and deformed feature a new lava dome. The large fin of rock is considered a part of the dome that has breached the surface. The appearance of new lava at the surface is not a surprise based on the evolution of deformation, the gradual increase in heating of the deformed area and gas data collected over the past few weeks. Additional visual and thermal observations will be made today to further evaluate this interpretation.

Yesterday afternoon around 4:00 p.m. a small steam and ash emission was observed by USGS field crews. The emission lasted just a few minutes and originated from the northwest sector of the new dome. Intermittent jets of dark ash rose about 60 feet above the ground and a steam rich plume with minor amounts of ash rose a few hundred feet above the crater rim. The USGS is collecting ash samples to evaluate and determine the nature of these small explosions. A visible steam plume will continue to be a normal occurrence.

Gas observations yesterday measured emissions of sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide that are similar to or slightly lower than those measured on October 7th. Those measurements recorded emission rates of about 2000 tons per day of carbon dioxide and 100 tons per day of sulfur dioxide. For comparison, during the early 1980�s dome building events carbon dioxide emissions were commonly about 10,000-20,000 tons per day. Sulfur dioxide emissions are now slightly higher than hydrogen sulfide which indicating the system continues to dry out as would be expected with continued heat input. Carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions are a key parameter to assessing the state of the magmatic system (depth, gas content, volume and explosivity).

The intense unrest the past two and one-half weeks combined with yesterday�s observations, the USGS is now interpreting the current activity as a dome-building event. Dome growth is a dynamic process and as was observed in the mid 1980�s, Mount St. Helens and similar volcanoes elsewhere typically go through episodic changes in level of unrest over periods of days to weeks, or even months. Such changes are in part driven by variations in the rate of magma movement. USGS expects fluctuations in the level of unrest to continue during the coming days.

Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), combined with eruption models, show winds today will remain northwesterly. Any ash clouds will drift southeastwardly.

Anyway here is the Live feed : Update Aprx, every 5 min.

external image
Source: www.fs.fed.us...

and before people say they can't see anything, that's what the picture looks like in the dark

[edit on 12/10/2004 by Sauron]

I live in Sacramento, CA

I am wondering if someone could please tell me how much of California would be in a potential red zone if Mt. Helens or Mt. Rainer errupted?
Or any volcano near me ... =(

www.fs.fed.us...

There is a small white glow visible on the volcanocam tonight. Scientists say it could be the glow from the lava reflecting off the clouds. Nifty!

The up-close photo in a Portland Oregon news paper showed the new lava fin to have two distinct colors. The lower area was of course red in color but the top had a green pigment. The caption in the paper reads:

"Steam rings a bulbous tower of rising lava that is red-hot on its flanks and glowing green at its peak Tuesday evening- the first evidence in more than two weeks of seismic tumult that molten rock, or magma, has punctured the surface of Mt. St. Helens."

What causes the green color?

Originally posted by lostinspace

What causes the green color?

It�s likely molten copper. It will solidify and become a vein of copper deposit.

Ever hold a flame to a penny? It burns green.

edit:

DON'T HOLD THE PENNY WITH YOUR FINGERS!

[edit on 10/13/2004 by Gools]

Woa!....There's been a significant event at Mt. Rainier unconnected with MSH!

Mt. Rainier

I don't think this is connected with Mt St Helens.....The activity at St Helens at the same time was lower, and a lot of the other stations picked up the same event at the same time....I think it was seismic......

Originally posted by Valhall
Woa!....There's been a significant event at Mt. Rainier unconnected with MSH!

originally posted on 10/14/04 at 10:39 PM Post Number: 870823 (post id: 891517)
We appear to have had an earthquake just after 9 pm PDT that showed up on 15 of the 18 active stations in the PNS Network. However this one does not seem to have come from MSH as the readings there are smaller than other stations.

PNSN www.geophys.washington.edu...

There was also an earthquake registering M 6.6 in Taiwan at about the same time.

Taiwan earthquake.usgs.gov...

I've seen events similar to this a few times over the past couple of weeks. Obviously Taiwan is too far away for an earthquake to register. So I was wondering if there is any connection. Just how connected is the ring of fire?

With this and rumors about yellowstone and other places in the ring of fire, I think it would be prudent to keep an eye on things. What do you think?

Tonight:
Also does anyone know how the seismographs work really? I am seeing the same patterns recurring repeatedly and am curious about what exactly is causing this.

While the lava dome has increased significantly during the last few days, there is nothing to be alarmed. Many trails nearby have be reopened. Some trails remain closed.

www.katu.com...

This reminds me of the 80's after the big eruption. Merely a lava dome building event.

I'll keep everyone updated as I can see the mountain clearly from my property in Battle Ground, WA.