Six-Story Slab Of Lava Breaks Through Dome At Mt. St. Helen's

[hatrack]

MOUNT ST. HELENS -- For the first time in 18 years, lava has broken the surface of this restless volcano, pushing its way out Monday afternoon in an inky gray spine of crystallized molten rock from what scientists are calling a new lava dome.

As tall as a six-story building, the solid but intensely hot crest of surfacing lava -- dubbed "the slab" and "the fin" by scientists here -- signifies a new phase of activity for St. Helens: a period of dome building that could last for years and could be marked by quiet flows of lava or explosive eruptions of it.

Although the volcano remains at an intermediate alert level, scientists warn that rising magma beneath the surface likely continues pushing upward -- possibly building pressure behind the fresh plug of lava on the crater's surface.

The new slab of lava "could be considered the cork in the bottle," John Pallister, a U.S. Geological Survey volcanologist, said yesterday, adding: "We're still concerned about the possibility of a more explosive event." Since the mountain began stirring in a fit of ceaseless quakes 20 days ago, scientists repeatedly have said magma from deep within the volcano had risen to near the rupturing point -- a sign that a potential eruption was in the offing."

EDIT

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/194967_sthelens13.html

[RobertSeattle]

1. Would be a great location for a Kerry/Edwards sign...

(heat/fire resistant, of course)

:evilgrin:

[smirkymonkey]

2. Scary. Would this be different than the 1st eruption?

Ash vs. Molten Magma. Was there any lava last time? Or would it happen slowly enough for people to get out of danger?

[bemildred]

3. Since the previous one blew half the mountain away,

I don't expect the next will be the same. However this means there
is stuff moving around down there, which suggests that trouble is on
the way, without giving much help as far as when.

Last time was a pyroclastic flow, ash and hot gas, lava tends to
make the "plug", the explosion blows it off.

St. Helens is a stratovolcano (here) like say Vesuvius or the Soufriere
Hills volcano on Montserrat.

This is as opposed to a shield volcano (here) like the Hawaiian Islands
or Mt. Kilamanjaro; and/or supervolcanos (here) like Yellowstone.

If you want to really freak out, read this:

http://zyx.org/TOBA.html

Their is substantial evidence to show that within the time of the
super volcano Toba's eruption in the Indonesian Pacific, the world's
population of homo sapiens decreased from over one hundred thousand
to less than two thousand, basically because global temperatures
dropped five degrees for many years. This was within the current
interglacial and at its start.

98% mortality is impressive, even if a large fudge factor is allowed for.

[phantom power]

5. That's a good way to feel very small.

I wonder if there's any way to relieve pressure under yellowstone, in a "controlled" way. Drill a hole, use nukes, or something. Let some lava out.

[bemildred]

7. Dunno. But if it was not a park, I would say that

the geo-thermal energy possibilities are rather good there. And
pulling heat out could not hurt.

I remember being rather astonished when I first found out that the
Snake River Plain is the track made by the Yellowstone hotspot as
the NA plate moved over it ...

[RegexReader]

9. What about geo-thermal vs oil drilling

wouldn't production of geo-thermal be a lot cleaner than pulling a possible pollutant out of the ground for pipelining to a refinery for more pollution? Sounds like it would be viable to me. :think:


RegexReader
$USA =~ s/Republican/Democrat/ig;

[smirkymonkey]

6. Thanks. That's pretty intense.

too bad it couldn't just wipe out 98% of Republicans and give the human race another chance to do it right this time.

[bemildred]

8. I would settle for reducing them to impotent whining.

It's not like being Republican is a genetic trait.

[Viking12]

4. Picture

Can't really see much, but something's goin' on