There does not
appear to be anything to be concerned with, but what impresses me is the
development of seismic mapping and ongoing dynamic modeling of an active
volcano. This is all very good news. It means that we have scant excuse to ever
again be blindsided as happened originally back in 1981 when no one understood
that rapidly increasing potential energy had the be violently released and
volcanos and atomic bombs are not noted for channeling their energies safely.
We still have
folks who know much better taking excessive risks around volcanoes. After all, if you find yourself in the middle
of a debris field and the volcano is spitting, perhaps it is time to
leave. Dead researchers write few
monographs.
At Mt St.
Helens, fresh magma has entered the deep plumbing system and is repressurizing
the molten mass since 2008. This should
emerge as a period of more vigorous cone building. We are obviously going to get our original
cone built back.
Magma
rising in Washington State's Mount St. Helens volcano: USGS
By Eric M. JohnsonMay 1, 2014 3:11 PM
by Eric M. Johnson
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Magma levels are slowly
rebuilding inside Mount St. Helens, a volcano in Washington state that erupted
in 1980 and killed 57 people, although there was no sign of an impending
eruption, U.S. scientists said.
The roughly 8,300-foot volcano erupted in an
explosion of hot ash and gas on May 18, 1980, spewing debris over some 230
square miles and causing more than a billion dollars in property damage. Entire
forests were crushed and river systems altered in the blast, which began with a
5.2 magnitude earthquake.
"The magma reservoir beneath Mount St.
Helens has been slowly re-pressurizing since 2008," the U.S. Geological
Survey said in a statement on Wednesday. "It is likely that
re-pressurization is caused by (the) arrival of a small amount of additional
magma 4 to 8 km (2.5 to 5 miles) beneath the surface."
The USGS said this is to be expected with an
active volcano and does not indicate "the volcano is likely to erupt
anytime soon."
The USGS, and the Pacific Northwest Seismic
Network at University of Washington, closely monitor ground deformation and
seismicity at the volcano. This summer, they will also measure its released
gases and gravity field, measurements that can be used to monitor subsurface
magma and forecast eruptions.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle;
Editing by Larry King and Sofina Mirza-Reid)
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