New steam release & images of Mount St. Helens activity
New Steam Release
Another steam release began at 9:40 am PDT today, October 4, 2003, generating a steam and ash/dust plume that rose above the summit (to about
10,000 to 11,000 feet altitude) and was carried slowly to the NE by very gentle winds. Steam releases continued at a lower rate after the initial release, but after 15-20 muntes the activity ceased. More dust/ash was released than on October 1, and an ashfall advisory is in effect until 1 pm PDT for the southern Washington Cascades. Seismicity continued without interruption through the steam release.
A gentle small steam release also occurred at 10:40 pm PDT October 3, but it was smaller than the October 1 event. As on Friday, the seismicity decreased and then resumed afterward.
Visual and GPS observations on October 3 indicates that at least part of the dome and the glacier adjacent to the dome have been uplifted between 50 and 100 feet.
Current Update at: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Cascades/CurrentActivity/current_updates.html
Online Images
Photographs of the current activity at Mount St. Helens are being posted online at irregular intervals. These were taken by USGS personnel on the ground and during helicopter and airplane reconnaissance and sampling flights. The images clearly show uplift of the dome glacier before the October 1 steam release. More current images were temporarily available and may be re-posted.
The images are high quality (1 to 3 megabytes) and so will take considerable time to download over low-bandwidth connections.
Note that this is an FTP site: ftp://ftpext.usgs.gov/pub/wr/wa/vancouver/MSH_Images/
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Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 92 of 106: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 6, 2004 (21:26) * 1 lines
Julie, our Cascade volcanoes enthusiast hopes this MSH eruption stays low level until spring break when she can hike in to see it. I do, too. It would be nice to have a reporter for Geo in the field again!
Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 93 of 106: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 6, 2004 (21:35) * 6 lines
U.S. Geological Survey, Vancouver, Washington | | University of Washington, Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network, | | Seattle, Washington | | | | | | Mount St. Helens Alert Level Change | | | | | | Past Alert Level: Volcano Alert (Alert Level 3) | | New Alert Level: Volcano Advisory (Alert Level 2) | | | | | | October 6, 2004 9:15 A.M., PDT | |
| | | | Following yesterday morning's steam-and-ash eruption, seismicity | | dropped to a low level and has remained low. Low-level tremor observed | | following the eruption is also gradually declining. Lack of earthquake | | and rockfall signals suggest that deformation of the uplift area on | | the south side of the 1980-86 lava dome has slowed. Brief visual | | observations this morning from Coldwater Visitor Center showed weak | | steam emissions from the crater. We infer that the vigorous unrest of | | the past few days has lessened and that the probability of an imminent | | eruption that would endanger life and property is significantly less | | than at any time since Saturday, October 2, when the alert level was | | raised to Volcano Alert (Level 3). Therefore, we are lowering the | | alert level to Volcano Advisory (Alert Leve
2). | | | | | | Such decreases in the level of unrest, which may reflect a decrease in | | the rate of magma movement, have been common at Mount St. Helens | | during eruptions in 1980-86 and also at similar volcanoes elsewhere. | | Episodic changes in level of unrest over periods of days to weeks, or | | even months, are possible. We don't think that the current episode of | | unrest is over and we expect fluctuations in the level of unrest to | | continue during coming days and months. Everyone should be aware that | | escalation in unrest and perhaps an eruption could occur suddenly or | | with very little warning. There may be little time to raise the Alert | | Level before a hazardous event occurs. Therefore, we continue to | | monitor the situation closely and will issue additional updates a
d | | changes in Alert Level as warranted. | | |
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Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 94 of 106: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 6, 2004 (21:36) * 7 lines
U.S. Geological Survey, Vancouver, Washington | | University of Washington, Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network, | | Seattle, Washington | | | | | | Mount St. Helens Update, October 6, 2004, 7:00 a.m, PDT | | | | | | Current status is Volcano Alert (Alert Level 3); aviation color code | | RED | | | | | | Seismicity overnight has remained at very low levels. After the | | vigourous stea
-and-ash emission of yesterday morning, seismicity | | dropped with individual events becoming smaller. By about 5 p.m. PDT | | yesterday, individual events became rare and as of 11:00 p.m., | | seismicity has been stable at a low level. | | | | | | Yesterday, field crews continued to harden GPS sites for the | | approaching winter and retrieved data. The GPS sites on the dome | | survived the steam-and-ash emission and data are being received and | | processed at the observatory. The station on the northern flank of the | | dome, shows a trend of northward displacement totaling 2 cm in the | | last three days. This is the same sense of movement recorded by the | | nearby station that was destroyed by the first steam-and-ash emission | | on 1 October. Data from the other tw
stations on the dome, which were | | installed on 4 October are currently being analyzed. Data from GPS | | instruments on the outer flanks of the volcano show no movement of the | | outer flanks. | | | | | | No gas measurements were made yesterday. A seismic crew installed an | | additional broadband seismometer on the northwest flank of the volcano | | which will help show a broader range of seismic energy release. With | | the help of the U.S. Forest Service, field crews installed an antenna | | mast for a VSAT uplink which will improve our ability to retrieve data | | from the field. | | | |
| | It began raining t the mountain at about 7:30 p.m. PDT. By about 9:30 | | p.m. about 0.1 inch of rain had fallen. Overnight, the acoustic flow | | monitoror (AFM) in the crater indicated that several small debris | | flows had moved past the site. By midnight, higher flows were recorded | | at a station on the pumice plain, but none were large enough to | | trigger an automatic alert. We expect these types of flowage events to | | recur during intense rainstorms. | | | | | | Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric | | Administration (NOAA), combined with eruption models, show winds this | | morning are from the west-southwest such that any ash clouds will | | drift to the east-northeast. | |
| | | | We continue to monitor the situation closely and will issue additional | | updates and Alert Level changes as warranted. | | | | | | Press conferences will continue to be held at the Headquarters office | | of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The morning press conference | | is at 9:30 AM. If activity remains low, we will do a show-and-tell of | | some of the instruments were are using to monitor the volcano at the | | press conference. | |
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Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 95 of 106: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Thu, Oct 7, 2004 (13:25) * 3 lines
how is julie doing anyway, is she still checking in with spring?
(missed seeing you, marcia *HUGS*)
Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 96 of 106: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Thu, Oct 7, 2004 (16:05) * 1 lines
Haven't heard from that Cascade Climber for a while. Hope she checks in again soon.
Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 97 of 106: Marcia (MarciaH) * Fri, Oct 8, 2004 (12:38) * 1 lines
Julie is fine and busy with college stuff. I'll ask her to check in when she gets a moment. My family geologist and family are heading off to MSH to encourage the magma to erupt. I'll report any information they send from the field. They have both cellular text messaging and email to work with. And.... a VERY good digital camera. It's time to commence the eruption dances!
Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 98 of 106: Paul Terry Walhus (terry) * Fri, Oct 8, 2004 (22:26) * 1 lines
Good luck on that journey, Marci. Looking forward to those pix.
Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 99 of 106: Curious Wolfie (wolf) * Sat, Oct 9, 2004 (11:15) * 1 lines
are you going to MSH too, marcia? hope your family is safe over there!
Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 100 of 106: Marcia (MarciaH) * Sun, Oct 10, 2004 (21:37) * 8 lines
No such luck, Wolfie. I am stuck in a slightly quaking New Madrid area. However the minor quakes of recent time here plus the world wide strong quakes:
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake NEAR THE COAST OF NICARAGUA has occurred at:
11.41N 86.55W Depth 61km Sat Oct 9 21:26:56 2004 UTC
Plus the eruption of Mount St Helens makes me wonder if the harvest moon (the closest to earth the moon gets in the yearly trek around its orbit) hs a great deal to do with what is happening. I am helping edit a large complex journal both last year's issue and this year's to come out next month so I am more than busy. I am also still working on the Kentucky lava paper.
However, whatever photos are sent on to me I will be more than happy to share here.
Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 101 of 106: Cheryl (CherylB) * Tue, Oct 12, 2004 (08:35) * 1 lines
Looking forward to the photos, Marcia.
Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 102 of 106: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 13, 2004 (14:45) * 27 lines
at this point I am looking forward to hearing from them in the field. From Julie I got the webcam site since it is steaming again. Then the following report:
Oct 13, 12:31 PM EDT
Lava Breaks Surface at Mount St. Helens
By PEGGY ANDERSEN
Associated Press Writer
SEATTLE (AP) -- After weeks of earthquakes and steam eruptions, Mount St. Helens has a new lava dome that could even eclipse the volcano's old one.
The quakes subsided as the new lava emerged Monday and cooled in the open air, suggesting molten rock from deep inside the Earth had found the path of least resistance by going around the old dome, said Jon Major, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
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.
Infrared instruments recorded a surface temperature of nearly 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit, confirming that the second dome consisted of cooling lava rather than old rock which had been pushed upward, said USGS volcanologist Willie Scott.
"The fact that we see stuff at the surface that hot means it's new rock," Scott said.
The last dome-building activity at St. Helens began in the months after its deadly May 1980 eruption and lasted six years. Layers of emerging rock gradually formed a rocky dome nearly 1,000 feet tall at the center of the crater floor. The top of the new dome is almost level with the old one just to the north.
more... http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MOUNT_ST_HELENS?SITE=KGW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=US-WORLD.html
Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 103 of 106: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 13, 2004 (14:47) * 3 lines
Mount St Helens webcam:
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/volcanocams/msh/
Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 104 of 106: Marcia (MarciaH) * Wed, Oct 13, 2004 (15:54) * 7 lines
/Mount St Helen's update October 13, 2004
Current status is Volcano Advisory (Alert Level 2); aviation color | | code ORANGE | | | | | | Seismic activity remained at a low, but slightly increasing level | | overnight. Yesterday's visual observations and thermal imaging of the | | 1980-86 lava dome, the intensely deforming and uplifting area on the | | south side of the dome, and the new lava extrusion first seen on | | October 11 were hampered by steam clouds. Conditions appeared similar | | to those of October 11, with high temperatures (up to 600 degrees C) | | around the fin-shaped lava extrusion in the western part of the | | uplift. The area of high temperature appears to have increased in | | size. Abundant steam continued to rise from the fin area to the crater | | rim, from which it wa
dispersed southeastward by strong winds. | | | | | | Today, field crews will take new thermal images of the crater floor | | and dome, make gas-sensing measurements, perform routine maintenance | | of GPS sites, and take hydrological measurements. | | | | | | Wind forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric | | Administration (NOAA), combined with eruption models, show generally | | northerly winds. Any ash clouds will drift southward to southeastward. | | | | | | As a result of the intense unrest of the pa
t two and one-half weeks | | and recent observations, we infer that magma is at a very shallow | | level and is extruding onto the surface. Incandescence from hot rock | | or gases reflects off steam clouds and is visible from north of the | | volcano. | | | |--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
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Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 105 of 106: Marcia (MarciaH) * Thu, Oct 14, 2004 (00:40) * 34 lines
This was from October 11, 2004 and the photos sent with the information show beautiful dusting of snow and a white plume of steam. That plume was visible this afternoon on the webcam.
Viewing conditions were very clear most of October 10, and fresh snow |
| had fallen to the level of the crater floor north of the dome. A USGS |
| field crew noticed a thin ash deposit on the snow in the crater and |
| just beyond the crater rim, trending southeast from the active area. |
| |
| |
| A steam plume rose to crater rim level or slightly above all day on |
| October 10, heading to the southeast. USGS field workers described the |
| plume as "lazy"?no gas thrust or notably vigorous convection was |
| observed. The plume was clean, with no noticeable ash or blue/orange |
| haze. The odor of H2S was noted at the crater breach, but not |
| elsewhere. |
| |
| |
| Helicopter field crews were at work on Sunday October 10. A |
| telemetered webcam was placed at Sugarbowl and GPS data were |
| downloaded. |
| |
| |
| The thermal imaging crew made an excellent video of the uplifted area |
| of the south crater floor. The western portion of the the uplift was |
| steaming over a large diffuse area. Maximum measured surface |
| temperatures were 200-300 deg. C. The thermal imaging crew judged the |
| uplifted area to have grown since it was last seen on the 7th. |
| |
| |
| No gas observations were made on October 10. |
| |
| |
| Rockfall deposits were not seen on or around the uplifted area, |
| perhaps indicating a lull in its growth or deformation. |
Topic 77 of 92 [Geo]: Living with Volcanoes
Response 106 of 106: Cheryl (CherylB) * Thu, Oct 14, 2004 (15:25) * 1 lines
Thanks to "them in the field".
Geo conference 
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