It is always fun to try to comprehend the sorts of numbers that geological processes produce. I mean, how much is 125 million cubic yard exactly? Well, the Cascades Volcano Observatory puts it this way:

“From October 2004 to late January 2008, about 125 million cubic yards of lava had erupted onto the crater floor to form a new dome-enough to pave seven highway lanes three feet thick from New York City to Portland, Oregon. A comparable volume had flowed out to form the 1980s lava dome. All lava erupted since 1980 has refilled about 7% of the crater, which was created by the catastrophic landslide and eruption of May 18, 1980.”

Seems a like a lot more material all of a sudden? And on the other hand, not too much when you think it only made a 7% dent on the post-1980 crater.
Thanks to M. Schmidt for forwarding me these facts.

One response to “Mt. Saint Helens trivia”

  1. Brian

    A good article with some geologic details from a Seattle TV station. Scientists are not sure why so much erupted with so little gas.
    http://www.komonews.com/news/25669154.html

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Quote of the week

“It’s not far-fetched that almost everywhere in the world where you have volcanoes you have mythologies or new gods being created.”

~ Werner Herzog