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Posted on 10/02/2004 4:29:00 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
U.S. Warns of Big Mount St. Helens Blast
Oct 2, 6:00 PM (ET)
By PEGGY ANDERSEN
(AP) Mount St. Helens erupts Friday, Oct. 1, 2004, in Mount St. Helens, Wash., shooting a plume of steam... SEATTLE (AP) - Government scientists raised the alert level Saturday for Mount St. Helens after its second steam eruption in two days was followed by a powerful tremor. They said the next blast was imminent or in progress, and could threaten life and property in the remote area near the volcano.
Hundreds of visitors at the building closest to the volcano - Johnston Ridge Observatory five miles away - were asked to leave. They went quickly to their cars and drove away, with some relocating several miles north to Coldwater Ridge Visitors Center.
The volcano alert of Mount St. Helens was raised to Level 3, which "indicates we feel an eruption is imminent, or is in progress," said U.S. Geological Survey geologist Tom Pierson from the observatory.
The growing consensus among scientists is that new magma is probably entering the volcano's upper levels, possibly bringing with it volatile gases that could lead to eruptions, said Bill Steele at the University of Washington's seismic laboratory in Seattle.
"We're in an eruptive period where there's a potential hazard," Steele said.
Scientists said that although the risks were growing larger, they did not expect anything approaching the volcano's devastating May 18, 1980, eruption, which killed 57 people and coated much of the Northwest with ash
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
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maybe this is a dumb question but, why can't they just drop a bomb on it or hit it with a missile to let off pressure every once and a while like they knock down snow drifts with recless rifles at ski resorts and such???
Works in the comic books!
The volcanic neck is 3000 feet wide, teh lava dome if 1000 feet tall.
The magma rising up the puipe is still down a bit, and venting pressure by blast may set off catastrophic failure.
If the magma is of a certain composition, it will explode like a shaken soda bottle the second enough pressure is taken off of it.
Carbon Dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, sulfer dioxide and other gasses dissolved in the magma will exolve into huge bubbles and blow the magma and the mountain up.
thankx...
I was in Paris last time Mt. St. Helens blew. Sure looked scary on the front page of Le Monde. We couldn't read French enough to know it was a volcano. I still remember that time. Haven't been back to Paris since 1980. I would love to go, but I have been boycotting France lately.
The wind right now would carry ash over I-5. Big mess. But tomorrow that will change.
Welcome.
I would like to take this opportunity to invite Senator Kerry and ALL of his Democratic supporters to a Town Hall Meeting just about a day before this sucker blows.
It is to be held on the summit of Mt St Helens.
Refreshments will be served. (Iced Tea, soft drinks, booze (reserved for Senator Kennedy) and, hopefully, a buffet featuring MOLTEN LAVA.
Take all you want, but eat all you take.
If you get there before me, just wait. I'll be along shortly.
Because the scale of a mountain and the amount of energy involved is too big. The bomb dropped on Hirshima was 10 kiltons (TNT equivalent). The largest hydrogen bombs in our arsenal are 20 megatons. Mt. St. Helens released energy equivalent to 24 megatons in a single blast, and twentyfold more energy over the course of the eruption.
Not anymore. Our largest bomb was, the Mark-41, which had a yield of 25 Megatons but has been out of service in 1976 in favor of the 9 Megaton ton Mark-53. Fifty Mark-53's were kept to use against deeply buried bunkers but wit the development of the B-61-11, the plan was to retire the Mark-53 but it is not known if the retirement has been completed. Our largest bomb today is the B-83 series that can yield up to 1.2 Megatons.
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