Research Paper On Mount St Helens

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On May 18th, 1980, one of the most prominent volcanic eruptions in US History took place in the state of Washington. Mount St. Helens had been dormant for almost 100 years before March 15th. On this day, two months before the eruption several small earthquakes shook the earth. This indicated a magma buildup below the surface, and the first minor event that would lead to one of the greatest eruptions the US has ever known. Following the first set of earthquakes, “Steam explosions blasted a 60- to 75-m (200- to 250-ft) wide crater through the volcano 's summit ice cap and covered the snow-clad southeast sector with dark ash. Within a week the crater had grown to about 400 m (1,300 ft) in diameter and two giant crack systems crossed the entire summit area. Eruptions occurred on average from …show more content…

Helens tallied up to be the most deadly and destructive eruption the United States had ever seen. “Approximately fifty-seven people were killed directly from the blast and 200 houses, 47 bridges, 15 miles (24 km) of railways and 185 miles (298 km) of highway were destroyed; two people were killed indirectly in accidents that resulted from poor visibility, and two more suffered fatal heart attacks from shoveling ash (Wikipedia 3)”. Just when it seemed the nightmare was over a second eruption occurred the following day. A quarter of the lava was fresh, and included ash, pumice, and volcanic bombs, and the rest was older molten rock. “The removal of the north side of the mountain (13% of the cone 's volume) reduced Mount St. Helens ' height by about 1,280 feet (390 m) and left a crater 1 to 2 miles (2 to 3 km) wide and 2,100 feet (640 m) deep with its north end open in a huge breach (Wikipedia 3)”. The downwind of the eruption also destroyed many agricultural crops such as wheat, apples, potatoes, and alfalfa. Overall Mount St. Helens was a major blow that cost the US 1.1 billion dollars, and struck fear into the hearts of all of America on May 18th,

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