46°12'29.00"N 122°11'44.04"W
Tectonic Activity and Results: Moderately Frequent Earthquakes, Volcanoes
Recent Activity: 1980 Eruption
Today we traveled to Mount Saint Helens. It has been almost 33 years to the day sense the volcano erupted and the forestation is still creeping slowly back. The ranger who accompanied us to the summit told us that the regrowth of the forest had been helped by the deposits of ash left behind by the eruption. When i asked him to clarify how the mountain had been formed though he was dumbfounded. So instead i turned to the leading geologist of our expedition, Warren MacMillan, a Harvard professor. He said that inland volcanoes such as Mount Saint Helens were formed when the submerged edge of the lower plate in a subduction boundary heated up and the liquid rock (at that point magma) burned its way to the surface (becoming lava). The lava eventually layered up enough to create the mountains we know today. After taking many photos. with this cleared up we drove back to Seattle where the our ship awaited.
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| http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/activity/methods/deformation/tilt/msh.php |
You did a nice job of explaining the science clearly. Your post was also very short and concise, giving me the same amount of information that might be found in a page worth of text. You also did a great job incorporating personal details. NS
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot of clear description and your pictures are pretty cool.
ReplyDelete-VB