Volcano Mount St. Helens PDF

Preview

Summary

Professor Tim Davis - Research essay on the famous volcanic mountain Mount St. Helens!...

Description

Alfrena 1 Jasen Alfrena Disasters: Geology vs. HollyWood Professor Tim Davis 10/20/17

Mt. St. Helen Natural disasters are things we can shelter from sometimes anyways but not every time one is lucky especially when it’s occurring not too far from where you are originally. Out of all natural disasters dealing with tornadoes, tsunami’s and earthquakes the most terrifying one of them all I would have to say deals with the disasters of the volcano. Mount St. Helens, a stratovolcano, one of the craziest volcanoes to have ever erupted but also dealt with financial instabilities and deaths indeed. This volcano which is located in Skamania County, Washington went on to erupt in May 1980, 37 years ago. This Volcano was so destructive in the end, one of the things that happened was the depositing of ash that entered eleven other states and five Canadian provinces. Mount St. Helens, on May 18th 1980 had erupted and had killed approximately fiftyseven people. What’s very crucial to note is that because of the volcanic occurrences other natural disasters can occur before, during or even after the volcano has erupted. Before the eruption of Mount St. Helen, in an article stated by Alan Taylor, he states, “On May 18,1980, an earthquake struck below the north face of Mount St. Helens in Washington state, triggered the largest landslide in recorded history…”. Due to the landslides, lava, and also the earthquake in Alfrena 2

which occurred overall, the cost of the overall property damage was at a high of about $1.1 billion dollars which is problematic for an area to rehabilitate for the simple fact that the number of people that once lived there wouldn’t want to live there again and so business to even happen there as it once did wouldn’t be as successful as it once was. And so not only does volcanoes destroy geographically other cities and countries but economically, financially it cripples that certain area way more than it already is. Dealing with volcanoes and knowing the main types of volcanoes is one of the things to take into consideration when one is doing research especially. It helps to understand what may have angered such a mountain to explosive heights in the first place. The three main types of volcanoes are the stratovolcano, cinder cone volcano, and shield volcano. These volcanoes appearances aren’t the same at all. The shield volcano, it’s name derives from literally resembling a shield. These types of volcanoes are said to be built entirely if not mostly from fluid lava vents. Furthermore, because of the highly fluid lava, the volcanoes lava when erupted can travel farther than lava erupted from stratovolcanoes. If you were to fly over a shield volcano you can see how massive in diameter it is and how the shape of it resembles a warrior shield indeed. The cinder cone volcano appears differently than that of the shield volcano, its functionalities are fairly different as well. It does not have multiple lava vents and it does not look like a warrior’s shield from up above. This type of volcano from the inside is a steep conical hill of volcanic debris, it forms around it and downwind from the vent. When it comes to eruption, when the gas-charged lava has erupted violently into the air then breaks off it then Alfrena 3 starts to solidify into small fragments of things such as scoria which is a vesicular basaltic lava or

cinders. Lastly you have the stratovolcano which is the type of volcano Mt. Helens is. These types of volcanoes consist of layers and layers of solid flows of lava which are also mixed with layers of other rock, tephra, pumice and volcanic ash. Often these types of volcanoes are described as periodically explosive and effusive eruptions. Unlike the shield volcanoes, this volcano flow of lava doesn’t go as far. It typically cools and also hardens before spreading too far due to high viscosity. Volcanoes to me are pretty interesting to study. What one must know is that not all volcanoes are exactly the same, because of their functionalities they work differently. That’s what’s so fascinating about them. Mount St. Helens was a stratovolcano which was a very destructive volcano to begin with in the first place. The fact that they can bring forth other natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunami’s even deadly gases that can linger for awhile in the air, I feel as though lava is something that if enough space can avoid but what comes with an eruption before, after, or during is what scares me the most not the lava if I was put in such a situation.

Alfrena 4

Bibliography Taylor, Alan. “The Eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media

Company, 18 May 2015, www.theatlantic.com/photo/2015/05/the-eruption-of-mount-st-helens-in1980/393557/.

“The Three Main Types of Volcanoes.” ZME Science, 19 May 2017, www.zmescience.com/other/science-abc/types-of-volcano/.

“Mount St. Helens.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Oct. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_St._Helens....