After Mount St. Helens's peak broke off into the largest terrestrial landslide in recorded history, 540 million tons of ash began shooting up into the air--reaching as high as 15 miles above Earth....[More]
SHADES OF GRAY:
After Mount St. Helens's peak broke off into the largest terrestrial landslide in recorded history, 540 million tons of ash began shooting up into the air--reaching as high as 15 miles above Earth. Winds then carried clouds of the volcanic particles across the western U.S., darkening skies and cooling temperatures. People as far away as Oklahoma found a light dusting on their cars.
Back in Washington State, scientists began accumulating valuable insights into the composition and dispersal of volcanic ash, as well as how to mitigate its hazardous effects on people and property. Depending on the thickness of the ash, farmers discovered they sometimes needed to use large amounts of fertilizer, plough extra deep into the soil or even slaughter their livestock. Entrepreneurs, meanwhile, quickly learned how to turn ash into moneymaking souvenirs--from salt and pepper shakers to frog figurines.
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
J. Rosenbaum, USGS
AIRBORNE ASH:
Despite the mess, the situation in the skies could have been far worse, notes William Scott, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). ...[More]
AIRBORNE ASH:
Despite the mess, the situation in the skies could have been far worse, notes William Scott, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Unlike in the aftermath of Eyjafjallajokull's recent eruption in Iceland, there was no widespread grounding of air traffic. "We were fortunate that it happened on a beautiful clear day," Scott says. "A big ugly cloud went up in to the air and was not difficult to spot."
Smaller eruptions on a cloudy day about a week later, however, did bring trouble, including the first-ever recorded example of an aircraft engine flameout due to volcanic ash. Fortunately, the plane was able to restart its engine after it reached a lower altitude.
Little awareness existed regarding the threat volcanic ash posed to aircraft before 1980. Today, aviators recognize the risk as very real, and volcanic observatories, meteorologists and aviation authorities monitor the skies to help them avoid dangerous run-ins with ash.
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Pete Lipman, USGS
SURVIVAL OF THE DEEPEST:
While most of the life above ground perished in the eruption, some organisms that were protected underground, underwater or in snowbanks endured....[More]
SURVIVAL OF THE DEEPEST:
While most of the life above ground perished in the eruption, some organisms that were protected underground, underwater or in snowbanks endured. Two new lakes and 130 new ponds built by the blast even offered surviving amphibians like this northwestern salamander bonus habitats in which to thrive.
"Nature almost never completely wipes itself out," says Franklin. "Natural disturbances may make edits, but they leave behind incredible legacies."
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
James Bettaso, U.S. FWS
LOST AND FOUND:
Animals that relied on Mount St. Helens's former stands of old-growth forests, such as the northern spotted owl, may not be returning to the volcanic region for a while....[More]
LOST AND FOUND:
Animals that relied on Mount St. Helens's former stands of old-growth forests, such as the northern spotted owl, may not be returning to the volcanic region for a while. But elk, rainbow trout and an array of birds have rebounded in astonishing numbers. As evidenced by this paw print in the ash, black bears eventually found their way back as well.
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Lyn Topinka, USGS
LEAPING LUPINE:
One particular species of plant quickly became the building block for much of the renewed flora and fauna around Mount St. Helens. On a stretch of the volcano known as Pumice Plain, where life essentially had to start from scratch, tens of millions of lupines pushed their way up through the ash....[More]
LEAPING LUPINE:
One particular species of plant quickly became the building block for much of the renewed flora and fauna around Mount St. Helens. On a stretch of the volcano known as Pumice Plain, where life essentially had to start from scratch, tens of millions of lupines pushed their way up through the ash. Over time, they've help to transform some of that ash into nutrient-rich soil. Rare lupine feeders arrived and thrived here, including these mating Schinia sueta. "As E.O. Wilson likes to say, it's the little things that run the world," notes John Bishop, associate professor of biology at Washington State University, Vancouver.
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Jennifer Apple
LIFE IN TRANSITION:
A forest may not be nearly as bleak as it looks following a major eruption, windstorm, insect infestation or fire. In fact, researchers now think that the resulting ecosystem often becomes highly productive, bustling with survivors, opportunists and habitat specialists....[More]
LIFE IN TRANSITION:
A forest may not be nearly as bleak as it looks following a major eruption, windstorm, insect infestation or fire. In fact, researchers now think that the resulting ecosystem often becomes highly productive, bustling with survivors, opportunists and habitat specialists. "There are also a lot of very important processes, such as nitrogen fixation, that primarily only go on during this stage of an ecosystem's development," says Franklin. A review of transitional ecosystems, primarily based on research at Mount St. Helens and co-authored by Franklin, was recently published online in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Jerry Franklin, University of Washington
RAINING SPIDERS:
In the first several years after the eruption, more than 120 species of spiders, including this one, Lepthyphantes tenuis , rained out of the sky and onto the devastated Pumice Plain....[More]
RAINING SPIDERS:
In the first several years after the eruption, more than 120 species of spiders, including this one, Lepthyphantes tenuis, rained out of the sky and onto the devastated Pumice Plain. Some of these new immigrants had traveled by wind more than 60 miles.
"We didn't see them take off," says Rod Crawford, curator of arachnids at the Burke Museum in Seattle. "So we have to judge from where the species are known to be distributed." Previously, these particular jet-setting species had been native only to eastern Washington. Most of the more common species found are believed to have "ballooned" from at least 30 miles away. And since many of these spiders normally spin their webs in the canopies of trees, Crawford and his colleagues think that a corridor created by the volcano's blast paved the way through the forest for their nonstop flight.
Still, a successful journey rarely guaranteed survival upon arrival. A few spiders lucked out, landing in nutrient-rich areas such as patches already colonized by lupine, while most quickly died on barren grounds. (Less sensitive species of beetles fared far better.) Nevertheless, given the mass immigration--nearly one spider per square meter per day--the arachnids did make their impact on the evolving ecosystem. "Several really smart people had expressed skepticism that ballooning spiders were important enough to colonize faraway places," says Crawford. "And now we know that they are."
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Rod Crawford, Burke Museum
'SMART SPIDERS':
Before 1980, one lone seismometer rested on Mount St. Helens. "We've gotten much smarter since," says Scott of the USGS. Today, scientists have an array of constantly improving technologies that should help them better forecast future eruptions....[More]
'SMART SPIDERS':
Before 1980, one lone seismometer rested on Mount St. Helens. "We've gotten much smarter since," says Scott of the USGS. Today, scientists have an array of constantly improving technologies that should help them better forecast future eruptions. Some of the devices can detect earthquakes or ground deformation; others measure volcanic gases. The latest and greatest monitoring tool is called the "smart spider." These small, mobile machines carry precision GPS, motion-sensitive lead plates and pressure gages. "They can even talk to each other and figure out which one has the best radio path to get real-time information out," notes Scott. And scientists can read the incoming data from the comfort--and safety--of their offices.
Currently, the technology is being tested in the natural laboratory of Washington State's notorious volcano. They will soon be put into action at Montserrat volcano in the West Indies, a USGS representative recently told The Seattle Times.
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Rick LaHusen, USGS
THE HEAT IS ON:
Thermal cameras were essential in tracking the reawakening of Mount St. Helens between 2004 and 2008. The devices can detect the growth of lava domes, as well as the development of cracks in places where the dome might be breaking apart....[More]
THE HEAT IS ON:
Thermal cameras were essential in tracking the reawakening of Mount St. Helens between 2004 and 2008. The devices can detect the growth of lava domes, as well as the development of cracks in places where the dome might be breaking apart. "It's the same technology that police have on helicopters for watching warm bodies running through city streets," says Scott. "But it was the first time it's had such intense use for volcanoes."
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Jim Vallance, USGS
TROUBLED TOUTLE:
On May 18, 1980, the former peak of Mount St. Helens buried the neighboring Toutle River Valley in hundreds of feet of debris. Three decades later, trouble continues to run through the valley....[More]
TROUBLED TOUTLE:
On May 18, 1980, the former peak of Mount St. Helens buried the neighboring Toutle River Valley in hundreds of feet of debris. Three decades later, trouble continues to run through the valley. Huge volumes of sediment are driven downstream by rainstorms and snowmelt, choking rivers, obstructing fish migration and promoting floods. The latest in a string of attempts to mitigate the problem will use small barriers to force the river into a series of turns, effectively slowing its flow and the movement of sediment. Each success or failure helps inform a better long-term solution, and could inspire future sediment-management plans at other volcanic sites around the world.
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Steve Brantley, USGS
LARGER LESSONS:
"Whenever there is a big catastrophe, such as a forest fire, society's impulse is to do two things: salvage any remaining economic value--much of the wood is often still good--and help it on its way to recovery by replanting," says Bishop....[More]
LARGER LESSONS:
"Whenever there is a big catastrophe, such as a forest fire, society's impulse is to do two things: salvage any remaining economic value--much of the wood is often still good--and help it on its way to recovery by replanting," says Bishop. "But it may be that in our haste, we don't allow enough areas to naturally regenerate."
In addition to altering views on how to respond to natural disasters, lessons from Mount St. Helens have also forced forest managers to reflect on man's disturbances. "We have adopted a new approach to harvesting timber called retention harvesting," says Franklin. "Basically it means we don't take everything: we should leave some behind."
[Less]
[Link to this slide]
Jerry Franklin, University of Washington
YES! Send me a free issue of Scientific American with no obligation to continue the subscription. If I like it, I will be billed for the one-year subscription.
So, when a volcano devastates a vast area of wilderness, it's a good thing because it opens the door for disadvantaged species. But when a man-made disaster has the potential of devastating a large area of wilderness, it's the apocalypse.
frgough - interesting thought and one that is consistent with the idea that man's "interference" with nature is "unnatural" when in reality it's perfectly natural. We may not like the outcome but ...
This seems to be a lesson in what probably happens after each major extinction event, such as the catastrophe at the end f the Cretaceous. Only they often take a few thousand years, presumably.
frgough - I agree, humans are part of the big picture, and that includes human-induced disasters. I do believe that we have the responsibility to avoid disasters if possible and mitigate damage when disasters occur. However, our concept of "restoring" is just that: our concept. Well-meaning, but perhaps as misguided as our disasters. Maybe that's part of the big picture too--creating disasters and mucking the recovery. As dbtinc says, it's interesting.
This is, once again, SA's narrow perspective on another subject. When I visited the blast zone about two year's after the event with Weyerhaeuser forester's they indeed reported and displayed that after they salvaged 600 truck loads a day for a year of downed logs that species and biodiversity increased exponentially. Right next to their land the forest land managed (or should I say mangled) by the Federal Govt. had not been touched and the forest floor was still essentially dead for miles around covered in rotting logs and ash. Thus, one has to wonder who the "forest managers" SA talked to in this article. Maybe the ones who have an agenda to prohibit proper forest management that includes utilizing our only sustainably renewable natural resource?
7. craiger77
in reply to soundaround12:02 PM 5/20/10
The ideas expressed here come after 30 years, not 2. What happens in the short term is usually not indicative what you will see in the long term. One of the main arguments 30 years ago for preserving large areas of the blast zone is so we have had those areas to compare to the places we allowed salvage logging to take place.
What you want to refer to as "The Federal Government" was actually a large body of scientists who where experts in their field who recommended what happened in the blast zone at the time. As this article points out, many of their recommendations where based on erroneous assumptions of what would happen over the years, but only by preserving undisturbed areas have we found that out.
I lived in Pt. Townsend, Washington when Mt. St. Helens went off. My family was getting ready for church. We were about 300 miles away, but it sounded like the shipyard at Bremerton had exploded. It shook our house with 3 large "booms." The ash went East, but we got enough that I collected a jar full. My horses were covered in it and the hay we got from Eastern Washington was full of it and no one knew what it would do to animals or humans. It was a scary time. There was so much energy from the blast, it caused electrical storms and the sky was pitch black. I flew over the Mountain 2 years ago and was amazed at it's recovery and how big the trees were. It was a time that I will never forget. People were fighting the police to get to their cabins, days before it went off. The ones that died were the ones that got thru the barricades because the police tried to keep them out. There were warnings that it was going to blow, but no one expected to see what happened in the end. I will always wonder what would have happened if they would have just left it as it was. I will wonder if nature would have repaired itself without the replantings or cleanup. It was an awesome natural disaster that took your breath away at it's power. I will always remember Harry Truman and Spirit Lake and his wish to stay there where his wife was buried. My first thoughts were of him. It changed the landscape and people's lives. The ecological system was changed forever, but we have to remember that it was something that has gone on forever. Nature doesn't have to ask to happen.
This is nothing new. The native Indians burned large tracts of forest because they understood the ecological gains far outweighed any damage. Today, We spend $Millions to fight forest fires. What a waste of resources (Not natural, but budgetary)!!
Not Nelson's Obelisk
Deadly March Tornadoes Were First Billion-Dollar Disaster of 2012
First of Our Kind: Could Australopithecus sediba Be Our Long Lost Ancestor?
Cities Adapt to Extreme Weather Despite Federal Inaction
New Technology Allows Better Extreme Weather Forecasts
NOAA Makes It Official: 2011 Among Most Extreme Weather Years in History
California Megaflood: Lessons from a Forgotten Catastrophe
Will Future Nuclear Power Reactors Be Safer?
10 Comments
Add CommentSo, when a volcano devastates a vast area of wilderness, it's a good thing because it opens the door for disadvantaged species. But when a man-made disaster has the potential of devastating a large area of wilderness, it's the apocalypse.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisfrgough - interesting thought and one that is consistent with the idea that man's "interference" with nature is "unnatural" when in reality it's perfectly natural. We may not like the outcome but ...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis seems to be a lesson in what probably happens after each major extinction event, such as the catastrophe at the end f the Cretaceous. Only they often take a few thousand years, presumably.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisfrgough - I agree, humans are part of the big picture, and that includes human-induced disasters. I do believe that we have the responsibility to avoid disasters if possible and mitigate damage when disasters occur. However, our concept of "restoring" is just that: our concept. Well-meaning, but perhaps as misguided as our disasters. Maybe that's part of the big picture too--creating disasters and mucking the recovery. As dbtinc says, it's interesting.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisSo, when a person dies naturally, that is life, but when a person is mudered by another this is suddenly murder and considered a bad thing.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMoral individuals and competent thinkers undertand why this is so, moral and intellectual degenerates do not.
This is, once again, SA's narrow perspective on another subject. When I visited the blast zone about two year's after the event with Weyerhaeuser forester's they indeed reported and displayed that after they salvaged 600 truck loads a day for a year of downed logs that species and biodiversity increased exponentially. Right next to their land the forest land managed (or should I say mangled) by the Federal Govt. had not been touched and the forest floor was still essentially dead for miles around covered in rotting logs and ash. Thus, one has to wonder who the "forest managers" SA talked to in this article. Maybe the ones who have an agenda to prohibit proper forest management that includes utilizing our only sustainably renewable natural resource?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe ideas expressed here come after 30 years, not 2. What happens in the short term is usually not indicative what you will see in the long term. One of the main arguments 30 years ago for preserving large areas of the blast zone is so we have had those areas to compare to the places we allowed salvage logging to take place.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhat you want to refer to as "The Federal Government" was actually a large body of scientists who where experts in their field who recommended what happened in the blast zone at the time. As this article points out, many of their recommendations where based on erroneous assumptions of what would happen over the years, but only by preserving undisturbed areas have we found that out.
I lived in Pt. Townsend, Washington when Mt. St. Helens went off. My family was getting ready for church. We were about 300 miles away, but it sounded like the shipyard at Bremerton had exploded. It shook our house with 3 large "booms." The ash went East, but we got enough that I collected a jar full. My horses were covered in it and the hay we got from Eastern Washington was full of it and no one knew what it would do to animals or humans. It was a scary time. There was so much energy from the blast, it caused electrical storms and the sky was pitch black. I flew over the Mountain 2 years ago and was amazed at it's recovery and how big the trees were. It was a time that I will never forget. People were fighting the police to get to their cabins, days before it went off. The ones that died were the ones that got thru the barricades because the police tried to keep them out. There were warnings that it was going to blow, but no one expected to see what happened in the end. I will always wonder what would have happened if they would have just left it as it was. I will wonder if nature would have repaired itself without the replantings or cleanup. It was an awesome natural disaster that took your breath away at it's power. I will always remember Harry Truman and Spirit Lake and his wish to stay there where his wife was buried. My first thoughts were of him. It changed the landscape and people's lives. The ecological system was changed forever, but we have to remember that it was something that has gone on forever. Nature doesn't have to ask to happen.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis is nothing new. The native Indians burned large tracts of forest because they understood the ecological gains far outweighed any damage. Today, We spend $Millions to fight forest fires. What a waste of resources (Not natural, but budgetary)!!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this#12
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBP can't shut one down. Ooooooooo.