* Astronomy

Researchers find evidence for a cold, serpentinized mantle wedge beneath Mt. St. Helens

Despite the previous research, the structure of the deep magmatic plumbing system beneath Mount St. Helens and its context within the broader Cascadia subduction system remain poorly resolved despite the genetic link between subduction and arc volcanism.
Recently, researchers including postdoctoral researcher Steven Hansen, along with mentor and Assistant Professor Brandon Schmandt at The University of New Mexico, have been searching for additional answers surrounding the magmatic system of Mount St. Helens as part of a multi-year collaborative research project involving several institutions.
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3D-model mimics volcanic explosions

A 3-D model of a volcanic explosion, based on the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens in Washington state, may enhance our understanding of how some volcanic explosions occur and help identify blast zones for potentially dangerous locations, according to an international team of volcanologists.
The researchers created the 3-D model using the parameters of the Mount St. Helens blast including equations to determine mass, momentum and the heat energy of the gas, along with the size, density, specific heat and thermal conductivity of the solid particles.
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Title: Multiphase-flow numerical modelling of the 18 May 1980 lateral blast at Mount St. Helens, USA
Authors: T. Esposti Ongaro, C. Widiwijayanti, A.B. Clarke, B. Voight and A. Neri

Volcanic lateral blasts are among the most spectacular and devastating of natural phenomena, but their dynamics are still poorly understood. Here we investigate the best documented and most controversial blast at Mount St. Helens (Washington State, United States), on 18 May 1980. By means of three-dimensional multiphase numerical simulations we demonstrate that the blast front propagation, final runout, and damage can be explained by the emplacement of an unsteady, stratified pyroclastic density current, controlled by gravity and terrain morphology. Such an interpretation is quantitatively supported by large-scale observations at Mount St. Helens and will influence the definition and predictive mapping of hazards on blast-dangerous volcanoes worldwide.

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USGS has released high resolution lidar images for the Mount St Helens cone area. You can get a 17×22 inch pdf that can be printed as a study sheet or a 32×42 inch pdf that can be plotted for use as a poster.

• 17x22 inch poster (14.6mb, PDF)
• 32x42 inch poster (37.2mb, PDF)

Credit Queija, V.R., 2010, Mount St. Helens lidar: U.S. Geological Survey General Information Product 116, 1 p.