Mount St. Helens sits on the plate boundary between Juan de Fuca and the North American plates (map above). The boundary is part of the so- called ‘Ring of Fire’ – the string of volcanoes that congregate around the margin of the Pacific Ocean.

Subduction of the Juan de Fuca plate beneath the North American plate creates the Cascade volcanoes like Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainer, Mount Hood and more. Subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the North American plate in the north creates the long chain of the Aleutian Islands volcanoes near Alaska.

It was shortly after 8:30 a.m. on May 18, 1980 when Mount St. Helens erupted in Washington state. The eruption would quickly become the deadliest in U.S. history, killing 57 people. The destruction caused more than $1 billion in damage.

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS): “We know that Mount St Helens is the volcano in the Cascades most likely to erupt again in our lifetimes. He said: “Yes, it is extremely likely that Mt St Helens will erupt again. The average eruption recurrence interval is every 100-300 years.”

Helens eruption was the worst volcanic disaster in U.S. history, causing the deaths of 57 people and approximately 7,000 large animals.

Spirit Lake is a lake in Skamania County, Washington, United States, located north of Mount St. Helens. It was a popular tourist destination for many years until Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980.

It’s been 40 years since Mount St. Helens famously roared to life, sending ash and gas 15 miles high, flattening 135 square miles of forest, and killing 57 people in the country’s deadliest eruption. Today, the volcano is still one of the most dangerous in the United States, and the most active of the Cascade Range.

The water in Spirit Lake was completely displaced by the avalanche and heated to body temperature. Blast felled trees were swept into Spirit Lake as water displaced by the landslide receded. Widespread oxygen depletion occurred as bacterial populations responded to increased nutrient levels.

The eruption tore thousands of trees from the surrounding hillsides and swept them into Spirit Lake. These thousands of shattered trees formed a floating log raft on the lake surface that covered about 40 % of the lake’s surface after the eruption. (Wikipedia, 11/2017).

Spirit Lake offers plenty of water fun including kayaking, fishing, swimming and more.

Yes. In 1993, the Washington Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife (WDFW) found the first salmonid fish, a rainbow trout, in Spirit Lake.

Volcanic eruptions are another episodic natural disturbance that may contribute floating woody debris to lakes. The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, and the associated massive landslide, deposited enormous amounts of floating woody debris in Spirit Lake, where much of it still floats today.

Open Season: The route is usually snow-free by the end of May and remains open through October. The road closes each year due to winter snowfall from November to May. Driving Directions: From Randle travel south on State Route (SR) 131 until the road forks (1 mile).

about 13 miles away

Trees survived beneath deep snow banks and plants sprouted from buried soil where erosion thinned the overlying ash deposits. Signs of activity by gophers and ants indicated that subterranean animals had survived in beneath the volcanic ash. Gopher mounds were among the first signs of life observed in the blast zone.

Skamania County, Washington, U.S. The 2004–2008 volcanic activity of Mount St. Helens in Washington, United States has been documented as a continuous eruption in the form of gradual extrusion of magma. Starting in October 2004 and ceasing in January 2008, a new lava dome was built up.

The 1980 Mount St Helens eruption in Washington State in America cost $860 million.

eruption of Mount St. Helens

Helens: 40 Years of Recovery.

Most destructive U.S. volcano The 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption was the most destructive in U.S. history. Fifty-seven people died, and thousands of animals were killed, according to USGS. More than 200 homes were destroyed, and more than 185 miles of roads and 15 miles of railways were damaged.

Although areas in the blast zone around Mount St. Helens appeared barren and lifeless after the 1980 eruption, some plants and animals did survive. Plants such as willow, vine maple, and black cottonwood were able to re-sprout from roots protected in moist soil.

But there is a general correlation: the longer Hekla goes dormant, the larger and more catastrophic its opening eruption will be. The most recent eruption was on 26 February 2000.

Non-explosive type eruptions mostly produce various types of lava, such as a’a, pāhoehoe and pillow lavas. Some signs that a volcano may soon erupt include earthquakes, surface bulging, gases emitted as well as other changes that can be monitored by scientists.

extinct volcano