Urgh. I meant to have this out last week, but I was a bad blogger and didn’t finish researching it before I left for Oregon. Then I got back from Oregon and found myself distracted by shiny things. The cat nobly stepped in this week and forced me to spend several nights pulling together the research for our next few installments. There’s nothing quite like a homicidal felid purring quietly on your legs to keep you focused, eh?
So here we have the story o’ the Bulge. Or at least the parts of it I understand. It’s complicated, at times it involved surveying equipment, and I might have gotten the details about which bits of Seattle are equivalent in size, but it should be broadly correct. Enjoy!
Aerial view of Mount St. Helens bulge. Skamania County, Washington. April 16, 1980. Image courtesy USGS.
USGS scientists make geodimeter measurements to Mount St. Helens’ north flank.
USGS Photograph taken on May 4, 1980, by C.Dan Miller. Image courtesy USGS.
Also enjoy these two photos that didn’t make it in to the main post. You can get a sense of how chaotic and cracked the bulge was from the first. And I’m just entertained by the second: these are serious scientists doing serious work in a dangerous area, but it still looks almost comical with the wind blowing one dude’s hair all over and the other posed rather melodramatically. Judging from the other photos I’ve seen of scientists taking geodetic measurements, that’s just how this particular piece of equipment forces you to stand. But still, it’s a lighthearted-looking moment, and I likes it.
18 comments
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rq
July 19, 2012 at 5:03 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Who says geology can’t be action-packed?
rq
July 19, 2012 at 5:16 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
By the way, are these dates correct?
“… ominously quiet period between April 19th and March 7th …”
Dana Hunter
July 19, 2012 at 11:34 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Damnit! I knew I shouldn’t have been trying to wrap that up past my bedtime! Thanks for the catch.
No, MSH doesn’t travel back in time, folks, sorry!
F
July 19, 2012 at 8:07 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Well, while you are at teh editors desk:
Forgotten? Gotten wrong? Dunno, just having a stab at it from assumed context.
Not terribly important though, I’ll wager.
But shiny new installment! w00t!
Matty
July 19, 2012 at 5:37 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
April 19th and 20th were the days that my family decided to start moving my step dad’s parents out of battleground Washington. Just in case. We finished the following week. We visited several times during that period. Somewhere I have pictures of one of the smaller ash eruptions.
I remember that weekend because when we started packing there were a number of people packing like that as well. I was 13, and it was weird.
Dana Hunter
July 19, 2012 at 11:37 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
That was a sensible thing to do! You get to see MSH put on a little bit of her show AND stay safe. Win.
I’ve not run across any mentions – do you know if Battleground got much action from ash clouds and/or lahars?
ischemgeek
July 19, 2012 at 6:40 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I can only imagine the awe they must’ve felt actually seeing that deformation. My mind boggles thinking about it… I wonder how amazing it must’ve been to be there and actually see this mountain stretch and warp like a a lump of Play-doh a kid was playing with. It’s almost incomprehensible to wrap my brain around.
Just astounding.
Dana Hunter
July 19, 2012 at 11:40 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Even in the papers I’m reading, their awe comes through. Technical language can’t disguise it. Even if there hadn’t been a ginormous eruption, it would have been a world-class event when that bulge finally let go and came down. Yowsa!
OmegaMom
July 19, 2012 at 10:40 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Dana, I’ve been following your series on Mt. St. Helens and enjoying it immensely. You need to pull it together into a book and shop it out to some agents; there are folks out there who would find it a fascinating read, and you could (gasp!) maybe get some $$ out of it, too. ;-)
Dana Hunter
July 19, 2012 at 11:42 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
*blush* Thanks! When you say things like that, it makes all the work worthwhile!
I’ve now lost count of the number of people calling for a book, so this is an indication that perhaps I should make a book out of it.
Bonus: that would give me a chance to put in some of the stuff I’ve had to leave out for the sake of brevity. Chapters can be a wee bit longer than a blog post. New material, woo hoo!
F
July 19, 2012 at 8:10 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Try Kisckstarter, or similar, especially if it would help to have funding to take leave from “normal employment” and pay for research papers behind paywalls and what.
rq
July 19, 2012 at 11:43 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Do it.
Cujo359
July 19, 2012 at 11:28 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
It looks to be fairly heavy, and you clearly had to sight and point it. Hard to imagine you wouldn’t have to stand that way at times.
Dana Hunter
July 19, 2012 at 11:43 am (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Add in the wind, and you have the perfect recipe for an action hero stance by sheer necessity.
rq
July 19, 2012 at 12:49 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
To make the pose perfect, geologists need(ed) to grow long, luscious hair a la LotR. They have the rest of ‘rugged’ down pat.
Lithified Detritus
July 19, 2012 at 3:56 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
Interesting stuff. Add me to the list of folks who would like to see a book come out of this.
Trebuchet
July 19, 2012 at 4:40 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
What a great story you’re telling! I’m waiting with bated breath for the next episode, even though I know how it ends!
F
July 19, 2012 at 8:11 pm (UTC -7) Link to this comment
I remember red boot laces.