Ten Ways Mount St. Helens Changed Our World—The Enduring Legacy of the 1980 Eruption
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Abstract
Mount St. Helens was once enjoyed for its serene beauty and was considered one of America’s most majestic volcanoes because of its perfect cone shape, similar to Japan’s beloved Mount Fuji. Nearby residents assumed that the mountain was solid and enduring. That perception changed during the early spring of 1980. Then, on May 18, 1980, following 2 months of earthquakes and small explosions, the volcano’s over-steepened north flank collapsed in a colossal landslide and triggered a near-horizontal blast, followed by a powerful vertical eruption. The high-speed, rock-filled, and gas-charged blast quickly evolved into a gravitationally driven pyroclastic flow, which leveled millions of trees, stripped them of their branches and bark, and scoured soil from bedrock. The vertical eruption that followed fed a towering plume of ash for more than 9 hours. Winds carried the ash from the volcano and deposited it hundreds of miles away. Lahars (volcanic mudflows) buried river valleys. These catastrophic events caused the worst volcanic disaster in the recorded history of the conterminous United States. The events violently transformed Mount St. Helens and left a lasting impression on the hearts and minds of people living in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Suggested Citation
Driedger, C.L., Major, J.J., Pallister, J.S., Clynne, M.A., Moran, S.C., Westby, E.G., and Ewert, J.W., 2020, Ten ways Mount St. Helens changed our world—The enduring legacy of the 1980 eruption: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2020-3031, 6 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20203031.
ISSN: 2327-6932 (online)
Study Area
| Publication type | Report |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
| Title | Ten ways Mount St. Helens changed our world—The enduring legacy of the 1980 eruption |
| Series title | Fact Sheet |
| Series number | 2020-3031 |
| DOI | 10.3133/fs20203031 |
| Year Published | 2020 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
| Publisher location | Reston, VA |
| Contributing office(s) | Volcano Hazards Program |
| Description | 6 p. |
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| Other Geospatial | Mount St. Helens |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |