Capital Wired

Keeps You Updated

Saturday, January 16, 2021
Log in
  • Headlines
  • Business
  • Health
  • Tech & Science
  • Sports
  • World
  • US
  • Latest News
    • How To Make Your Own Home-Brewed Morphine
    • Using Mouthwash Too Often Puts You at Risk of Obesity and Diabetes
    • Walmart to Solve its Supply Chain Issues and Further Cut Down on Costs
    • The World’s Most Expensive Christmas Decorations
    • Netflix Hopes to Balance Data Limit With Great Video Quality
    • Joji Morishita says Japan Will Resume Whaling
    • The Most Beloved Plastic Surgeries Among Americans
    • Skype for Web Allows Non-Users to Take Part In Its Online Chats

Pages

  • About Capital Wired
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Reprint & Licensing
  • Staff
  • Terms of Use

Recent Posts

  • Here’s Why Your Brain Keeps Worrying about Everything June 29, 2018
  • Don’t Throw That Sunscreen after Summer Is Up June 29, 2018
  • Analysts: Currency War between U.S. and China Might Be Looming June 28, 2018
  • Starbucks Rival The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Opening 100 Shops June 27, 2018
  • Study Finds We Are Alone in the Universe June 26, 2018
  • Restaurant Owner Not Sorry for Booting Sarah Sanders June 26, 2018
  • Beware of the Hidden Salt in Your Food! June 25, 2018

New Magma Chambers Spur Fears St. Helens Might Erupt Again

November 10, 2015 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

Email, RSS Follow

magma chambersNew magma chambers have spurred fears that Mount St. Helens might erupt again, but researchers are now trying to dissipate those rumors.

Previously, it had been thought that there is just one magma chamber, right underneath the volcano’s crater. However, recent maps have shown that in fact there are three more other significantly sized chambers, located at a greater depth below the caldera, and eastwards from the peak.

Two of them are at 3 to 8 miles beneath sea level, whereas the third one positioned right below the original one is approximately 9 to 25 miles under sea level. This third section is actually much broader, covering several miles to the east, and it appears that it’s sending magma to the chamber located above it.

The pools of molten rock were identified as researchers from the United States Geological Survey were conducting a $3 million analysis of Mount St Helens’ magmatic plumbing. Their purpose had been to detect potential clues regarding the following major eruption.

Geologists had used controlled detonations around the composite volcano, taking into account the fact that seismic waves move at a lower velocity through plasma and liquid, than through hard rock. That is how they managed to achieve a more accurate cartographic representation of the insides of Mount St Helens.

They have also come to the conclusion that in fact all the 4 chambers are interdependent and connected to one another, which means that changes in pressure from molten lava in one area have a direct impact on the other sections as well.

As magma travels across these chambers, the solid rocks eventually crack, and this leads to small earthquakes. When the volcano’s plumbing system bursts open and molten lava injects through it, long-duration seismic movements called harmonic tremors appear.

The more earthquakes build up in frequency, the more the flow of magma increases. This is how the catastrophic eruption of May 18, 1980 initially signaled its approach.

It was by far the most destructive and lethal volcanic event recorded in the history of the United States, causing 57 people to die, and wrecking 47 bridges, 250 homes, 185 miles of highway and 15 miles of railways.

Minor eruptions accompanied by low magnitude earthquakes and ash plumes were also detected between 2004 and 2008, as a new lava dome formed and broke apart.

It is hoped that this recent discovery will allow researchers to understand much better how magma pressure builds inside Mount St. Helens, as molten lava passes from chamber to chamber.

Especially if this high-risk volcano shows more signs of activity, additional information could be collected so as to predict next eruptions much earlier and more precisely than before.

The findings were presented at 2015 Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, which took place in Baltimore, Maryland, between November 1 and 4.

Since this recent study only investigated the volcano at depths of 25 miles, further research will be conducted now at 50 miles beneath the crust.

It appears that lately there have been small tremors suggesting that lava might be traveling upwards, so geologists will be keeping a close eye on Mount St. Helen. After all, a violent eruption would have the potential to generate large ash clouds, which could block out the sun like in a nuclear winter.

Image Source: Flickr

Email, RSS Follow

Brian Galloway

Brian’s philosophy is pretty straightforward: easy living, wishful thinking, heavy criticizing. Despite the fact that he wouldn’t go as far as describe himself a conspirationist, Brian does take everything with a grain of sand. He loves following every lead when covering a story and mostly enjoys to cover politics and US news.

Filed Under: Tech & Science

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Articles

dc logo on black galaxy background

Ava DuVernay to Direct DC’s New Gods Adaptation

March 16, 2018 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

leonardo davinci's signature in black

Is DaVinci’s Record Breaking Painting Authentic?

November 20, 2017 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

stephen hawking

Stephen Hawking Makes Gloomy Prediction For Earth In A 100 Years

May 7, 2017 By Deborah Nielsen Leave a Comment

"Dwayne Johnson not dead"

Dwayne Johnson Died this Week or Not

January 19, 2016 By Jason Leathers 3 Comments

There Are At Least Three More Seasons of Game of Thrones To Go

July 31, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Homelessness Soars in L.A., Officials Pledge to House Everybody by 2016

May 12, 2015 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

FBI Releases National Report on Slain Police Officers, Figures are Alarming

May 12, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

New York Nuclear Plant Partially Shut Down due to Hudson Oil Slick

May 11, 2015 By Jason Leathers 2 Comments

Obama Draws Heat from Democrats over Asia Trade Deal

May 9, 2015 By Rebecca McGhee Leave a Comment

Florida Governor Changes Stance on Obamacare Once More, Budget on Hold

May 9, 2015 By Brian Galloway Leave a Comment

Secret Service to add an Extra Layer of Spikes to White House Fence

May 8, 2015 By Chen Lai Leave a Comment

Police Arrested Suspect in death of Student who tried to Sell Car on Craigslist

May 8, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen 1 Comment

AccuWeather.com: 2015 Atlantic Tropical Storm Season is Officially Open

May 7, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen Leave a Comment

Illinois Student Found Dead after Trying to Sell his Car on Craigslist

May 7, 2015 By Deborah Nielsen 2 Comments

Related Articles

  • ET movie

    Study Finds We Are Alone in the Universe

    Jun 26, 2018
  • Sarah Huckabee Sanders

    Restaurant Owner Not Sorry for Booting Sarah Sanders

    Jun 26, 2018
  • New Type of Photosynthesis Spotted in Blue-Green Algae

    Jun 20, 2018
  • Tropical fish and coral reef

    Coral Reefs Save Us from Flooding (Study)

    Jun 14, 2018
  • NASA astronaut on the moon

    NASA Astronauts Warmed Up the Moon in the 1970s

    Jun 12, 2018
  • Antarctic landscape

    Antarctica Experiencing Routine Earthquakes Like Any Other Continent

    Jun 5, 2018
  • SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch

    SpaceX Launches Powerful Communications Satellite into Orbit

    Jun 5, 2018
  • Planet Pluto

    Scientists Have New Theory About Pluto’s Formation

    May 30, 2018
  • The Milky Way

    NASA Uses Lasers to Re-Create Coldest Spot in the Universe

    May 22, 2018
  • Plastic bottle on a sand beach

    Earth Has Had 33 Years of Above-than-Average Temperatures

    May 21, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Headlines
  • Health
  • Sports
  • Tech & Science
  • US
  • World

Copyright © 2021 capitalwired.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Contact

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Learn more.