MOUNT ST HELENS

HISTORY
MOUNT ST HELENS

• Mount St. Helens, Washington:

Mount St. Helens (8,364 feet, 9,677 feet before May 18, 1980) is located in southwestern Washington about 50 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon, and is one of several lofty
volcanic peaks that dominate the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest. Geologists call Mount St. Helens a composite volcano (or stratovolcano), a term for steep-sided,
often symmetrical cones constructed of alternating layers of lava flows, ash, and other volcanic debris. Composite volcanoes tend to erupt explosively and pose considerable
danger to nearby life and property. In contrast, the gently sloping shield volcanoes, such as those in Hawaii, typically erupt nonexplosively, producing fluid lavas that can flow
great distances from the active vents. Although Hawaiian-type eruptions may destroy property, they rarely cause death or injury.

"Fujiyama of America":
Before 1980, snow-capped, gracefully symmetrical Mount St. Helens was known as the "Fujiyama of America." Mount St. Helens, other active Cascade volcanoes, and those of
Alaska comprise the North American segment of the circum-Pacific "Ring of Fire," a notorious zone that produces frequent, often destructive, earthquake volcanic activity.

Ancestral Mount St. Helens:

Ancestral Mount St. Helens began to grow before the last major glaciation of the Ice Age had ended about 10,000 years ago. The oldest ash deposits were erupted at least
40,000 years ago onto an eroded surface of still older volcanic and sedimentary rocks. Intermittent volcanism continued after the glaciers disappeared, and nine main pulses
of pre-1980 volcanic activity have been recognized. These pulses lasted from about 5,000 years to less than 100 years each and were separated by dormant intervals of about
15,000 years to only 200 years. A forerunner of Spirit Lake was born about 3,500 years ago, or possibly earlier, when eruption debris formed a natural dam across the valley of
the North Fork of the Toutle River.