|
Crater Glacier growing 50 feet per year Now bigger than before 1980 eruption
|
| |
|
20 Sep 04 - “Today, the snow and ice in the crater is equal in volume to
all of the pre-eruption glaciers on Mount St. Helens
combined," says a brochure published by the US Forest
Service.” Located inside the volcanic crater formed during its 1980 eruption, America’s youngest glacier is also its fastest growing glacier. Scientists estimate that the thickness of the glacier has increased by nearly 50 feet per year. Not only is it growing thicker, it has been advancing as much as 135 feet per year. Why is no one bothering to tell us about this? (Oct 12, 2004. With temperatures on the dome now standing at 1,270 degrees Fahrenheit, my guess is that the glacier is now melting.) During the last twenty years, snow and ice have accumulated behind the lava dome at Mount St. Helens (Washington State) to depths of up to 600 feet. According to Charles Anderson Jr. and Dr. Mark Vining of the Glaciospeleological Survey (IGS), the weight of the snow is compressing the lower layers into dense, crystalline glacier ice. http://www.glaciercaves.com/html/anewgl_1.HTM . |
||
