Images

Interior of the SNIF multi-GAS enclosure on Mount St. Helens, Washington

Scientists use a MultiGAS instrument (gray, hard-shell case) to measure gas compositions from the East Lake hot spring in the Newberry caldera. The photo was taken on August 3, 2020 just after sunrise. The vapor above the hot spring and lake is typical for cool mornings and is not visible later in the day.

USGS-Cascades Volcano Observatory geophysicist Rebecca Kramer works on station PR05, which is part of the Mount Rainier lahar detection network (Mount Rainier is pictured in the distance). The purpose of the site visit was to upgrade the power system and deploy infrasound equipment. 

Earthquakes at Mount Rainier from 2010 to 2019. As shown in the graphic, fluids from the magmatic system beneath the volcano rise through existing cracks and weaknesses in the crust. Along with rainwater and ice/snow melt, these fluids combine to create a hydrothermal system within the volcano.

The USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory installed monitoring station ASBU near Newberry volcano in central Oregon in 2011.

The GeoGirls visit a volcano monitoring station on the east side of Mount St. Helens, finding out how scientists use different monitoring methods (seismic, GPS, tiltmeter) to understand more about the volcano.

GeoGirls 2019 group photo, with Mount St. Helens in the background.

GeoGirls hike to Willow Creek, on Mount St. Helens’ Pumice Plain, to learn more about the ecology of the blast zone and how the area has recovered since the catastrophic May 18, 1980, eruption. Here, they look at stream characteristics and how it has influenced the return of life to the area.

The GeoGirls hike the Pumice Plain at Mount St. Helens, examining lava outcrops and volcanic sediment.

The GeoGirls create field drawings of 1980 pyroclastic flow deposits on Mount St. Helens’ Pumice Plain.

GeoGirls venture into Ape Cave, a 2,000-year-old lava tube on the south flank of Mount St. Helens, as they learn about Mount St. Helens’ eruptive history and lava flows.

GeoGirls venture into Ape Cave, a 2,000-year-old lava tube on the south flank of Mount St. Helens, as they learn about Mount St. Helens’ eruptive history and lava flows.

USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory staff, June 2019

A field team from the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory discuss station maintenance plans on the north side of Mount St. Helens, Washington. Pictured in the center of the crater is a steaming lava dome from the 2004-08 eruption, and the fractured surface of Crater Glacier emerging from the gap on the north flank.  

The sun rises at Mount St. Helens (pictured in the distance), with low-level clouds covering Coldwater Lake. The view is from the Coldwater Science and Learning Center, the site of the 2018 GeoGirls field camp program.

GeoGirls analyze volcanic sediment at the Coldwater Lake outlet.

GeoGirls take core samples at a pond near the Hummocks Trail to study groundwater transport.

Mount St. Helens erupted 38 years ago, May 18, 1980 

Example Hydrotherm output. Hydrotherm is a three-dimensional simulation of multiphase groundwater flow and heat transport in the temperature range of 0 to 1200 degrees Celsius and the pressure range of 1 to 1000 MPa.

Horizontal displacements from campaign (black vectors) and continuous (red vectors, with station names given) GPS stations, as well as vertical displacements (indicated by color of GPS station symbol) near South Sister, Oregon. Length of arrow gives amount of horizontal displacement, with scale in lower left showing an arrow length

Image of flyer for GeoGirls 2017 science field camp at Mount St. Helens which was held July 30 to August 3, 2017.