Images

Before the devastating May 18, 1980 eruption, Mount St. Helens was considered to be one of the most beautiful and most frequently-climbed peaks in the Cascade Range. Spirit Lake was a vacation area offering hiking, camping, boating, and fishing.

Summit region (Kalama age–1479 to 1720 C.E.) of Mount St. Helens looking northeast. Spirit Lake and Mount Adams in background. September 28, 1979.

East Dome erupted during Sugar Bowl time (C.E. 850-900) east flank view of Mount St. Helens. Kalama age (erupted about 1535) andesite flows surround dome.

Mount St. Helens one year prior to the May 18, 1980, catastrophic eruption, showing glaciers at the summit.

Before the eruption of May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens' elevation was 2,950 m (9,677 ft). View from the west, Mount Adams in distance. S. Fork Toutle River is valley in center of photo.

Mount Adams elevation is 3,745 m (12, 286 ft). Mount St. Helens was the smallest of five major volcanic peaks in Washington State.

Worm Complex on the southeast flank of Mount St. Helens—Middle Kalama lava flows in center of image. Photo from September 28, 1979. Click to view larger image.

Studebaker Ridge formed during the Tertiary geologic time period (65 million to 2.6 million years ago). The pyroclastic surge from the May 18, 1980 eruption destroyed the trees on the ridge.

Three Fingered Jack (2390 m or 7840 ft) is a volcanic peak in central Oregon near Mount Bachelor and the Three Sisters. Black Butte is in the background.

(Left) Aerial photograph of the Pāhala area, on the southern side of the Island of Hawaiʻi, taken on December 11, 1976. (Right) The backside of the same photo showing labeled field locations, marked with a pinhole through the photograph, which correspond to the geologist’s field notes. 

Mount Konocti, a mostly dacitic composite cone, on the western shore of Clear Lake, California. Thurston Lake is in the foreground.

The magnitude-7.7 earthquake caused a nearly continuous zone of ground cracking and faulting for about 25 km (15 mi) along the south flank inland of Halapē.

A M 7.7 earthquake on November 29, 1975, was located beneath the south flank of Kīlauea.

Fractures in Crater Rim Road, Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, caused by the November 29, 1975, earthquake beneath the south flank of Kīlauea Volcano. Only a few meters (yards) from Kīlauea's summit crater (out of sight left of guardrails), large sections adjacent the crater wall slumped toward the crater, forming these fractures.

This part of the south flank of Kīlauea Volcano moved seaward about 6 m (20 ft) and subsided about 3.5 m (11.5 ft) as a result of the magnitude-7.7 earthquake. A tsunami swept ashore at Halapē and reached 14.6 m (48 ft) above the post-earthquake shoreline.

Ground cracks along Crater Rim Drive in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park caused by the M 7.7 earthquake on November 25, 1975. The cracks resulted from slumping of the ground toward the rim of Kīlauea Crater, the edge of which is left of the guardrails.

Mauna Loa 1975 eruption. Lava fountains up to 20 m (65 ft) high erupted from fissures on the north flank of the volcano early Sunday morning, July 6, 1975.

A three-day long eruption in July 1974 sent lava flows onto the floor of Kīlauea Volcano's summit caldera, where they spread out beneath the western caldera wall.

Low fountains and repeated overflows at the Mauna Ulu crater build the shield higher. Lava flows were mostly brief and short, thereby increasing the relief between the top of the shield and its base. The perched lava pond shown in the previous photo is bypassed by the two rivers.

Perched lava pond forming between Mauna Ulu and Pu'u Huluhulu, January 25, 1974. Several episodes of renewed growth in height of Mauna Ulu occurred in early 1974. The first sent much lava toward Pu'u Huluhulu, where a perched lava pond developed. This photo shows lava in the pond spilling over the enclosing levee and making it higher.

Note the two smaller vents on the west (left) side of the crater above the lake, which is about 150 m (500 ft) across.

Three Fingered Jack (2390 m or 7840 ft) is a volcanic peak in central Oregon near Mount Bachelor and the Three Sisters.