Images

A fumerole near the 1980-86 dome keeps an open hole in the east arm of Crater Glacier. The hole is approximately 12 m (40 ft) in diameter, easily wide enough to hold a school bus and deep enough so you could not see the bus' top. View to the south.

Monitoring and upgrading ground-based sensor networks at the most active volcano in the Cascades is an on-going process. Crews made significant modifications to a seismic monitoring station on the southwest flank of Mount St. Helens, greatly improving its operability in winter.

Crater Glacier, located inside the crater of Mount St. Helens, continues to move at an average rate of about 11 cm per day (4.3 inches). During warm weather months, meltwater creates erosional channels on the crater floor.

Monitoring stations need to be portable. Weighing about 500 pounds, this "swing set" structure can be airlifted into place or moved, as volcano monitoring needs change. An additional 1,000 pounds of equipment will need to be added to make the station fully functional.

A survey base station is established using a RTK-GPS receiver with mobile units to collect data points in and around the crater. Information will be used to monitor surface changes, deformation, erosion and aggradation inside the crater. This type of technology is precise to the centimeter. View to the south, toward Crater Glacier and the lava domes.

Fieldwork includes direct observations of changes to streams and stream beds to determine how changes will affect the downstream transportation of sediments. Here, the braided North Fork Toutle (left) joins Carbonate Springs Creek (right). View to the east.

Juvenile Steelhead to be tagged with a Passive Integrated Transponder tag for life-history research in the Wind River, WA.

Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes (CSAV) students Javier Pacheco (Costa Rica) and Syegi Kunrat (Indonesia) participate in field studies at Mount St. Helens.

Teachers take a guided walk on the Hummocks Trail, learning about the depositional features of the May 18, 1980 eruption.

Todd Cullings, with the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, leads teachers in activities they can do with students before hiking the Hummocks Trail.

USGS scientists, Steve Rubin and Karl Stenberg, collecting samples to determine the distribution of benthic invertebrates in the Skagit River delta during an extreme low-tide. Information on the distribution and abundance of invertebrates will help resource managers better understand how fish, such as Chinook salmon use the delta.

The September Lobe monitoring station is part of the network of monitoring stations that detects and reports subtle changes in the volcanic vent area. At 2150 m (about 7100 ft) elevation, maintenance is performed during good weather to keep the station fully functional.

To monitor volcanoes, scientists rely on remote monitoring equipment that can operate 24-hours a day and 365-days a year to deliver real-time data. When scientists design and install monitoring stations, they must consider the remoteness of sites, terrain, and winter conditions. Here, rime ice coats a telemetry system that transmits data near Mount St.

Sample bottle carousel from automated ISCO pump sampler deployed on the Elwha River, Washington to obtain suspended sediment samples.

Lakes and drainages within the watershed of Mount St. Helens.

View upslope to the headscarp of the Red Bluffs landslide, seen from the surface of the Crescent Lake landslide, in the Columbia Gorge.

Mount St. Helens and the industrial waterfront area of North Portland, Oregon along the Willamette River in the foreground. Excess sediment from volcanoes can significantly impact river traffic.

The May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens had a dramatic impact on the North Fork Toutle River. The debris avalanche, lateral blast and ashfall produced a substantial amount of sediment, which continues to be washed into the river and transported downstream.

Logs float in Spirit Lake near the Spirit Lake gaging station and outflow tunnel. View is to the south with Mount St. Helens in the background.

Dendronotid nudibranch on hydroids - Scuba divers from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Fisheries Research Center, Washington Sea Grant, EPA and the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe collected data and images from a long-term study of the Elwha River dam removals and the resulting effects on the nearshore ecosystem.

The USGS, in collaboration with UNAVCO and the University of Colorado, uses these data to measure channel erosion and deposition in the reach.