and now volcanoes...

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and St Helens is still active....

whee fun!

Scientists Keep Eye on Alaska Volcanoes

 

February 01, 2005 — By Associated Press

ANCHORAGE — Scientists continue to monitor two volcanoes that the Alaska

Volcano Observatory says could send dangerous ash into the air at any time.

 

Mount Spurr, 80 miles west of Anchorage across Cook Inlet, shook itself from a

12-year sleep in early July and has been in Code Yellow status ever since, with

daily small earthquakes.

 

Code Yellow indicates an eruption is possible and could occur with no warning,

according to the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

 

Mount Veniaminof, about 500 miles southwest of Anchorage on the Alaska

Peninsula, changed from Code Green, or " dormant, " to Code Yellow about Jan. 1.

On Jan. 10, the observatory upgraded its activity to Code Orange, indicating the

volcano is " in eruption. "

 

Ash plumes from Veniaminof can be seen on sunny days and have been photographed

from planes. Even when clouds obscure the summit, seismic records indicate the

eruption is continuing, said John Power, a geophysicist at the observatory.

 

" We have some magma at Veniaminof, " he said.

 

Reports have come from Perryville, 22 miles south-southeast of the volcano's

summit, that its plumes have been flashing orange at night, Power said.

 

The volcano is experiencing what scientists call a " Strombolian eruption, " a

low-level, continuous eruption accompanied by minor ash plumes. The category is

named, Power said, for an Italian volcano that appears to have been erupting for

about 2,500 years.

 

Both volcanoes are near enough to major airways that scientists are monitoring

them every day, Power said. Volcanic ash, if blown high enough, poses a serious

threat to aircraft.

 

The Veniaminof plume is apparently rising no higher than 12,000 feet, not enough

to interfere with trans-Pacific air routes. Scientists and others are worried

about that possibility, Power said. The ash can pose risks to smaller planes at

lower altitudes. Pilots on the Alaska Peninsula are " taking steps to steer

away, " he said.

 

Spurr is in its seventh month of elevated earthquake activity, according to the

observatory. The quakes are too small to feel.

 

About 15 per day occur about four miles below the mountain's summit, according

to the observatory's Web site. The average has been as high as 20.

 

The mountain has not shown signs of an imminent eruption.

 

Since July, volcanologists have been analyzing data collected by instruments on

and off the mountain. They now feel, Power said, that another group of small

earthquakes has been occurring beneath Spurr's summit since 2003, but at the

base of the Earth's crust, 12 to 25 miles down.

 

Power said the two groups of earthquakes probably are linked to magma moving

into cracks in the crust.

 

" There's some increased magmatic activity, and that's what's causing the

shallower seismicity and the melting of the ice cap, " he said.

 

In mid-July and early August, observers flying above Spurr noticed small flows

of mud and rock and a recently formed " ice cauldron " in the summit ice cap,

according to the Web site.

 

The collapse has been caused by increased heat from below the summit, experts

said. The sink hole was about 165 feet in diameter and about half that in depth,

and contained a pond of icy meltwater. It has since grown.

 

Mount Spurr erupted three times in 1992, spewing noxious ash over Anchorage and

other cities.

 

Ash that fell on Anchorage in August 1992 was only a few millimeters thick,

according to observatory scientists. However, people were compelled to wear face

masks, cover computers and change auto filters as they stirred up clouds of

gritty ash wherever they walked and drove.

 

Before 1992, Spurr last blew its top in 1953. Both eruption sequences occurred

below Crater Peak, a separate volcanic vent on Spurr, about 2.5 miles south of

the summit.

 

The last time the summit vent is known to have erupted is about 5,000 years ago,

according to the observatory.

 

Source: Associated Press

 

 

What you see is what you get

You've made your bed, you better lie in it

You choose your leaders and place your trust

As their lies wash you down and their promises rust

You'll see kidney machines replaced by rockets and guns

And the public wants what the public gets

But I don't get what this society wants