I went and saw Mt. St. Helens today.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Incredible. The devastation is unbeleivable. It's hard to imagine the amount of energy required to move that much earth. And I stood there and wondered how loud it must have been.

[Yahweh]

I was attacked by a herd of bulls at Mt. St. Helens. I dont know if you've heard of the terrible "bull attack" problem they've had in recent years.

[Soapy Sam]

Yes. It is very impressive indeed.

Now for five points:- Which country on Earth has the lasrgest number of "active" volcanoes?

[rockoon]

Originally posted by Soapy Sam
Yes. It is very impressive indeed.

Now for five points:- Which country on Earth has the lasrgest number of "active" volcanoes?

I would guess Canada cause its the largest country.

[Diamond]

Originally posted by Soapy Sam
Yes. It is very impressive indeed.

Now for five points:- Which country on Earth has the lasrgest number of "active" volcanoes?

I would guess Indonesia or Japan.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

I guess Iceland.

[arcticpenguin]

At Mt. St. Helens, do they still issue those paper tags at the visitor center? Do they explain which toe to put it on?

It's been a few years since I was there.

[Luciana]

Right now I can see from my window a volcano, extinct millions of years ago.

I'd love to witness an eruption. I've been fascinated with them since I read Mysterious Island and Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Originally posted by arcticpenguin
At Mt. St. Helens, do they still issue those paper tags at the visitor center? Do they explain which toe to put it on?

It's been a few years since I was there.

They give you a wrist band. It's $6 to get in all the view point buildings / museums. Well worth it.

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Originally posted by Luciana Nery
Right now I can see from my window a volcano, extinct millions of years ago.

I'd love to witness an eruption. I've been fascinated with them since I read Mysterious Island and Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne.

Me too. As I stood there, I thought it would be cool to have somehow been there to witness it. The blast wave was estimated to have travelled 180 miles per hour, at a temperature of 450 degrees.

[DragonLady]

St. Helens erupted on my 13th birthday. I've never forgotten the image of a little boy in the back of a pickup who was killed. I think the poisonous gases killed him, but I could be mistaken. Anyway, it really bothered me that while I got presents and a party he lost his life. :(

[Cleopatra]

Originally posted by Luciana Nery
Right now I can see from my window a volcano, extinct millions of years ago.



Which one Luciana?

Have a look here ...Volcano of Santorini Island (http://www.decadevolcano.net/santorini/santorini.htm) . Because of its eruption a whole civilization ( the Minoan) was lost 3000 years ago...

Visit the photo gallery. Santorini is considered the ultimate travel destination in the world and its volcano, one of the most romantic places to see the sunset...

[Megalodon]

Originally posted by Luciana Nery
I'd love to witness an eruption. I've been fascinated with them since I read Mysterious Island and Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne.

This was how the Etna looked like, last September...

It was impressive, but definetly not funny.

[arcticpenguin]

Originally posted by DragonLady
St. Helens erupted on my 13th birthday. I've never forgotten the image of a little boy in the back of a pickup who was killed. I think the poisonous gases killed him, but I could be mistaken. Anyway, it really bothered me that while I got presents and a party he lost his life. :(
It's better than the other way around, I would think. For you at least.

[headscratcher4]

My guess for country with most vulcanos...Chilie?

I was fortunate enough, about 10 years ago, to visit Mt. St. Helens with the U.S. Forest Service. We flew a helocopter up the side of the mountain (over the open area where all the trees were blown down) and hovered above the cone at the top. IT was not only amazing to see the devestation and how the land scape had changed, but it was also amazing to see how quickly the land was recovering...not to its original state, of course, but changed and different. Small tress were starting to come in, the fallen trees were breaking down, etc. It was a real study in ecological evolution and regeneration. It is also a spectacular spot...

[Bearguin]

Originally posted by rockoon


I would guess Canada cause its the largest country.

Russia is still the largest country. We are second.

I don't think we even have an active volcano. But I guess if St Helens blew, there is no reason why something in BC could not blow.

[arcticpenguin]

Originally posted by Soapy Sam
Yes. It is very impressive indeed.

Now for five points:- Which country on Earth has the lasrgest number of "active" volcanoes?

http://www.destinationplanner.com/europe/italy/egmont_viaggi/vulcano_tour.html
No country has as many active volcanoes as Italy.

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/frequent_questions/grp8/question1733.html
What place has the most active volcanoes in the world? and what are the names?
...
Indonesia is the place. It has had 76 active volcanoes in historic time.

http://www.rugbyschool.net/sub/phusion/volcanoes/volcanoes.htm
Which country has the most volcanoes?

The country that has the greatest quantity of volcanoes is New Zealand, followed closely by Iceland.

Do I get 15 points for coming up with 3 answers?

[Hydrogen Cyanide]

Well, both Eastern Russia and British Columbia are on the "Ring of Fire". There are active volcanoes in California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska... there should be some in BC. Some active volcanoes are not the nice conical shapes that we normally associate them with, like Mt. Rainier nor what Mt. St. Helens USED to look like.

Here is a map with red spots of activity:
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Glossary/PlateTectonics/Maps/map_plate_tectonics_world.html

and a regional map of Western Canada:
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Canada/Maps/map_canada_volcanoes.html

Between Hawaii and the Aleutian Islands it may seem that the US has the most active volcanoes. Though it looks like Chile has plenty too, since it is one of the longest countries on the Ring of Fire.

This is a cool website: http://www.volcano.si.edu/gvp/world/location.cfm

I also remember when Mt. St. Helens blew. I heard some folks in the neighboring dorm had taken a UW van for a picnic in that area on Saturday, May 17. Since they were in a University marked van they were waved passed the checkpoint since the park service thought they were researchers. On the next day those students were seen wandering the hall in a daze when they realized how close they came to being killed.

It is an awesome site to see Spirit Lake with all those logs, and the blown down trees, plus the areas that are recovering. It has been 9 years since we last visited... It would be cool to see it again. Especially with the Johnston Ridge Visitor Center... which is located where the geologist radioed that it was erupting just before he was killed. It looks straight into the gaping hole:
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm/

[The Central Scrutinizer]

Originally posted by headscratcher4
My guess for country with most vulcanos...Chilie?

I was fortunate enough, about 10 years ago, to visit Mt. St. Helens with the U.S. Forest Service. We flew a helocopter up the side of the mountain (over the open area where all the trees were blown down) and hovered above the cone at the top. IT was not only amazing to see the devestation and how the land scape had changed, but it was also amazing to see how quickly the land was recovering...not to its original state, of course, but changed and different. Small tress were starting to come in, the fallen trees were breaking down, etc. It was a real study in ecological evolution and regeneration. It is also a spectacular spot...

Yeah, I saw those copters. Do you recall how much it cost for the tour? I'm definitely gonna do it next time!

[headscratcher4]

Originally posted by The Central Scrutinizer


Yeah, I saw those copters. Do you recall how much it cost for the tour? I'm definitely gonna do it next time!

Sorry CS, at the time I was working for the Federal Government, so you paid for my copter ride with your tax dollars...:p

Thanks!

[Dancing David]

Mount Saint Helen is cool, althougjh I thought Tahoma(Rainer) was cooler.

My sister is like this forestry person, like a scientist.

She says that the main reason Mt. St H. looks the way it does is because the timber companies went and cleared all the land around after the blast. They thought it was a good time to clear cut the timber for many miles around. So the effect of the blast is exagerated, if you don't see the logs on the ground then chances are it was clear cut after the blast.

The freaky thing is the wash line from the lakes, there is like this line two hundred meters up where the lakes went sploosh in the blast.

[Hydrogen Cyanide]

Originally posted by Dancing David
...She says that the main reason Mt. St H. looks the way it does is because the timber companies went and cleared all the land around after the blast. They thought it was a good time to clear cut the timber for many miles around. So the effect of the blast is exagerated, if you don't see the logs on the ground then chances are it was clear cut after the blast....

Not quite true.

Some blown down trees were harvested OUTside of the National Monument area... but there was not a total clearcut all around. Even when they do a clearcut it is done in rectangular patches so that there is a pattern with a variation of growth. If a whole mountainside is clearcut there is danger of landside. It causes all sorts of problems.

Inside the National Monument Area there has been no tree cutting. The boundaries deliniated by this map show the Monument versus the National Forest: http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm/images/mshrec.jpg .

If you go there you will see stripped trees that are flattened out in the direction of the blast. And if you check the view from Johnston Ridge Observatory (http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm/volcanocam/faqs/20020621-description.shtml ) there were NO trees to clearcut. It looks straight into the maw of the side of the mountain that blew out.

The big thing about Mt. St. Helens is that a landslide started on one side and the entire pyroclastic blast went SIDEways!

Here is the FAQ of what happend and how vegetation is making a comeback:
http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm/research/faq.htm ... this has photos of the same area in 1979 (few), post blast and 20 years after the blast. This area has been a valuable research tool in many ways -- unfortunately more needs to be done. The last three paragraphs are particularly interesting.

[arcticpenguin]

I was only half-kidding about the toe tag. They were handing out these tags back in 1999, although they didn't actually instruct us to fasten it to a toe.

[Dancing David]

Thanks for the clarification. the timber industry still clear cut all the timber around the parkland. Which heightens the sense of devestation because it is cut from horizon to horizon, except for the patches with the "To be cut in 2013" signs.

[Hydrogen Cyanide]

Originally posted by Dancing David
.... the timber industry still clear cut all the timber around the parkland. ....

Which they replanted over 20 years ago... so in that area you have reforestation. It just heightens the difference between the Monument area and the managed forest land (which looks like a forest).