Ask Little Lost Tiki Absolutely Anything - Bilge

W woofmutt Member Seattilite Telstar Joined: Mar 26, 2002 Posts: 2639	W woofmutt Posted posted on Tue, May 18, 2010 2:07 PM dr woof master, in light of having to edit my privious post due to rum drunk fingers, should a person even post while imbibing rhum in the great state of woofieness? talo ka Dear talo ka , Thank you for your interest in fun facts about my home state of Washington! Actually Mt St Helens (MSH) didn’t “blow her top” as you put it, that’s a common misconception! What happened before the actual eruption on May 18, 1980 at around 8:30 AM there was an earthquake beneath MSH which was the likely cause for a sudden collapse of the north side of the mountain which was bulged out from magma beneath it. I’ll let the United States Geological Survey take the story from here… ”The collapse of the north flank produced the largest landslide-debris avalanche recorded in historic time. It traveled northward at speeds up to 155 miles an hour. Covering an area of about 24 square miles, the debris avalanche advanced more than 13 miles down the North Fork of the Toutle River and filled the valley to an average depth of about 150 feet. “The sudden removal of the upper part of the volcano by the landslides triggered the almost instantaneous expansion (explosion) of high temperature-high pressure steam present in cracks and voids in the volcano and of gases dissolved in the magma that caused the bulge of the cryptodome. The abrupt pressure release, or "uncorking," of the volcano by the debris avalanche can be compared in some ways to the sudden removal of the cap or a thumb from a vigorously shaken bottle of soda, or to punching a hole in a boiler tank under high pressure. “Although the lateral blast began some seconds later than the debris avalanche, the blast's velocity was much greater, so that it soon overtook the avalanche. Calculations have shown that the blast's initial velocity of about 220 miles an hour quickly increased to about 670 miles an hour.” Son now you have a fun fact to impress your freinds with: The eruption of Mt St Helens was a lateral blast, it blew out sideways, not straight up like volcanoes in cartoons or so many fine artworks one can see here on Tiki Central! Washington is AWESOMEton! -wfmtt-

dr woof master,
in light of having to edit my privious post due to rum drunk fingers, should a person even post while imbibing rhum in the great state of woofieness?

talo ka

Dear talo ka ,

Thank you for your interest in fun facts about my home state of Washington!

Actually Mt St Helens (MSH) didn’t “blow her top” as you put it, that’s a common misconception! What happened before the actual eruption on May 18, 1980 at around 8:30 AM there was an earthquake beneath MSH which was the likely cause for a sudden collapse of the north side of the mountain which was bulged out from magma beneath it.

I’ll let the United States Geological Survey take the story from here…

*”The collapse of the north flank produced the largest landslide-debris avalanche recorded in historic time. It traveled northward at speeds up to 155 miles an hour. Covering an area of about 24 square miles, the debris avalanche advanced more than 13 miles down the North Fork of the Toutle River and filled the valley to an average depth of about 150 feet.

“The sudden removal of the upper part of the volcano by the landslides triggered the almost instantaneous expansion (explosion) of high temperature-high pressure steam present in cracks and voids in the volcano and of gases dissolved in the magma that caused the bulge of the cryptodome. The abrupt pressure release, or "uncorking," of the volcano by the debris avalanche can be compared in some ways to the sudden removal of the cap or a thumb from a vigorously shaken bottle of soda, or to punching a hole in a boiler tank under high pressure.

“Although the lateral blast began some seconds later than the debris avalanche, the blast's velocity was much greater, so that it soon overtook the avalanche. Calculations have shown that the blast's initial velocity of about 220 miles an hour quickly increased to about 670 miles an hour.”*

Son now you have a fun fact to impress your freinds with: The eruption of Mt St Helens was a lateral blast, it blew out sideways, not straight up like volcanoes in cartoons or so many fine artworks one can see here on Tiki Central!

Washington is AWESOMEton!

-wfmtt-

Post #531017 by woofmutt on Tue, May 18, 2010 2:07 PM