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| 2005.05.21 - CVO Open House | ||
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The Cascade Volcano Observatory, as part of its 'Month of Remembrance' of
the 1980 Eruption of Mt St Helens, held an Open House on Saturday... and
of course, I HAD to go! I had excellent company, which made it just
that much better! They had a variety of displays set up... it took us almost 40 minutes just to get into the place, because the sets they had outside the front entrance were so interesting! |
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These sensors were damaged by an eruption in 1986. The
panels have reflectors on them that enabled a sensor to
measure the distance between the panel and a laser
transmitter. One of the most telling displays was the 'movement of movement' display, which showed the progression of the equipment used to detect and monitor ground movement. On the right, surveying equipment, in the middle, a laser range finder, on the right, a mobile GPS sensor, accurate to within .1 centimeters! |
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Proof that Necessity is the Mother of Invention. The famous 'Spider' sensor package was on display. Created by the CVO, this device can monitor movement of material, earthquakes, and record sounds in locations where a more permanent station is not feasible. Its dropped by a helicopter, and can remain on station for 3 months before its batteries die. These spiders are air lifted to the new crater dome, and are being used at other volcanoes as well. |
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Once inside, the first striking display is of a spider that
was damaged in the March 8th Eruption. While listening to a description of the 1980 blast... it was funny to see the Geologist match the stump |
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They had several excellent presentations about the ongoing status of the
current activity, as well as a summary of events since 1980, with special
focus, obviously, on the current dome building process. The graphic below is quite amazing... I didn't realize that the new dome was THAT large! In 6 months, its grown to be larger than the old dome, which took 6 years to grow! |
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From the ceiling, they hung a timeline of significant events
in the CVO's region (the Cascades) included general historical
events, as well as a listing of the larger geological events. They also had "Jaws 2", which was a sampling bucket the CVO designed and built to collect rock samples from the new crater without having to put a person on the ground - it is slung under a helicopter, and "heli-dredged", or scraped along the sampling area. The rock collected is some of the newest on the planet. |
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Some of the USGS Scientists earned Names... The "Hawaiian volcano guy"
went on and on about the volcanoes in Hawaii... and how the crystals in
the rock showed that the lava went from the Mantle to the surface is less
than an hour! (that was pretty cool, actually) The "Rock Lady" was another one... her display showed the differing rock types between the various CVO Volcanoes, and between the same volcano over time. Sediment guy took offense when we asked, "Why?" when he described his monitoring projects... |
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In all, it was a great time, and we were real glad we got to go... it gave
us a whole new prospective of what they're doing at the CVO, and the
information they're gathering! I'll part with this shot... nope, its not hair, its basaltic obsidian, stretched during its ejection from a volcano in Hawaii... the strands have earned themselves the nickname "Pele's Hair"... which I think is quite fitting. |
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