a sigh from the depths
Mount St Helens has erupted again after a long breather; nothing major, as yet, but still a source of fascination as I've always been enthralled by volcanoes, with vivid images of the catastrophic eruption of 1980 stuck in my head from when I was three or four years old -- this was, of course, recorded footage in documentary form, since I was only four months and two days old when the majestic old mountain obliterated itself in the largest avalanche in recorded history -- what a reminder.
Of course, earth-geeks will all know that we're thousands of years overdue for a volcanic super-eruption, the kind of geotectonic event with the power to affect the planet in its entirety; though I could be wrong, the Toba super-eruption in present day Indonesia was probably the last of these, and that was a good 70 000 years ago. While the Sunda arc, a subduction zone between the Indian Ocean and Eurasian plates, remains a source of geological excitement, the mountain currently predicted to be the next man up is Mt Rainier, the centrepiece of the beautiful Olympic National Park near Seattle, Washington. I would say that I'd be sorry to see it go, as it's one of the prettiest areas I've ever seen, but considering the Toba eruption may have brought the human population of the world down to 10 000 in the blink of a geological eye, I probably won't be around long enough to form much of an opinion.
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A geological eyeblink is still quite long enough to be sorry, but I guess you might have other things on your mind than the scenery.
I share your fascination with these eruptions (hmm...is it a gay male thing perhaps? Just a thought). Being a few years older, I remember when St. Helens first blew, particularly the pictures in National Geographic following. Visiting the area around the mountain and seeing the remnants of the blast is still, all these years later, an amazing experience.
One minor correction to your post, however. Mt. Rainier is not in the Olympic National Park, but rather is in its own national park ("Mt Rainier National Park"). Olympic National Park is not too far away, but is northwest of Rainier on the Olympic Pennisula, which has its own mountain range.
Perhaps it would have been better to refer to it as a 'side piece' to the Olympic National Park ;)
Thanks for the correction, and hardly surprising coming from you, with your local knowledge. Thank you so much for forwarding the pictures; she's too cute!
No, it's not a gay male thing :-/