Mount ST HELENS
1: When did Mt. St. Helens erupt last?
May 18th, 1980
2: Where is Mt. St. Helens located?
Washington State.
3: How much magma is released during the eruption?
Millions of tons of magma
4: What is a pyroclastic flow?
A pyroclastic flow is a cloud of searing gas and rock
5: How far from the summit is Spirit Lake located?
Four miles away from the volcano is Spirit Lake.
6: How many people were killed by the eruption?
57 people pasted away
7: How far away was the furthest victim?
The furthest victims were 13 miles away
8: How many birds disappeared during this disaster? How many insects?
Thousands of birds and billion of insects disappeared.
9: What happens to Spirit Lake? Explain.
The bed of the lake was lifted two hundred feet, the surface was covered in dead trees, many species of aqautic species are killed. The lake would also gas and bubble, and their were hot springs occurring.
10: Explain what the landscape in this region looks like after the eruption. (End of Part I)
Mt. St. Helens was originally a cone-shaped volcano, but afterward, there was a gaping crater. The landscape looked like that of the moon due to all of the ash and dust left everywhere. There was no life to be found.
11: What is the “Pacific Ring of Fire”?
The Pacific Ring of Fire is one of the world's most seismic zone. There is a large arc of volcanoes for thousands of miles.
12: Explain what has caused the volcano at Mt. St. Helens.
The plates of the earth's crust are being pushed together.
13: What did the ecologist find when he first came to the mountain after the eruption?
The ecologist found nothing at first, but then over time they found sign of brown earth over the volcanic ash
14: What were the first signs of life at the mountain? What did they see happening?
The first sign of life was a gopher that was seen digging out from underneath the ground.
15: Why were ecologists so surprised to see a flowering plant a year after the eruption? (End of Part II)
Ecologists were so surprised to see a flowering plant because the plant was flourishing in an area where every other form of life was extinguished
16: How has the plant managed to grow in such a barren area? Explain.
The plant has managed to grow in the barrren area due to the plant's special roots. Their are bacterium which work with the plant providing nitrogen and the plant returns the bacterium with simple sugar it creates
17: What is a pioneering species? How do they help out in a nutrient poor environment? Explain.
A pioneering species is one that paves the way for other life to thrive in an area. Some pioneering species also draw nutrients from rocks, and when those species die, they become part of the soil which now has nutrients.The pioneer species begin to change the ecosystem, such as retaining moisture
18: What is causing earthquakes on Mt. St. Helens?
The earthquakes on Mt. St. Helens are being caused by the lava breaking through rocks across the volcano's floor.
19: Explain how the pioneering species are helping to revive the landscape.
The pioneering species of the lake are spreading across the landscape changing and modifying the land as they go.
20: What were scientists finding in Spirit Lake? Why was the dissolved oxygen levels so low? What was this causing?
At spirit lake scientists were founding a boom in bacteria. The dissolved oxygen levels were so low because the bacteria were consuming all of the oxygen. This was causing the lake to be unable to support any other forms of life that required oxygen
21: Explain how life in the lake is able to come back. What species is first (pioneering species)? How were they brought to the lake? (End of Part III)
Life is coming back to the lake from phytoplankton who are the lake's first pioneering species. They do not require oxygen so they do not need to compete with the bacteria. They are brought to the lake as a result from being dropped by birds or being blown into the lake by the wind.
22: How are the salamanders able to survive in the harsh environment?
Salamanders are able to survive in this harsh environment because gophers build tunnels of very long lengths. Elk were slowly returning to the area, and they collapsed the tunnels. The tunnels are then accessible for the salamanders as those tunnels are very cool and moist.
23: How was the rate of recovery on the mountain? Was it was scientists expected? (End of Part IV)
The recovery rate of the mountain was much faster the what scientists expected.
24: Where does all of the explosive force in volcanoes come from? Where does the gas come from? (End of Part V)
The explosive force within the volcanoes come from the magma which is pressurized by a gas.
Discuss the miraculous return of nature to Mt. St. Helens years after the eruption. In your discussion, use the following terms in your answer: succession, pioneer species, symbiosis (mutualism), and nutrient cycling
In 1980, Mt. St. Helens erupted. The eruption killed all life near it However they all disappeared from the face of the volcano. Scientists of many subjects studied the volcano and its new barren landscape for years after, no sign of life to be found anywhere. However the first sign of any form of life appeared only a few months after the eruption, the sighting of a gopher. This may have been signs that the volcano was becoming an example of nature's secondary succession. Secondary succession means an environment that is disturbed by an event and the area slowly recovers from the disturbance. For it to be secondary succession there must be soil present prior to the event. Now the volcano's ecosystem was able to succeed from the very important help of the pioneer species present. Pioneer species are the first species to arrive at the ecosystem disturbed by the event. In a way they are the cultivators of the land for future species. The pioneer species at Mt. St. Helens were the lupinus (A type of plant). These plants were able to grow and flourish due to a symbiosis relationship between it and a type of a bacteria. The bacteria are located at the roots of the plant. The bacteria take in nitrogen from the soil and converts it into a usable form for the plant. In exchange the plant feeds the bacteria glucose it creates from the process of photosynthesis. When the plant dies, its nutrients return into the soil for other plants, or its nutrients transfer to the animal which consumed it. The nutrients are undergoing a process known as nutrient cycling.
May 18th, 1980
2: Where is Mt. St. Helens located?
Washington State.
3: How much magma is released during the eruption?
Millions of tons of magma
4: What is a pyroclastic flow?
A pyroclastic flow is a cloud of searing gas and rock
5: How far from the summit is Spirit Lake located?
Four miles away from the volcano is Spirit Lake.
6: How many people were killed by the eruption?
57 people pasted away
7: How far away was the furthest victim?
The furthest victims were 13 miles away
8: How many birds disappeared during this disaster? How many insects?
Thousands of birds and billion of insects disappeared.
9: What happens to Spirit Lake? Explain.
The bed of the lake was lifted two hundred feet, the surface was covered in dead trees, many species of aqautic species are killed. The lake would also gas and bubble, and their were hot springs occurring.
10: Explain what the landscape in this region looks like after the eruption. (End of Part I)
Mt. St. Helens was originally a cone-shaped volcano, but afterward, there was a gaping crater. The landscape looked like that of the moon due to all of the ash and dust left everywhere. There was no life to be found.
11: What is the “Pacific Ring of Fire”?
The Pacific Ring of Fire is one of the world's most seismic zone. There is a large arc of volcanoes for thousands of miles.
12: Explain what has caused the volcano at Mt. St. Helens.
The plates of the earth's crust are being pushed together.
13: What did the ecologist find when he first came to the mountain after the eruption?
The ecologist found nothing at first, but then over time they found sign of brown earth over the volcanic ash
14: What were the first signs of life at the mountain? What did they see happening?
The first sign of life was a gopher that was seen digging out from underneath the ground.
15: Why were ecologists so surprised to see a flowering plant a year after the eruption? (End of Part II)
Ecologists were so surprised to see a flowering plant because the plant was flourishing in an area where every other form of life was extinguished
16: How has the plant managed to grow in such a barren area? Explain.
The plant has managed to grow in the barrren area due to the plant's special roots. Their are bacterium which work with the plant providing nitrogen and the plant returns the bacterium with simple sugar it creates
17: What is a pioneering species? How do they help out in a nutrient poor environment? Explain.
A pioneering species is one that paves the way for other life to thrive in an area. Some pioneering species also draw nutrients from rocks, and when those species die, they become part of the soil which now has nutrients.The pioneer species begin to change the ecosystem, such as retaining moisture
18: What is causing earthquakes on Mt. St. Helens?
The earthquakes on Mt. St. Helens are being caused by the lava breaking through rocks across the volcano's floor.
19: Explain how the pioneering species are helping to revive the landscape.
The pioneering species of the lake are spreading across the landscape changing and modifying the land as they go.
20: What were scientists finding in Spirit Lake? Why was the dissolved oxygen levels so low? What was this causing?
At spirit lake scientists were founding a boom in bacteria. The dissolved oxygen levels were so low because the bacteria were consuming all of the oxygen. This was causing the lake to be unable to support any other forms of life that required oxygen
21: Explain how life in the lake is able to come back. What species is first (pioneering species)? How were they brought to the lake? (End of Part III)
Life is coming back to the lake from phytoplankton who are the lake's first pioneering species. They do not require oxygen so they do not need to compete with the bacteria. They are brought to the lake as a result from being dropped by birds or being blown into the lake by the wind.
22: How are the salamanders able to survive in the harsh environment?
Salamanders are able to survive in this harsh environment because gophers build tunnels of very long lengths. Elk were slowly returning to the area, and they collapsed the tunnels. The tunnels are then accessible for the salamanders as those tunnels are very cool and moist.
23: How was the rate of recovery on the mountain? Was it was scientists expected? (End of Part IV)
The recovery rate of the mountain was much faster the what scientists expected.
24: Where does all of the explosive force in volcanoes come from? Where does the gas come from? (End of Part V)
The explosive force within the volcanoes come from the magma which is pressurized by a gas.
Discuss the miraculous return of nature to Mt. St. Helens years after the eruption. In your discussion, use the following terms in your answer: succession, pioneer species, symbiosis (mutualism), and nutrient cycling
In 1980, Mt. St. Helens erupted. The eruption killed all life near it However they all disappeared from the face of the volcano. Scientists of many subjects studied the volcano and its new barren landscape for years after, no sign of life to be found anywhere. However the first sign of any form of life appeared only a few months after the eruption, the sighting of a gopher. This may have been signs that the volcano was becoming an example of nature's secondary succession. Secondary succession means an environment that is disturbed by an event and the area slowly recovers from the disturbance. For it to be secondary succession there must be soil present prior to the event. Now the volcano's ecosystem was able to succeed from the very important help of the pioneer species present. Pioneer species are the first species to arrive at the ecosystem disturbed by the event. In a way they are the cultivators of the land for future species. The pioneer species at Mt. St. Helens were the lupinus (A type of plant). These plants were able to grow and flourish due to a symbiosis relationship between it and a type of a bacteria. The bacteria are located at the roots of the plant. The bacteria take in nitrogen from the soil and converts it into a usable form for the plant. In exchange the plant feeds the bacteria glucose it creates from the process of photosynthesis. When the plant dies, its nutrients return into the soil for other plants, or its nutrients transfer to the animal which consumed it. The nutrients are undergoing a process known as nutrient cycling.