 EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes
and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and
archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


 Spirit Lake in the Shadow of Mount St. Helens

   August 04, 2021

    B9D6569B-5CF9-4158-A9AD-4322661E81D3

   Photographer:  Robert Forest

   Summary Author:  Robert Forest;  Cadan Cummings

   Shown in the image above is  Spirit Lake located at the base of
    Mount St. Helens in Washington. The photo was oriented looking
   north from directly above the volcanic crater- with  Mount Rainier
   visible in the distance. Following the  eruption of Mount St. Helens
   in May 1980, approximately 15 billion cubic feet (430 million cubic
   meters) of material was deposited into Spirit Lake. This debris flow of
   melt water, vegetation, and volcanic ash- called a  lahar-
   subsequently changed the natural flow of Spirit Lake by blocking its
   outlet to the  North Fork Toutle River valley. Evidence of the
   debris is still present today as thousands of felled trees from the
   volcanic eruption formed a log raft- the gray colored material in the
   image above- that covers about a quarter of the lake.

   Following the eruption, Congress created the  Mount St. Helens
   National Volcanic Monument in 1982 to allow scientific research to
   investigate how the surrounding landscape recovered naturally without
   the influences of logging or other industries. As a result, the logs in
   Spirit Lake and the surrounding area in the monument remains largely
   untouched for the past 40 years. While there has been a good regrowth
   of ground vegetation since the eruption, it will take a century or more
   for the rich forest to once again blanket the northern foothills of
   Mount St. Helens. Photo taken on May 29, 2021.
     * Spirit Lake, Washington Coordinates: 46.265940, -122.147142

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    More...

Geography Links

     *  Atlapedia Online
     *  CountryReports
     *  GPS Visualizer
     *  Holt Rinehart Winston World Atlas
     *  Mapping Our World
     *  Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
     *  Types of Land
     *  World Mapper

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   Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the  Universities
   Space Research Association.

https://epod.usra.edu
 
