By Dr. Nat (Drnat) on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 12:56 am:
Yeah, Capt. Paul and I were out. We were watching a hockey game. One of my former students from Michigan Tech plays for the Houston team.
There are several volcanoes in the United States that are active or have been active recently. Most people remember Mt. St. Helens beacuse that was the most recent eruption to occur in the lower 48 states. Mt. Ranier and Mt. Hood in the Pacific northwest erupted in the 1700s and 1800s, although those were relatively small eruptions. Long Valley in California was showing signs of activity in the 1980s. In addition, there are several active volcanoes in Alaska, notably the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, which erupted in the early Twentieth Century. Of course, there is also Kiluea in Hawaii, which has been erupting continuously since 1983. If you are interested in viewing current volcanic activity in the U.S., the United States Geologic Survey has updates of current volcanic activity and even volcano cams available through their various volcano observatories. These can be found at www.usgs.gov.
As far as volcanoes which have been active for very long periods of time, the best example I can think of would be Stromboli, which has been erupting almost daily since Roman times.
I could write for hours about volcanoes. They are one of my favourite subjects in geology. I've been fascinated with them since my dad, a geologist, was up in the Pacific Northwest when Mt. St. Helens erupted and he brought back ash and pumice for me. One of the highlights of my geology career was working on Ruapehu in New Zealand when it was erupting a few years back. But I probably shouldn't write a textbook on volcanoes here, although as always, I am more than willing to answer any questions about one of my favourite subjects.
By Richard A. Fields (Cherokeeyooper) on Sunday, February 18, 2007 - 03:24 am:
For anyone interested, Mount Saint Helens looked quiet and pretty today. I can see it from the yard. The town I live in (Saint Helens, OR)is named for it. It really is pretty in winter. Fairly frequently it makes news with small earthquakes. I think it has several hundred per month.I also can see Mount Hood from here on clear days too. Mount Hood has vents that give off a toxic steam that causes trouble when hikers go to near them every now and then. Cheers!