Mount St. Helens

Volcanoes have been around since the beginning of time, they're very powerful and dangerous. These natural disasters can kill thousands of people, animals, and plant life in a matter of seconds. This essay will explain the history, the effects on both cultural and natural environment, and effects on humans of the most famous volcanic eruption in Washington State of Mount St. Helens.

Mount St. Helens is a Stratovolcano. Stratovolcanoes are formed by the gathering of lava and tephra and they're associated with convergent plate boundaries. The oldest rocks at Mt. St. Helens are about 40,000 to 50,000 years old. It began erupting about 2,500 years ago. It erupted several times during the 19th century, a major eruption in 1843. on the 20th march, 1980 a large group of earthquakes began to shake; and on the 25th of march 1980, the first steam explosion began. Before the eruption, the area around the mountain was rich with tourism for its natural beauty. The Spirit Lake at the bottom of the mountain was blanketed with ancient forests with 800 year-old-trees. After the eruption of the 1980, the trees were knocked over or snapped in half and were left standing dead. The most naturally beautiful place was ended in a deserted landform.

The eruption of Mt. St. Helens has changed the face of the land. It changed the landscapes in some ways. Many animals and plants fall victims of this unsightliness eruption. The explode of Mt. St.. Helens had a force equivalent to more than 27,000 atom bombs. In few hours of the eruption, 234 square miles of forest lands were destroyed, and almost all life on the mountain disappeared. After the settlement of the ash, the area appeared in a desolate, uninhabitable wasteland. The mountain released gases to the atmosphere, which was one of the century's bigger eruptions. Also, during the eruption a sudden collapse of the volcano's north side released the huge pressure that has been building inside the mountain. The force of the explosion and its temperatures which reached 600 degrees F, stripped trees from hillsides as far away as 6 miles from the volcano. Trees were killed by the strong heat of the explosion, in which they were left standing but dead. This area is known as the Standing Dead Zone

Around the area of Mt. St. Helens, the plants and animals were almost completely wiped out. It is estimated that 5,000 blacks- tailed dear, 1,500 Roosevelt elk, 200 black bears, and 15 mountain goats fell victims. Millions of fish, birds and insects were also in the way of the eruption. Geologists say that it'll take centuries to re-grow an ancient forest of trees.

The cost of 1980 eruption was estimated $860 million dollars. More than 200 homes along the south and north sides of the river were either washed away buried or otherwise damaged. On eastern Washington highways, the ash blocked the air filters of car and truck engines, leaving 5,000 owners alone and helpless. Two days after the eruption; more than half of he vehicles operate by police and emergency services were out of service. The roads were blocked enough to drive and many highways were damaged.

People build a small town at the bottom of Mt St. Helens at the east direction because it was a beautiful place to live. Mostly, those people who lived near, they worked there, in the woods. The eruption was very destructive and had an immense physical as well as emotional loss, in which the jobs in the forests such as logging were stopped. There was 27 bodies never found and 7 people were killed by a plane crush, a traffic accident and ash fall, with more others of a total of more than 60 people lost their lives directly by the eruption. More than 1.00 people were rushing to escape the explosion. At Washington State University in Pullman, 3,358 students dropped out before the end of the term, to avoid lung diseases such as lung ailment.

Mount St. Helens eruption was powerful and destructive natural disaster, which killed many people, animals and plants. It has been building for thousands of years and suddenly erupted where it let the most naturally beautiful place to end in a deserted landform, uninhabitable wasteland. Volcanoes are powerful and dangerous to live near them. They can destroy thousands of square kilometers in seconds, which is really destructive.