What Are Some Facts About Mount St. Helens?

What are some facts about Mount St. Helens.  Mount St. Helens is a composite volcano shaped like a cone.  It is called the “Fujiyama of America” because Mt. Fuji in Japan the same type of volcano.  It is located in the state of Washington.  

Here are some facts about Mount St. Helens:

• In the Pacific Northwest, Mount St. Helens was known as the “smoking mountain” to the Indians. 
• The volcano was named in 1792 by Captain George Vancouver, a British explorer. 
• He picked that name to honor, Alleyne Fitzherbert, whose title was Baron St. Helens.  

Location of Mount St. Helens

Here are some Mount St. Helens’s facts pertaining to her location:

• It is located 50 miles to the northeast of Portland and 96 miles to the south of Seattle. 
• It is part of the Cascade Range of mountains that stretch from northern California to British Columbia, Canada. 
• Mount St. Helens stands between Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood.

Science of Mount St. Helens

Another fact about Mount St. Helens is that geologists classify Mount St. Helens as a stratovolcano. 

• This means it has a steep incline to its sides and was formed from layers (strata) of ash, hardened lava, pumice, and other volcanic materials. 
• It was not formed from only one eruptive event, but from many. 
• This kind of volcano tends to explode violently and cause extreme damage to property and loss of life. 
• Mount St. Helens is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is an area with high occurrences of volcanoes and earthquakes.        

Mount St. Helens Eruptions 

Following are facts about the eruptions of Mount St. Helens that happened in the past and the most recent one. 

• According to ash deposits, there was a major eruption at least 40,000 years and there have been nine major eruptions between then and 1980. 
• The most recent before 1980 was one around 1800 that formed the Goat Rocks lava dome. 
• Mount St. Helens’ cone was formed during the last 2200 years, making her the youngest major volcano in the Cascade Range. 
• Mount St. Helens was a beautiful example of a symmetrical cone volcano before it erupted on May 18, 1980.
• During the two months preceding the May 18th eruption, there were hundreds of earthquakes and steam blast explosions. 
• This eruption turned out to be the deadliest, with 57 being killed, and the costliest volcanic event in US history. 
• A debris avalanche caused by a 5.1 earthquake caused an eruption that lowered the elevation of the mountain from 9677 feet to 8365 feet.  It now has a crater at its top. 
• In summary, the timeline of that day is this.  A 5.1 earthquake caused the north flank of Mount St. Helens to collapse, which started a debris avalanche.  This triggered violent vertical and lateral eruptions.  To give you an example of the force of the blast, it was heard hundreds of miles away, including areas of Montana, California, Idaho, and Canada. 
• The ash plume erupted for over nine hours and grew to be 16 miles above sea level.  The Volcanic Explosivity Index rates volcanoes from 0 to 8, and Mount St. Helens rates a 5.  The eruption was considered officially ended on July 10, 2008, after there had been a six month span with no volcanic activity.

Indian Legend About Mount St. Helens

Fun facts about Mount St. Helens include a legend about Mount St. Helens.  An Indian story claims that the mountain used to be a lovely maiden, Loowit, who could not choose between two suitors, Wyeast and Klickitat, who were sons of the Great Spirit Sahale.

They fought over her, destroying forests and villages.  Sahale became enraged and killed all three, creating a tall mountain peak where each one fell to the earth.  Loowit’s peak was the beautiful Mount St. Helens and Mt. Hood was the suitor who stood up proudly (Wyeast).  Mt. Adams (Klickitat) cried to see his love covered with snow so he bends a bit as he looks at Mount St. Helens.