Mount St. Helens — The 36th anniversary of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens will be remembered at the Johnston Ridge Observatory Theater with a presentation on the latest scientific research on the volcano, as well as the mountain goats that inhabit the area.
At 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. May 18, Ken Creager, of the Earth and Space Sciences department at the University of Washington, will reveal new information on the imaging magma under St. Helens study. The preliminary results from the project are revealing new information as to the locations and structure of magma beneath the volcano. Researchers are sifting through terabytes of data to learn about the volcano’s geology.
The four-year collaborative research experiment involved personnel from University of Washington, Oregon State University, Rice University, Cornell University, University of New Mexico, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, and the U.S. Geological Survey. It is funded by the National Science Foundation. It’s one of the largest, most comprehensive experiments ever performed on any volcano in the world. The work includes seismic and electromagnetic experiments and detailed rock studies.
At 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Nathan Reynolds, an ecologist for the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, will talk about the cultural importance of mountain goats to the aboriginal people. Mount St. Helens is called Lawetlat’la by the Cowlitz people. For thousands of years, natives of the area traveled to the slopes of the volcano to hunt mountain goats and collect wool. They turned the goats’ fur into woven capes and blankets, which they traded as high-status items. In the post-eruption years, the mountain goats have returned and biologists from the tribe and several other agencies are working together to track the populations.
Johnston Ridge Observatory is located at the eastern end of state Highway 504, 52 miles east of Castle Rock. It’s open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. beginning May 14.
