Crater Glacier: Difference between revisions

In the months after the [[1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens|eruption]], the crater floor of St. Helens remained hot and unstable, with five minor [[volcanic eruption]]s, and [[lava dome]] construction between May and October 1980.<ref name="FMW88-212">Harris, ''Fire Mountains of the West'' (1988), page 212</ref><ref name="FMW88-213">Harris, ''Fire Mountains of the West'' (1988), page 213</ref> After the eruptions ceased in the winter of 1980, the crater floor cooled down enough for snow and ice accumulation.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Crater Ice 2002|url=http://glaciercaves.com/html/2002ic_1.HTM|first=Charlie|last=Anderson Jr.|accessdate=2008-06-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402115520/http://glaciercaves.com/html/2002ic_1.HTM|archive-date=2015-04-02|dead-url-status=yesdead}}</ref> Beginning with snowfall in the winter of 1980-1981, the glacier began to grow very rapidly in the shadow of the crater.<ref name="GROW">{{Cite web|title=Birth of a Glacier; Forms in Mouth of NW Volcano|date=2002-11-09|first=Vince|last=Patton|publisher=kgw.com|url=http://glaciercaves.com/html/birtho_1.HTM|accessdate=2008-06-08|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123033242/http://glaciercaves.com/html/birtho_1.HTM|archivedate=2011-11-23}}</ref> The glacier thickened at a rate of as high as {{Convert|50|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} per year and advanced northward as much as {{Convert|135|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} a year.<ref name="GROW2">{{Cite web|title=Mount St. Helens glacier (Crater Glacier) growing 50 feet per year|url=http://www.iceagenow.com/Mount_St_Helens.htm|date=2004-09-20|publisher=[[US Forest Service]]|accessdate=2008-06-08}}</ref> This glacier growth was discovered by scientists working in the crater about seven to nine years later. However, the existence of the glacier was not publicized until 1999.<ref name = "Glacier caves">{{Cite web|title=New Glacier Forming in the Crater|url=http://glaciercaves.com/html/anewgl_1.HTM|first=Charlie|last=Anderson Jr.|accessdate=2007-09-26|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106190540/http://www.glaciercaves.com/html/anewgl_1.HTM|archivedate=2012-01-06}}</ref> By 2004, Crater Glacier covered about 0.36&nbsp;square mile (0.93&nbsp;km²), about 20% of the glacier area in the pre-1980 glaciers,<ref name="VR"/> and there was a western and eastern lobe flowing around the 1980s dome. Due to the gas emissions on the crater floor, there were [[glacier cave]]s ([[ice caves]]) in the once smooth glacial ice, and several of them had been explored by the late 1990s.<ref name="Anderson98">{{cite journal | last = Anderson | first = Charles H., Jr. |author2=Behrens, Christopher J. |author3=Floyd, Gary A. |author4=Vining, Mark R. | title = Crater firn caves of Mount St. Helens, Washington | journal = Journal of Cave and Karst Studies | volume = 60 | issue = 1 | pages = 44–50 | publisher = | year = 1998 | url = }}</ref><ref name="Anderson99">{{cite journal | last = Anderson | first = Charles H., Jr. |author2=Mark R. Vining | title = Observations of Glacial, Geomorphic, Biologic, and Mineralogic Developments in the Crater of Mount St. Helens, Washington | journal = Washington Geology | volume = 27 | issue = 2/3/4 | pages = 9–19 | publisher = | year = 1999 | url = }}</ref>

With the [[2004 and later volcanic activity of Mount St. Helens|volcanic activity]] from 2004 to 2008, the glacier lobes were pushed aside and overthickened by the growth of new volcanic domes. As the two streams of ice were compressed between the caldera wall and the new lava domes, the ice moved rapidly downhill, much like the squeezing of toothpaste out of a container. This resulted in a very rapid advance of the glacier termini; first the western glacier arm merged with the rock glacier on the western crater wall and then, both arms of the Crater Glacier joined north 1980s lava dome in May 2008, despite the volcanic activity.<ref name="VR"/><ref name="NT">{{Cite web|title=MSH08_aerial_st_helens_crater_from_north_05-30-08|url=http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/MSH08/MSH08_crater_glacier_arms_touching_05-30-08_med.jpg|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|first=Steve|last=Schilling|date=2008-05-30|accessdate=2008-06-07}} - Glacier arms touch on North end of glacier.</ref> In addition, the volcanic activity modified the surface of the glacier and transformed it from being mostly crevasse-free to being a chaotic jumble of [[icefall]]s heavily criss-crossed with [[crevasse]]s and [[serac]]s due to movement of the crater floor and lava dome growth.<ref name="REBUILD"/> At the south end, the new domes almost split the Crater Glacier into two separate glaciers and melted 10% in volume of the glacier's ice.<ref name="VR">{{Cite web|title=Volcano Review|url=http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm/volcano-review/documents/Volcano_Review_2008_Final_lowrez-201.pdf|accessdate=2008-06-07|publisher=[[US Forest Service]]}}</ref> However, cold rock on the edge of the glacier insulated the glacier ice from the {{Convert|1300|F|C|-1|lk=on}} lava spewing out of the lava domes, easing concerns of a catastrophic [[lahar]] caused by glacier melting.<ref name="TNT">{{cite news |first= Craig |last= Hill |title= Mount St. Helens' Crater Glacier Advancing Three Feet Per Day|url=http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/93350.html|newspaper= [[The News Tribune]] |date= 2007-06-22 |accessdate=2008-06-08 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930165508/http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/story/93350.html |archivedate = September 30, 2007|deadurlurl-status=yesdead}} - Note: Full article is in the archives, or click [http://www.iceagenow.com/Crater_Glacier.htm here].</ref> The porous nature of the crater floor also reduced the amount of meltwater flowing out of the caldera.

After the volcanic activity of the 2000s, the thickness of the glacier continues to increase at a slower rate of {{Convert|15|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} per year<ref name="KATU">{{Cite web|title=Against odds, glacier grows in cauldron of Mt. St. Helens|url=http://www.katu.com/news/local/18948279.html|publisher=Katu.com|accessdate=2013-08-31|date=2008-05-15|first=Brian|last=Barker|deadurlurl-status=yesdead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113082031/http://www.katu.com/news/local/18948279.html|archivedate=2013-11-13|df=}}</ref> and the glacier continues to advance at 3&nbsp;ft (1 m) per day.<ref name="KATU"/><ref name="TNT"/> The latest aerial imagery taken in 2012 shows that the glacier has entered the upper reaches of the Loowit Creek canyon and the headwaters of the creek. Ice mixed with rock debris now spills into the canyon and the creek has been pushed to the east.{{citation needed|date=December 2013}} Nearby, on the slopes of the eastern crater wall, the glacier touches one of the rock glaciers and the glacier is very close to merging with the other rock glacier. A [[Moraine#Medial moraine|medial moraine]] can be seen at the interface of the eastern and western arms of the Crater Glacier.

Despite numerous observations and publications about the growing glacier in the late 1990s and early 2000s, no move was made to give the glacier a permanent and official name until late 2004, after the current eruptive cycle began and the new dome began to split the glacier.<ref name="Wiggins02"/><ref name="Anderson98"/><ref name="Anderson99"/><ref name="LiveScience04">{{cite news | last = Dininny | first = Shannon | title = Naming Mount St. Helens New Dome Confusing | publisher = LiveScience.com | date = 2004-11-24 | url = http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/dome_name_041124.html | accessdate = 2007-03-07 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060316040022/http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/dome_name_041124.html|archivedate=16 March 2006|deadurlurl-status=yesdead}}</ref> At that time, a proponent from the [[Cowlitz (tribe)|Cowlitz tribe]] suggested the name "Tulutson Glacier," from the [[Cowlitz language]] word for ice. In March 2005, the Washington State Board on Geographic Names chose Tulutson over three other contenders (Crater, Spirit, and Tamanawas),<ref>{{cite news | last = Associated Press | first = | title = Mount St. Helens Glacier Gets A Name But May Be Short-Lived | publisher = KIRO-TV.com | date = 2005-03-08 |

| url= http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/dockets/reviewlist390.pdf | date = 2005-10-03 | accessdate = 2007-03-07 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060922204927/http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/dockets/reviewlist390.pdf |archivedate = September 22, 2006}}</ref> and Kraffts Glacier, which would have honored the [[volcanologist]]s [[Katia and Maurice Krafft]], killed by a [[pyroclastic flow]] in 1991. In June 2006, the U.S. BGN chose Crater Glacier because of its two-decade precedent of common use, despite objections from the state of Washington and the [[United States Forest Service]] which both preferred Tulutson.<ref name="BGN679">{{cite web | title = U.S. Board on Geographic Names Domestic Names Committee, 679th Meeting | url= http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/minutes/DNCJun06Minutes.pdf | date = 2006-06-05 | accessdate = 2007-02-28 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060922202200/http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/minutes/DNCJun06Minutes.pdf |archivedate = September 22, 2006|deadurlurl-status=yesdead}}</ref> The scientists at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory strongly supported Crater Glacier, and also commented that Tulutson may not be an appropriate name since the volcano "lies inland in a region where the native language was not Cowlitz but [[Sahaptin language|Sahaptin]]."

After the decision, some controversy erupted following an editorial in a local newspaper protesting the decision, and the state of Washington "has indicated that the name Tulutson Glacier will continue to appear on State products, although if the feature melts soon, as is anticipated, this may not be a great concern."<ref name="BGN680">{{cite web | title = U.S. Board on Geographic Names Domestic Names Committee, 680th Meeting | url= http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/minutes/DNCJul06Minutes.pdf | date = 2006-07-13 | accessdate = 2007-02-28 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20061116162221/http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/minutes/DNCJul06Minutes.pdf |archivedate = November 16, 2006|deadurlurl-status=yesdead}}</ref> Despite these protests, the glacier's official name remained Crater Glacier, though shortly after their June 2006 decision, the BGN received a follow-up proposal to name the two arms of the glacier, East Crater Glacier and West Crater Glacier.<ref name="BGN680" /> This was because, at that point in time, the dome-building eruptions had nearly split the glacier into an east and west arm. No further action has been taken on this matter and the merging of the ice streams north of the 1980s lava dome has rendered this move unnecessary.