Word: ashes
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...almost two months of rumbling and sputtering, the show was spectacular enough that it hardly required an encore for a century or so. But last week the seemingly inexhaustible volcano gave another lively performance. A second major eruption shook the mountain over the Memorial Day weekend, and steam and ash belched forth in fitful bursts throughout the week. More ominously, seismologists detected tremors originating from deep within the volcano's molten rock core, another sign of restlessness...
...tell for sure how soon the mountain will clear itself of these pent-up gases, but U.S.G.S. scientists were saying last week that they would not be surprised if Mount St. Helens continued venting steam, ash and pumice intermittently for another ten or 15 years. The reason, the scientists explained, is that it could take that long for the volcano to complete the internal rebuilding process that will seal it off again...
...mountain was also providing painful lessons for those who live near it. The prevailing westerly winds suddenly reversed themselves and dropped ash over a huge area from Tacoma, Wash., to Eugene, Ore. including many communities that had so far largely escaped the sooty downpour. Along the coast, thousands of Memorial Day tourists were stranded by the poor visibility and impossible road conditions. In Portland which likes to call itself the "most livable city," the International Airport was forced to suspend operations, while a Pacific Coast League baseball game was "ashed out." Residents donned surgical and industrial face masks, if they...
...sewage and drain systems unplugged. In Washington State alone, 370,000 people have been left temporarily jobless. Perhaps one-tenth may be out of work for a year. A still incalculable long-term effect may be a rash of respiratory and lung ailments from continued inhalation of the ash...
Though volcanoes can kill - eruptions have cost more than 100,000 lives in the past two centuries - they have a kindlier side as well. Some of the world's most fertile soil, like that on the Indonesian island of Java, has been created by lava and ash from volcanoes. The crystalline material, mostly silicates, is often rich ash only calcium and a variety of other elements. The lava and ash not only help the soil retain moisture but they weather rapidly and usually release valuable nutrients. Volcanic debris can also be used commercially as cement additives, as ingredients...