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Trajectories of the Mount St. Helens eruption plumeThe plume of the major eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 penetrated 10 to 11 km into the stratosphere, attaining heights of 22 to 23 km. Wind shears rapidly converted the plume from an expanding vertical cone to a thin, slightly inclined lamina. The lamina was extruded zonally in the stratosphere as the lower part moved eastward at jet stream velocities, while the upper part slowly moved westward in the region of nonsteady transition from the westerlies to the summer stratospheric easterlies. Trajectories computed to position the NASA U-2 aircraft for sampling in the plume are described. Plume volume after 8 hours of strong volcanic emission is estimated at 2,000,000 cu km. Only about 1% of this volume is attributed to the volcano; the rest was entrained from the environment.
Document ID
19810038538
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Danielsen, E. F.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, Calif., United States)
Date Acquired
August 11, 2013
Publication Date
February 20, 1981
Publication Information
Publication: Science
Volume: 211
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
81A22942
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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