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Deposition and dose from the 18 May 1980 eruption of Mount St. HelensThe downwind deposition and radiation doses was calculated for the tropospheric part of the ash cloud from the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, by using a large cloud diffusion model. The naturally occurring radionnuclides of radium and thorium, whose radon daughters normally seep very slowly from the rocks and soil, were violently released to the atmosphere. The largest dose to an individual from these nuclides is small, but the population dose to those affected by the radioactivity in the ash is about 100 person rem. This population dose from Mount St. Helens is much greater than the annual person rem routinely released by a typical large nuclear power plant. It is estimated that subsequent eruptions of Mount St. Helens have doubled or tripled the person rem calculated from the initial large eruption. The long range global ash deposition of the May 18 eruption is estimated through 1984, by use of a global deposition model. The maximum deposition is nearly 1000 kg square km and occurs in the spring of 1981 over middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.
Document ID
19830003289
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Peterson, K. R.
(Lawrence Livermore National Lab. Livermore, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 11, 2013
Publication Date
October 1, 1982
Publication Information
Publication: NASA. Langley Research Center Atmospheric Effects and Potential Climatic Impact of the 1980 Eruptions of Mt. St. Helens
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
83N11559
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: W-7405-ENG-48
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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