Metadata: Crater Glacier Time-Lapse Video
Title: Mount St. Helens’ Runaway Glacier: A time-lapse video of Crater Glacier’s
response to lava dome growth
Description: From 2005 to 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey-Cascades Volcano
Observatory operated a remote camera on the northwest flank of Mount St. Helens.
Looking into the crater, the camera captured hourly photographs of volcanic dome
growth during the 2004-2008 eruption. The station also captured the advance of the
west arm of Crater Glacier as it moved northeast around the 1980-1986 and 2004-2008
lava domes, joined with the east arm of the glacier, and pushed northward onto the
crater floor. The time-lapse sequence links individual photographs to produce a video
of the movement of Crater Glacier, showing the glacier’s remarkable run-away response
to volcanic dome growth.
Tags: Glacier, MountStHelens, LavaDome
Location: Mount St. Helens, Washington
Date Taken: November 2005-November 2010
Video Producer: Liz Westby
Videographer Email: lwestby@usgs.gov
Videographer Organization: U.S. Geological Survey–Cascades Volcano Observatory
Video Credits: For more information on Crater Glacier or the creation of the video,
contact members of the U.S. Geological Survey–Cascades Volcano Observatory, Dan
Dzurisin at dzurisin@usgs.gov, Carolyn Driedger at driedger@usgs.gov, or Liz Westby
at lwestby@usgs.gov.
Source: http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/cvo/
Relevance: In late 2004, Mount St. Helens entered an eruptive phase. A relatively
cool, thick lava spine punched through the southeast portion of Crater Glacier,
shouldering it aside. As shown in the video, over the next several years, the growing
lava dome pushed the glacier against the crater walls where the ice reached a height of
100 meters above the crater floor. Compression and stacking of the ice resulted in
rapid glacial advance to the north. During July and August, 2005, GPS instruments on
the surface of the west arm of the glacier recorded an advance rate of one meter per
day, compared to a pre-dome building estimate of 0.3 meters per day. By March 2008,
aerial photographs and observations showed that the advancing east and west arms of
Crater Glacier had connected to the north, now encircling the 1980-1986 dome.
Slowing in recent years, the glacier’s advance rate remains about 0.1 meter per day, as
it has since the 2004-08 eruption ended. The glacier terminus, as much as 18 to 40
meters in height, continues to move across the northward opening of the crater and has
entered the head of the Loowit channel.
Method of Creation: To produce the video, 855 photographs with acceptable visibility
and clarity were extracted from the remote station’s (nicknamed “Guacamole”) photo
database. The result is an uneven time sequence, particularly during winter months,
when long periods of inclement weather obscured the view into the crater. The
photographs were minimally altered to improve contrast and if required, aligned to a
master image using Photoshop. The photographs were linked in chronological order
using commercial software (Adobe Premiere Pro), and run at 30 frames per second. An
opening title and brief description of the event was added to the beginning of the video,
along with an annotated freeze frame showing the locations of the 1980-1986 dome, the
2004-2008 dome and Crater Glacier in November 2005. After the time lapse ends, an
annotated freeze frame shows the locations of the 1980-1986 dome, the 2004-2008
dome and Crater Glacier, in November, 2010. The video concludes with a description
of how the video was created and closing credits.
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Start and End Dates of data used in visualization: November, 2005 to November, 2010
Visualization Completed: The video was produced in 2012
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