Mt. St. Helens Volcano Worksheet
2004.10.03cg
Vocabulary to discuss:
Richter Scale - Introduced in 1935 by Charles F. Richter, the Richter scale is a numerical
(number) scale for quantifying (measuring) earthquake magnitude (size).
Ballistic Projectiles - things blasting through the air, such as rocks and ash.
Magma – molten (almost liquid) rock beneath the surface of the earth, on the surface of the earth
it is called Lava.
Pyroclastic – Hot rocks and debris ejected out of volcanic vents.
Erupt - To become active and blast lava and rocks.
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http://dsc.discovery.com/news/afp/20040927/helens.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/10/01/MNGUA928KA1.DTL
http://www.theolympian.com/home/news/20040929/topstories/445.shtml
1. What state is Mt. St. Helens in?
2. How far is Mt. St. Helens (MSH) from Portland?
3. What month and year was the last major eruption at Mt. St. Helens (MSH)?
4. How many people died during the last eruption?
5. The U.S. geologic survey has recently been measuring many earthquakes measuring what
size on the Richter Scale?
6. What is the probability of an eruption? ____________ %
7. If MSH does erupt, what size do they predict it will be?
8. If an eruption occurs, how far do they hypothesize, ballistic projectiles will go?
9. What are the chances of nothing happening at all?
10. How many earthquakes have been measured this week near MSH?
11. How tall, many feet high is MSH?
12. What is the most likely cause of all the earthquakes on the mountain?
13. Clouds of steam and ash were measured how many feet high, and how many miles did
they travel?
14. Why has hiking above the 4,800 foot level been banned (not allowed)?
15. A team of scientists from Geologic Survey’s Alaska region will be traveling by helicopter
to the Volcano Observatory today, to do what?
16. What are Global Positioning Sensors (GPS) used for?
17. What are the one warning that the U.S. geological survey has issued, and what does it
mean?
18. What are the two more serious warnings that exist?
19. What is your hypothesis regarding how severely Mt. St. Helens may react this time?
20. What would you do if you lived near the volcano?
21. What question do you have about volcanoes?