Nova: Mt. St.

Helens- Back From the Dead

1: When did Mt. St. Helens erupt last? July 10, 2008 2: Where is Mt. St. Helens located? In North America. 3: How much magma is released during the eruption? Millions of tons of magma was released. 4: What is a pyroclastic flow? Very hot ash, lava fragments, and gases that eject explosively from a volcano, it is very distructive. 5: How far from the summit is Spirit Lake located? About and hour and 49 minutes. 6: How many people were killed by the eruption? 57 people including campers scientists and one reporter. 7: How far away was the furthest victim? A whole town away. 8: How many birds disappeared during this disaster? How many insects? Billions of insects and thousands of birds disappeared. 9: What happens to Spirit Lake? Explain. The surface was covered with dead trees along with aquatic species that were killed. The lake bubbled with gases and the lake bed was lifted two hundred feet. 10: Explain what the landscape in this region looks like after the eruption. (End of Part I) Originally Mt. St. Helens was a cone shaped volcano, but after there eruption the mountain had a large crater on the side from the impact. The land was affected destroying everything there making it look like the moon due to the ash and dust left everywhere. 11: What is the Pacific Ring of Fire?

An area where a large number of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean. 12: Explain what has caused the volcano at Mt. St. Helens. What caused the eruption of Mt. St. Helens when a section of the mountaintop was forced outward and fell away from the mountain. The pressure of the magma from inside had been collecting thorughout the years and the rock eventually gave way. 13: What did the ecologist find when he first came to the mountain after the eruption? When they went to look at the site they saw nothing, but ash covering the area, but within a couple months they saw gophers. 14: What were the first signs of life at the mountain? What did they see happening? The first sign of life was a gopher digging out from underneath the ground where it looks to have been during the eruption. 15: Why were ecologists so surprised to see a flowering plant a year after the eruption? (End of Part II) They were surprised because they didn't expect to see any life after such a disastrous event. 16: How has the plant managed to grow in such a barren area? Explain. The plant managed to grow in the barren area because of the type of roots it holds. Their are bacterium nitrogen in them so the plant returns the bacterium with simple sugars it creates. 17: What is a pioneering species? How do they help out in a nutrient poor environment? Explain. Pioneer species are the first to colonize on a previously disrupted or damaged ecosystems. They help out in a nutrient poor environment because when they die, they enrich the soil helping other and bigger plants to begin to grow. 18: What is causing earthquakes on Mt. St. Helens? By lava breaking through rocks across the volcano floors. 19: Explain how the pioneering species are helping to revive the landscape. Pioneer species help revive the landscape because once they begin to die out the nutrients they carry fall onto the soil enriching it and giving bigger plants the opportunity to grow. 20: What were scientists finding in Spirit Lake? Why was the dissolved oxygen levels so low? What was this causing? Scientists found a bloom of bacteria in spirt lake. Because of the bloom in bacteria the dissolved oxygen levels were low since they consume oxygen so they consumed all of the oxygen there. Causing the lake unable to support any other forms of life that required oxygen. 21: Explain how life in the lake is able to come back. What species is first (pioneering species)? How were they brought to the lake? (End of Part III) From the pioneer species phytoplankton they are helping life in the lake to come back. Since they don't require oxygen they do no need to compete with the bacteria. They arrive there from being dropped by birds or being blown into the lake by wind.

22: How are the salamanders able to survive in the harsh environment? Because gophers build their tunnels at long lengths and elk are returning to the area, the elk collapse the tunnels making them accessible for salamanders. 23: How was the rate of recovery on the mountain? Was it was scientists expected? (End of Part IV) Much faster then what scientists expected it to be. 24: Where does all of the explosive force in volcanoes come from? Where does the gas come from? (End of Part V) The explosive force came from the magma which is pressurized by a gas, which comes from water. Discuss the miraculous return of nature to Mt. St. Helens years after the eruption. In your discussion, use the following terms in your answer: succession, pioneer species, symbiosis (mutualism), and nutrient cycling The return of Mt. St. Helens was one that scientists did not believe would happen because of all the damage that was caused from the eruption. Scientists simply thought that the land would stay coated in ash forever or at least stay as a spot of land with no life on it. But within a months they spotted the first sight of life; a gopher. Because they're use to be land in this area and was destroyed from a volcanic action this is considered secondary succession. Thanks to the help of pioneer species the area was able to grow again. Pioneer species are the first species to arrive at the ecosystem that has been disturbed by an event. They are the ones who begin life. At Mt. St. Helens the pioneer species where lupinus. These plants were able to grow and flourish due to a symbiosis relationship between the plant and a type of bacteria. Through the nutrient cycle the plant takes in the nitrogen from the soil and converts it into usable form for the plant. The plant then feeds the bacteria glucose it creates from photosynthesis. After the plant dies all the nutrients it's left behind then gets soaked into the soil fertilizing the area giving it an opportunity to grow bigger plants, which brings in animals and soon enough an ecosystem will begin again.

Lupnius at Mt. St. Helens