This photo of Mt. St. Helens was taken from the Johnston Ridge Observatory north of the crater in May, 2006. The growth of the newest dome started in the fall of 2004 and domebuilding continues in the winter of 2007. The new dome is visible here as a small gray mass on the inner right side of the crater. The crater also contains a glacier that wraps around the south side of the dome. I have also posted a closeup of the crater and dome that was taken immediately after this shot. There is also a telephoto shot of just the domes.
Unlike the Hawaiian volcanoes whose lava flows like a thick liquid, Mt St Helens "extrudes" fins of solid rock. At one point, the fin was growing taller at a rate of 2 meters or about 6 feet a day. A page on the USGS web site dramatically documents this growth. One of the fins rose almost to the height of the lowest point on the crater rim.
Life began to return to the blast zone almost immediately after the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Nevertheless, this view across the upper Toutle River Valley into the crater still manages to convey the devastation that occurred 26 years earlier.
Related Photos:
Ash Creek Images
Photographs of the West by Doug Gorsline
Mount Saint Helens and the New Dome from the 2004-2007 Eruption.
