Learning From Experience - Glacial Outburst Floods

Melting glacial ice ...

During the eruption of Mount St. Helens 3/4 of its glacial ice melted, creating massive mudflows that ran all the way to the Columbia River filling its channels with enough debris to disrupt international shipping for three months. Remember that Mount St. Helens has only about 4% as much glacial ice as Mount Rainier (Krakauer, 1996).

U. S. Army Corps of Engineers dredge deposits carried from Mount St. Helens.

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