Posts Tagged ‘washington’
A lifetime of Pacific Northwest Photography
Mount Rainier through Trees
Volcanic Glacier Peak
Glacier Peak
Glacier Peak is a primary volcano that is positioned deep in the central Cascades of Washington about 70 miles from Seattle. It is the highest Cascade peak north of Mount Rainier and south of Mount Baker. Since Glacier Peak is not as visible from the larger nearby metropolitan areas as the other major volcanoes (i.e., Baker, Rainier, St. Helens), it is less publicly known. However, Glacier Peak has been more violent since after the time of the last great ice age than Mount St. Helens.
Violent Past
Glacier Peak was formed around a million years ago during the Pleistocene period. Then, for a period of a few hundred years around 13,000 years ago, Glacier Peak violently erupted approximately nine times. The largest of these eruptions ejected more than five times as much rock and ash as the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens. Deposits from these eruptions left more than a foot of rock and ash near Chelan, Washington, and as much as an inch of ash in western Montana. In contrast, by the time Mount St. Helen’s ash completely settled after the May 18, 1980 eruption, only a light dusting made it as far as Montana.
Glacier Peak Lahars
Westward lahars (see Lahar post) off Glacier Peak flowed as far as down the North Fork Stillaguamish and Skagit Rivers into the sea. Near Arlington, seven feet of sediment are attributable to Glacier Peak eruptions, though these have been overshadowed by the greater lahars from Mount Baker.
Information source: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 058-00 Online Version 1.0
What is the Pacific Northwest? And where is it?
The Pacific Northwest, geographically referred to as Cascadia, is the northwest region of North America, and is bound by the Pacific Ocean. It encompasses all of Washington, Oregon States and Northern California, British Columbia Canada, and Alaska. It is an area of vast beauty. Here you will find multiple climates and topography, from the highest mountains on the continent, to many thousands of miles of coastline, and globally rare inland seas.
 |
Pacific Northwest | J R Hudson 
