The youngest glacier on the planet

St Helens volcano disaster in Washington in 1980 created one of the youngest and cleanest glaciers on the planet.

1. Glaciers in Asia are unusually bloated
2. 20% of Canadian glaciers disappeared in this century
3. The Andes glaciers narrowed the record

Crater Glacier - The youngest and cleanest glacier in the world

Volcanic eruption area.(Photo: Eric Guth).

St Helens volcano, south of Washington state, erupted violently on May 18, 1980, killing 57 people and destroying a large area in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The amount of rock and ash emitted from the mountain peak is equivalent to the volume of one million swimming pools at the Olympic Games.

Glaciers move.(Photo: US Geological Survey)

Biologists fear that the eruption will create pressure and heat enough to destroy the surrounding fertile soil. But 35 years later, the volcanic eruption area revived and the sprouts lived: lupine beans blooming, the alder tree covered the sides of the stream and the elk returned. Meanwhile, the volcanic heart area (crater) witnessed an unexpected phenomenon: the appearance of glaciers.

In the picture, Todd Cullings security guards are showing visitors the area between the lava arch and the crater east of the crater.(Photo: Eric Guth).

Officially named Crater Glacier in June 2006, this nearly 1.3 km ² wide glacier is one of the youngest and cleanest glaciers in the world.

From 2004 to 2008, the glacier continued to expand thanks to a giant lava arch (formed when the lava-like lava builds up). A block of frozen lava emerges from the volcano's core, forcing the glacier into the eastern edge of the crater to increase the flow rate. In this extraordinary series of events, the development of lava arches not only failed to block the flow of the glacier (in part by solid protective rock) but also helped it flow down the ridge faster.

Detecting giant craters.(Photo: Eric Guth).

From September 2004 onwards, Crater Glacier flowed at a speed of 30cm / day. Since the lava arch formed, its speed increased to 150cm / day.

In 2012, USGS researchers discovered a deep pit in the snow cover while flying above the crater. Normally, ice caves due to a tunnel through the underside of the glacier are melted by ice, causing erosion. Therefore, most ice caves develop horizontally. However, the geothermal activity underneath the Crater Glacier glacier (a rare combination of steam and hot air that rises from glaciers lying on geothermal mouths) makes the ice caves here grow vertically .

Crater center.(Photo: Eric Guth).

In June 2014, a team of cave explorers, researchers and investigators began to explore, map and survey the cave system at Crater Glacier. Their goal was to continue the survey that scientist Charles Anderson and his colleagues left in 2001. They also wanted to explore the giant pit called Godzilla Hole discovered by the USGS in June 2012. No one has ever set foot here before.

In the photo, surveyor Neil Marchington was swinging a rope to climb down above a crack. Meanwhile, Jared Smith, a local guide and rescue captain, is waiting at the crater 9 meters below to secure Marchington and the others while climbing the remaining 12 meters to the bottom of the cave.

In an ice cave there is often underground river running along the bottom of the cave. The Godzilla vertical cave is different. There is no flowing water here, only the occasional geothermal warmth from the bottom. Over time, these hot streams caused the 30-meter-thick ice above to melt and create towering caves.

Under the guidance of veteran cave explorer Eddy Cartaya, the survey team found the main cave higher than 18m.The other two caves are estimated to be 30m high.(Photo: Eric Guth).

The survey team discovered many new walkways over 300m below the glacier, including the cave in the image located east of the river. Shooting in the cave is difficult: heat and steam blur the lens, low light requires the use of a tripod or high ISO (light sensitivity). However, in this cramped space, Eric Guth did not use the camera tripod because it would hinder the survey.

Instead, he took advantage of the light emitted from the members' forehead lights, combined with the little natural light, to set a balanced exposure for the camera with an ISO index of 4000 and shooting speed is 1/30 second.(Photo: Eric Guth).

Disto device.(Photo: Eric Guth).

Disto is a device that uses a laser to measure and map a cave system. In the picture, Cartya is showing disto into a newly discovered ice cave. In order to get the exact hologram inside the cave, one must show disto up, down, left, and right to determine the distance from each side. For specific parameters of slope and direction, people rely on compass azimuth and slope measurement device.

Detailed survey.(Photo: Eric Guth).

Geothermal gas rose behind the survey leader Scott Linn as he waited for the group meeting during the initial survey of the eastern part of the glacier. Nearly 254 m of this unnamed cave has been surveyed and mapped. At the end of the survey, the total length of the cave was measured at 430 m. In the picture, Linn is sketching details inside the cave to supplement the map.

Life after death.(Photo: Eric Guth)

This cone-shaped seedling is found at the bottom of the cave, more than 30 m away from the cave's sunlight. Strangely, there was no tree growing in the cave mouth before and after the volcano erupted.

According to Marchington, it is possible that the energy accumulated in the grain and the relative warmth of the environment are heated by geothermal as germination. Research results from the lab will indicate which species is this and whether the gas in the cave helps it survive in the dark.

Early warning system.(Photo: Eric Guth).

During the eruption in 1980, St Helens volcano lost 70% of the ice. The mud that caused it to wash away many bridges and vehicles, bury many houses, and rob people of both people and animals. Today, early warning systems such as sound wave detectors and seismic measurements are put into use to detect imminent mud flooding.

Annual cave mapping of the glacier also contributes to the protection of life, because accurately recording significant changes in cave sizes each year helps to detect the rise of geothermal activity before volcanic eruption. In the picture is a GPS device belonging to the EarthScope Geological Boundary Observatory, installed to detect small movements of the earth's crust, helping analyze volcanic activity trends.

Johnston peak observation station.(Photo: Eric Guth).

At Johnston Peak Observation Station, about 1.6 km north of St Helens volcano, visitors can learn about the history of volcanoes, its past consequences and future hazards. With the relentless efforts of scientists and the interest of the community, the expansion of the new lava arch at St Helens volcano and the unique development of the Crater Glacier glacier will become passion and pride. proud instead of obsession, fear.