Mt. Saint Helens trivia

It is always fun to try to comprehend the sorts of numbers that geological processes produce. I mean, how much is 125 million cubic yard exactly? Well, the Cascades Volcano Observatory puts it this way:

“From October 2004 to late January 2008, about 125 million cubic yards of lava had erupted onto the crater floor to form a new dome-enough to pave seven highway lanes three feet thick from New York City to Portland, Oregon. A comparable volume had flowed out to form the 1980s lava dome. All lava erupted since 1980 has refilled about 7% of the crater, which was created by the catastrophic landslide and eruption of May 18, 1980.”

Seems a like a lot more material all of a sudden? And on the other hand, not too much when you think it only made a 7% dent on the post-1980 crater.

Thanks to M. Schmidt for forwarding me these facts.