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Alaskans Prepare For Volcanic Eruption
An anonymous reader writes "Mount Redoubt, or Redoubt Volcano, is an active stratovolcano in the largely volcanic Aleutian Range of Alaska. The once quiet volcano has begun to roar once again. Its last eruption was in 1989 and geologists suggest that the next one is upon us. Alaskans who lived through the earlier eruption are stocking up on breathing masks and goggles. Starting on Friday, January 23 2009, the level of seismic activity increased markedly, and on Sunday AVO raised the Aviation Color Code to ORANGE and the Volcano Alert Level to WATCH. On the basis of all available monitoring data AVO regards that an eruption similar to or smaller than the one that occurred in 1989-90 is the most probable outcome. We expect such an eruption to occur within days to weeks." From the AP article: "Alaska's volcanoes are not like Hawaii's. 'Most of them don't put out the red river of lava,' said the observatory's John Power. Instead, they typically explode and shoot ash 30,000 to 50,000 feet high — more than nine miles — into the jet stream. 'It's a very abrasive kind of rock fragment,' Power said. The particulate has jagged edges and has been used as an industrial abrasive. 'They use this to polish all kinds of metals,' he said." The server for the Alaska Volcano Observatory appears to be overloaded and is unresponsive.
My grandpappy stayed on this mountain, and I'll be damned if I'm going to leave it! I'm staying righ#@$#@%$NO CARRIER
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Yse, perpare! Seh's gnona bolw!
And so you post a direct link to it on the slashdot front page?
Way to go, kdawson, way to go. You've ensured the Alaska Volcano Observatory site is going to be down even longer.
Why would you do that? Did that site molest you when you were young or something?
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
I find this to be pretty exciting. I was just a little kid when St. Helens blew her top. I remember the ash coating our cars in Colorado. I thought it was so cool that it was snowing dirt.
Then again, I don't live right under the thing and my home, livelihood, health and property aren't currently being threatened by microscopic airborne razor blades.
Have any slashdot readers been close to an erupting volcano? Especially the subduction zone variety? Can you give us an account of what it's like?
These ring-o-fire volcanoes usually explode rather than ooze due to the composition of their magma. There's lots of dissolved gasses that like to become undissolved in massive bangs.
This one's tricky. You have to use imaginary numbers, like eleventeen... --Hobbes
So I guess Sarah Palin is not the only thing from Alaska that emits a lot of gas and hot air.
Given her foreign policy credentials, are the Republican talking heads going to advance this event as proof of her experience with geology and vulconalogy?
she won't be able to see Russia from her backyard anymore!
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My prayer to all those concerned is to work hard in order to avoid another "Katrina." Just like Katrina, we know this natural disaster is probably coming, like Katrina, we know its likely to be big and therefore affect many folks.
So let us prepare and not screw up everything. Events that transpired during and after Katrina were no less than events that would have transpired in a 3rd world country. Now that's shameful and we should avoid it.
one would say.. "it's like the earth wants to get rid of us" but thats crazy talk. It's more like the underground Molemen are pissed off by all the media coverage for things like tsunamis and fires. Maybe Dr. Evil allied with the Molemen and tried to blow the inners of the earth again but Austin Powers could not do anythings since he converted to some kind of guru. I blame religion for this.
The biggest problem with the Yellowstone supervolcano would be the large amounts of ash ejected REALLY high into the atmosphere and across large portions of the US as well due to the high pressure eruption.
The prudent thing would be to place tactical nuclear warheads in deep wells around the entire perimeter of the magma chamber, and if it begins erupting, to crack the whole top at once. The area around Yellowstone will be destroyed, but the outlet for the pressure will be so large, far less ash is going to be ejected far lower in the atmosphere. We may even be able to avoid a massive drop in global temperatures, and crop failures that would otherwise kill a billion people.
P.S. Had to post as Anon as I moderated some totally unrelated posts.
Meuge
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This is not Microsoft website in the day of the "slammer", this is a public service in an emergency, I think it would be wise to remove the link.
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You betcha! (winks)
Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
I live across from Redoubt.
...ok...
There are another 12 active volcanos in the area.
There is the valley of ten thousand smokes which is a super volcano (Katmia)there also.
I have been through several of these since '75. Augustine (three times) Redoubt (now the third time) Spurr, so it isnt anything special.
It does however give me a chance to sit on the beach and video tape the event hopefully.
So nothing to see here, go back to your wimpy ice storms and snow while we Alaskans handle the real manly stuff
There there now nothing to be frightened of...just a little volcano farting....
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