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A gravity current model for the May 18, 1980 Mount St. Helens plume
Author(s) -
Bursik M. I.,
Carey S. N.,
Sparks R. S. J.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/92gl01639
Subject(s) - tephra , plume , geology , crosswind , current (fluid) , panache , gravity current , volcano , atmospheric sciences , mount , geophysics , meteorology , seismology , oceanography , geography , internal wave , computer science , operating system
Observations of the stratospheric plume from the May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens eruption suggest that it spread in the crosswind direction as an intrusive gravity current, as it was transported downwind. Grain size analyses of the plinian tephra are consistent with this model, suggesting that to distances of many hundreds of kilometers, turbulent atmospheric diffusion played a secondary role in plume spreading and tephra dispersal.