skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Characterization of aerosols from eruptions of Mount St. Helens

Journal Article · · Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States)

Measurements of mass concentration and size distribution of aerosols from eruptions of Mount St. Helens as well as morphological and elemental analyses were obtained between 7 April and 7 August 1980. In situ measurements were made in early phreatic and later, minor phreatomagmatic eruption clouds near the vent of the volcano and in plumes injected into the stratosphere from the major eruptions of 18 and 25 May. The phreatic aerosol was characterized by an essentially monomodal size distribution dominated by silicate particles larger than 10 micrometers in diameter. The phreatomagmatic eruption cloud was multimodal; the large size mode consisted of silicate particles and the small size modes were made up of mixtures of sulfuric acid and silicate particles. The stratospheric aerosol from the main eruption exhibited a characteristic narrow single mode with particles less than 1 micrometer in diameter and nearly all of the mass made up of sulfuric acid droplets.

OSTI ID:
5480059
Journal Information:
Science (Washington, D.C.); (United States), Vol. 211
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English