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EXPLORATIONS - Mount Saint Helens

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EXPLORATIONS - Mount1 Saint2 Helens
By Paul Thompson

Broadcast: Wednesday, October 13, 2004

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This is Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

 
A view of Mount Saint Helens.
And this is Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. On May eighteenth, nineteen eighty, a volcano exploded in the northwestern state of Washington. It killed fifty-seven people and destroyed huge areas of forest. Recently, that volcano has become active again. Today, we tell about the famous Mount Saint Helens volcano.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Native American Indians in the state of Washington still call Mount Saint Helens by its Indian name -- Loowit. It means "Lady of Fire." In the past two weeks, this famous "Lady of Fire" has been waking up after twenty-four years of sleep.

The last major explosion of Mount Saint Helens took place in nineteen eighty. The volcano expelled3 fire, rock and volcanic4 gas with a force of four hundred eighty kilometers an hour. That explosion was three hundred fifty times more powerful than the explosions of the first nuclear bombs.

VOICE TWO:

 
Melted rock lies beneath the dome5 in Mount Saint Helens crater6.
Recent earthquakes near Mount Saint Helens were a sure sign that something was happening deep under the ground. Scientists also knew there is a huge area of melted rock deep underneath7 the mountain. This liquid rock creates pressure. The pressure can cause more earthquakes. When thousands of small earthquakes began to happen, scientists knew Mount Saint Helens was becoming active once again.

Experts began to closely observe the huge volcano. They placed scientific instruments in many areas on the mountain. These observations are still taking place twenty-four hours a day.

Scientists said the evidence showed a seventy percent chance the volcano would do something. They were not sure exactly what it would do. But they were sure it would not be anything like the huge explosion in nineteen eighty.

VOICE ONE:

Volcano experts first observed increased underground activity near the mountain on September twenty-third. The experts said this activity continued to increase. This evidence led the experts to believe it might produce a volcanic event.

Scientists observed more underground activity in the next few days. Then the volcano expelled steam and ash thousands of meters into the air. Experts declared the volcano could once again be a danger. At first, they said the volcano was mostly a danger to aircraft. They said the ash could damage an aircraft's engines.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

The Mount Saint Helens area is a huge National Park. Thousands of people visit each year to look at the large volcano and to learn about the violent explosion in nineteen eighty. When there is no danger, visitors can even ask for a permit to climb Mount Saint Helens. They can walk near the top and see down into the area called the crater.

The recent underground activity forced park officials to close the visitor's center closest to the volcano. The Johnson Ridge8 Observatory9 is only eight kilometers from the mountain. Park officials told visitors to leave the area immediately.

 
Mount Saint Helens expels10 steam and ash in October of 2004.
The volcano expelled large amounts of steam for about thirty minutes on Monday, October fourth. Scientists said it was mostly water that had been super-heated by the liquid rock far below.

The next day, however, the volcano once again began expelling11 steam and ash several thousand meters into the air. Winds pushed the steam and ash toward the northeast part of the state. When the ash came down, it made driving a car difficult in some areas.

VOICE ONE:

Again, scientists said evidence gathered from the volcano showed more explosions were possible. Experts also warned that explosions of steam and ash were not the only concerns.

Extreme heat near the top of the volcano could melt the huge formations of ice on the mountain. Some areas of ice are more than one hundred eighty meters deep. Experts said extreme heat could melt the ice and start huge floods and mudslides down the mountain.

By last Tuesday night, Mount Saint Helens had stopped most activity. Instruments that measured underground activity showed very low levels. The earthquakes had almost stopped.

Tom Pierson is a scientist with the United States Geological12 Survey. Mister Pierson said most evidence showed the possibility of more activity. However he says there is still a good chance the volcano might go back to sleep. Other experts said all volcanoes go through periods of activity and rest. This could go on for days, weeks or even months. Officials lowered the threat level by the end of last week.

VOICE TWO:

By Monday, October eleventh, Mount Saint Helens was still producing steam. Cool weather made the steam look more threatening than it was. Research teams were able to measure the heat from near the top of the volcano. The highest surface temperatures were between two hundred and three hundred degrees Celsius13.

Experts say Mount Saint Helens could still explode if there were an increase in the amount of underground activity. They say the explosion could take place suddenly or with very little warning.

Experts say it is extremely difficult to tell what a volcano will do. For example, strong earthquakes and other underground activity near the volcano produced good evidence. Earthquakes under Mount Saint Helens were measured at about one each minute for long periods last week. These were very small earthquakes. Most measured only about one on the Richter scale.

But volcano experts cannot always tell what this evidence means. They cannot tell when an earthquake will grow stronger. And they cannot always tell what the hot liquid rock called magma is going to do. It is also difficult to measure the pressure created by the magma deep inside the volcano.

Most often scientists use all the information they can gather and try to make a good guess. Above all, they try to provide the best warnings when they believe the volcano may become a threat.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Around the world there are more than six hundred active volcanoes – those that have exploded within the past two hundred years. There are more than fifty active volcanoes in the United States. The most active ones are in the states of Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, and Washington. There are twelve major volcanoes in an area of mountains called the Cascade14 Range. These are in northern California, Oregon and Washington.

Volcanoes produce many different effects that can kill people and destroy property. Extremely large explosions can threaten people and property hundreds of kilometers away. Volcanoes can also affect the weather on Earth.

VOICE TWO:

Mount Saint Helens is just one of a large number of volcanoes that form a circle around the Pacific Ocean. This circle is called the Ring of Fire. Beginning in Japan, the ring of volcanoes extends south through the Philippines and Indonesia to New Zealand.

Across the Pacific, the ring begins again at the southern end of South America and extends north along the Pacific Coast to Peru, Colombia, Mexico, and California. The ring stretches up the American Pacific Coast to Alaska and then across to the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia. The Ring of Fire includes about three-fourths of the world's volcanoes.

Many of them have a tragic15 history of death and destruction. For example, in nineteen eighty-five, more than twenty-five thousand peopled died as a result of the explosion of Mount Ruiz in Colombia. That volcano caused huge mudslides that covered many villages and towns.

In Mexico, millions of tons of ash from El Chichon volcano killed more than two thousand people in nineteen eighty-two.

VOICE ONE:

Recently, an earthquake in the central part of California measured six on the Richter scale. Scientists say that earthquake and volcanic activity at Mount Saint Helens are not linked. However, they say the two events have a common cause. The land mass deep under the Pacific Ocean and the land mass of the Pacific coast are moving toward each other. These land masses float on liquid rock deep within the Earth.

This movement is called plate tectonics. It causes earthquakes. It also builds mountains and causes liquid rock deep in the earth to flow near the surface and form volcanoes.

As long as these huge land masses continue to move, people will continue to observe and study earthquakes. And they will study volcanoes like Loowit -- the Lady of Fire -- Mount Saint Helens.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Mario Ritter. This is Steve Ember.

VOICE ONE:

And this is Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 mount 6Fixv     
n.山峰,乘用马,框,衬纸;vi.增长,骑上(马);vt.提升,爬上,装备
参考例句:
  • Their debts continued to mount up.他们的债务不断增加。
  • She is the first woman who steps on the top of Mount Jolmo Lungma.她是第一个登上珠穆朗玛峰的女人。
2 saint yYcxf     
n.圣徒;基督教徒;vt.成为圣徒,把...视为圣徒
参考例句:
  • He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
  • The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。
3 expelled 7a860966115182402ed06375cf0a22af     
驱逐( expel的过去式和过去分词 ); 赶走; 把…除名; 排出
参考例句:
  • She was expelled from school at 15. 她15岁时被学校开除了。
  • After the outbreak of fighting,all foreign journalists were expelled. 战斗开始后,所有的外国记者都被驱逐出境。
4 volcanic BLgzQ     
adj.火山的;象火山的;由火山引起的
参考例句:
  • There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
  • Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。
5 dome 7s2xC     
n.圆屋顶,拱顶
参考例句:
  • The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
  • They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。
6 crater WofzH     
n.火山口,弹坑
参考例句:
  • With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
  • They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。
7 underneath VKRz2     
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面
参考例句:
  • Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
  • She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣,里面套着一条连衣裙。
8 ridge KDvyh     
n.山脊;鼻梁;分水岭
参考例句:
  • We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
  • The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。
9 observatory hRgzP     
n.天文台,气象台,瞭望台,观测台
参考例句:
  • Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
  • Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。
10 expels d30ba92a833df64554cbde29213ae72e     
驱逐( expel的第三人称单数 ); 赶走; 把…除名; 排出
参考例句:
  • Dean Corso: [expels a lungful of smoke, unmoved] Ten. 迪安科索:[无动于衷的吸了一口烟]一成。
  • The average cow expels600 liters of methane a day. 一般每头牛每天会排出600升甲烷。
11 expelling e59cb50b9751f664e9e38edd5a576e61     
驱逐( expel的现在分词 ); 赶走; 把…除名; 排出
参考例句:
  • Catholic Spain had, by expelling its Jews, achieved the spiritual security of a united church. 信奉天主教的西班牙人在逐出犹太人后,统一了教会,在精神上获得了安全感。
  • Expelling wind and cold pathogens, relieving exterior syndrome and clearing away heat. 疏风散寒,迅速缓解风寒感冒症状。
12 geological QgZx9     
adj.地质(学)的
参考例句:
  • aeons of geological history 数以亿万年计的地质史
  • The workers skirted the edge of the cliff on a geological survey. 工人们沿着崖壁作了一次地质勘察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 Celsius AXRzl     
adj.摄氏温度计的,摄氏的
参考例句:
  • The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
  • The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。
14 cascade Erazm     
n.小瀑布,喷流;层叠;vi.成瀑布落下
参考例句:
  • She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
  • Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。
15 tragic inaw2     
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的
参考例句:
  • The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
  • Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

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