Effects of the eruptions of Mount St. Helens on physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of surface water, ground water, and precipitation in the Western United States

Abstract

This report is a review of literature pertaining to the 1980 eruptions of Mount St. Helens, and to the subsequent effects of those eruptions on physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of surface water, ground water, and precipitation in the Pacific Northwest, Montana, and Colorado.

Increased Coral Biomineralization Due to Enhanced Symbiotic Activity Upon Volcanic Ash Exposure

“…The impact of volcanic eruptions on the aqueous environment depends on the duration and extent of tephra fall, the deposition rate, the re-mobilization potential and tephra composition. High levels of tephra deposition can result in water turbidity (cloudiness) (Lee, 1996), is linked to a low surface water pH (Blong, 1984;Wall-Palmer et al, 2011), and can directly lead to the smothering of organisms (Eldredge and Kropp, 1985;Ono et al, 2002;Vroom and Zgliczynski, 2011;Wu et al, 2018). Existing studies that investigate the interaction of volcanic ash deposition on coral reefs, all of which are exclusively based on posteruptive field studies, commonly report mass coral mortality (Heikoop et al, 1996;Vroom and Zgliczynski, 2011;Wu et al, 2018) through smothering, bleaching or coral overgrowth by macroalgae (Schils, 2012).…”