PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A new study of Mount Hood’s magma describes it as nearly solid stuff, sort of like refrigerated peanut butter.
The study says that when Mount Hood erupts, the magma oozes out, rather than explodes in a violent eruption such as at Mount St. Helens in 1980.
The last big eruptions at Mount Hood were 1,500 and 220 years ago.
The study was done by Adam Kent of Oregon State and Kari Cooper of the University of California, Davis. They wanted to know how long the magma chamber 2 to 3 miles beneath Mount Hood had been there.
Kent tells the Oregonian that Mount Hood isn’t expected to erupt anytime soon. He says it would take a couple of months for deeper magma to rise and heat the nearly solid mass.
Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com