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RE: [RC] Mt St Helens.. - heidiActually, many of the volcanoes in the Cascade range are considered to be "active." Ranier is certainly one of them, as well as being one of the largest mountains in the chain.
St. Helens was one that was considered "likely" because it was historically due--it has had a pattern of erupting roughly every 100-150 years, and it was pretty close to its schedule. Its last eruption prior to 1980 was in 1823, just barely on the "long" side of its normal cycle. Also, it shares a vent system with Mt. Hood, and Hood is "off schedule"--they tended to alternate, and Hood's last eruption was in 1752, witnessed by Captain Cook, who was in the mouth of the Columbia River at the time. The local Indian tribes had legends about the two mountains being brothers who had a dispute with each other--one would throw rocks at the other for awhile, and then it would quit and the other one would take a turn. The only thing "odd" is that Hood did not erupt between the 1823 and 1980 eruptions of St. Helens.
Mt. Lassen in California is another one in the chain that has had a fairly recent eruption, in the early 1900s, and should still be considered "active." Other potentially active mountains in the chain include Mt. Bachelor and one of the Three Sisters.
Heidi
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