SEATTLE (AP) -
A study of Mount St. Helens aims to look deep -- all the way down to the zone where tectonic plates collide and magma rises.
One of the researchers, University of Washington Professor John Vidale, says the study is one of the first to look that far below a volcano. The results could indicate how the magma plumbing works at volcanoes around the world. The information could help in prediction eruptions.
Work is beginning now on the four-year study funded by a $3 million National Science Foundation grant. In addition to the university in Seattle, the study includes the Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Oregon State University, Rice University and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University.
Work by Rice Professor Alan Levander will involve setting off underground explosions.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
