Tuesday, May 18, 2010

New Word Sudoku Puzzle for Tuesday, 5/18/2010

Mt. St. Helens, one day before it blew its top (photo credit: USGS)

Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest about 50 miles northeast of my home of Portland, Oregon. Mount St. Helens got its English name from the British diplomat Lord St Helens, a friend of explorer George Vancouver who made a survey of the area in the late 18th century. The volcano is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire that includes more than over 160 active volcanoes.

Thirty years ago today, Sunday morning May 18, 1980, just after 8:30, Mount St. Helens literally blew its top, becoming the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of America. Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railway and 185 miles of highway were destroyed.

Photo credit: Farwestern Photo by Gregg M. Erickson

The eruption caused a massive debris avalanche, knocking more than 1,300 feet off the mountain and creating a mile-wide horseshoe-shaped crater. It was the largest known debris avalanche in recorded history, flattening vegetation and buildings over more than 200 square miles. Lahars, or volcanic mudflows, flowed many miles down the Toutle and Cowlitz Rivers, destroying bridges. One estimate says almost 4 million cubic yards of mud and debris dumped into the Columbia River, almost 20 miles away.

Photo credit: Austin Post, USGS

Then there was the ash. The volcano spewed ash for more than nine hours, eventually reaching more than 15 miles up. Then it moved, by some estimates at 60 miles an hour. It reached Idaho by noon; ash fell in Spokane, Washington and in Alberta, Canada.

Peter Frenzen was a scientist with the USDA Forest Service located at Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
CHAFED
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the words exactly once

MUTINY
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once

PROWLS
6x6 Word Sudoku Puzzle
Each row, column, 2x3 rectangle and set of circled cells contains the letters in the word exactly once
Copy circled letters to the corresponding numbered cells in the quote grid to spell out the quote

Solution first thing in the morning. Just last weekend, a swarm of quakes hit the Mt. Hood area in Oregon, about 50 air miles from Mt. St. Helens! KGW-TV has a great online archive of the Mt. St. Helens eruption at http://www.kgw.com/news/Mt-St-Helens.

Thanks,
--Dave

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