Sedimentation and Geomorphic Changes During and Following the 1980-1983 Eruptions of Mount St
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10 新 砂 防, Vol. 37, No. 2 (133) 昭59. 7. SEDIMENTATION AND GEOMORPHIC CHANGES DURING AND FOLLOWING THE 1980-1983 ERUPTIONS OF MOUNT ST. HELENS, WASHINGTON* (1) Richard J. Janda**, David F. Meyer** and Dallas Childers** INTRODUCTION After lying in repose for 123 years, Mount St. Helens, formerly known as the Fujiyama of America, started a continuing series of episodic eruptions on March 27, 1980. Based upon the amount of energy released as well as the diversity and volume of volcanic products produced, the May 18, 1980 eruption was the most significant eruption of this series. That eruption killed at least 59 people, caused more than S 900 million of damage and remedial work, and generally disrupted civil works and operations throughout much of the northwestern United States (Sarah Deatherage, written communication, Cowlitz County Dept. Community Development, 1983). Landscape modifications caused by this eruption have caused rapid erosion in the 550km2 devas- tated area and along downstream lahar-affected channels. The resulting sediment yield has cre- ated persistent sedimentation and flooding hazards of unprecedented magnitude for downstream urban areas. Post-eruption flooding along some lahar-affected channels has caused more erosion and deposition than the initial lahars. Numerous prehistoric eruptions at Mount St. Helens (Mullineaux and Crandell, 1981) and his- toric eruptions at other stratavolcanoes were more energetic and voluminous than the 1980-1983 eruptions of Mount St. Helens. Therefore, recent events at Mount St. Helens should serve as a reminder of the volcanic and hydrologic hazards associated with explosive stratavolcanoes and not be dismissed as a freak catastrophy. On behalf of my coauthors, I am honored to address the 1983 convention of the Erosion- Control Engineering Society of Japan. Members of your society are internationally acclaimed for their contributions to knowledge of basic processes of erosion, sediment transport, and deposition, as well as their application of that knowledge to hazard mitigation. Our paper briefly describes the manner in which recent eruptions at Mount St. Helens caused both immediate and lingering hydrologic hazards and presents examples of the types and magnitudes of post-eruption erosion. Initial attempts at mitigation are described only in passing because they were intended as interim measures, and final solutions are being actively discussed. I shall try to give you an overview of these subjects, but I shall focus most closely on stream channel pro- cesses, particularly those along the Toutle River system, because that is where our research is concentrated. The Cowlitz and Columbia Rivers are not included in this discussion because the impacts of natural processes on sediment yield and channel geometry have been largely obscured by intermittent dredging. I hope that this description will help to further the productive dialogue started at the 1982 Japanese-American Symposium on Erosion Control in Volcanic Areas in Se- attle and Vancouver, Washington (Public works Research Institute, 1983). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The eruptions of Mount St. Helens created unparalleled research opportunities and scientists *昭 和58年度砂防学会研究発表会 ,特 別講演,次 号 に後半を掲載す る。 ** U. S. Geological Survey, WRD David A. Johnston Cascades Volcano Observatory 5400 MacArthur Boulevard Vancouver, Washington 98661, U.S.A. SEDIMENTATION AND GEOMORPHIC CHANGES OF MT. ST. HELENS 11 have been drawn to the volcano in great numbers. This paper reflects the findings of many of these scientists as well as our own research. Publications and field discussions with Randy Dinehart, Harry Glicken, Jon Major, Holly Martinson, Tom Pierson, Kevin Scott, Steve Stockton, Fred Swanson, and Barry Voight were particularly helpful in preparing this paper. Nobuo Anyoji, Hiroshi Ikeya, Takahisa Mizuyama, and Etsuro Shimokawa have been helpful in drawing analogies between erosion at Mount St. Helens and at various Japanese volcanoes. An early draft of this manuscript benefited from reviews by Gary Gallino, C. Newhall, and K. Michael Nolan. PHYSICAL AND CULTURAL SETTING Prior to 1980 Mount St. Helens was a symmetrical stratovolcano, rising 2950 meters above sea level and covered with 5.02km2 (0.179km3) of glacial ice (Brugman and Meier, 1981). The Mount St. Helens volcano rests on a drainage divide within an intricately dissected landscape carved into Tertiary volcanic and metavolcanic rocks (Huntting and others, 1961). The major valleys surrounding the volcano were extensively glaciated during Pleistocene glacial periods. Small glacial lakes are common above 1100 m above sea level, and glacial and glacio-fluvial deposits are widespread. Headwater tributaries of the North Fork Toutle River were originally dammed by pyroclastic flows and lahars about 4000 years ago to form Spirit Lake (Mullineaux and Crandell, 1981)-formerly a much photographed reflecting pond for the north flank of Mount St. Helens. Local relief along major valleys is typically between 400 and 700m. Hillslope gradients average 20 to 30 percent in unglaciated areas and are commonly greater than 40 per- cent in glaciated areas. Broad alluvial reaches of major streams have gradients of 0.005 to 0.03 and are separated by narrow bedrock gorges. The volcano-affected lower Cowlitz River, however, has an average gradient of only 0.0008. The deeply eroded bedrock valleys concentrate most water and sediment discharge from the volcano into the Toutle and Lewis Rivers, rather than allowing discharge to be radially dispersed. The Toutle River is unregulated, but the Lewis River has three hydroelectric and flood control reservoirs. Precipitation is heavy, with average annual amounts ranging from 1140mm near the Columbia River to more than 3200mm on the upper slopes of the volcano. About 75 percent of the annual precipitation falls between October and March (Phillips, 1974). During most winters a persistent snow pack develops above 1000m. Rainfall intensities are moderate with 20mm per hour occurring not more than once every 10 years (Hershfield, 1961). Most major floods are produced by prolonged periods of rain or by warm rain on water-saturated snow pack. Prior to 1980 the now devastated area was cloaked with a dense coniferous forest and used primarily for timber harvest and recreation. The two closest permanent towns are Cougar and Kid Valley (Fig. 1). The greatest concentration of lives and property within the eruption-affected area is along the lower Toutle and Cowlitz Rivers where 50,000 people live and the total assessed property value is about S 2.6 billion (Sarah Deatherage, written communication, Cowlitz County Dept. Community Development, 1983). Additional value is associated with an interstate highway, railroad, and the Columbia River, all of which are vital transportation corridors for the north- western United States. IMPACT OF INITIATING ERUPTIONS The volcanic events responsible for the immediate death and destruction on May 18, 1980 also set the stage for more persistent sedimentation and flooding hazards. After nearly two months of intense outward slope movement and seismicity associated with intrusion of a dacite cryptodome, the north slope of Mount St. Helens collapsed following a magnitude 5.2 earthquake on May 18, 1980, creating one of the largest mass movements of historic time (Voight and others, 1981; 1983)*). This collapse and the subsequent eruption re- moved the top 450m of the formerly symetrical cone and formed a north-facing amphitheater- 12 新 砂 防, Vol. 37, No. 2 (133) 昭59. 7. Figure 1. Location map showing localities and measurement locations discussed in text. shaped crater 600m deep. The path of the resulting avalanche of fragmental debris was strongly influenced by local topography. One avalanche lobe rammed into Spirit Lake causing a wave run-up to 260m above the original lake level and raising the lake by about 60m. Another lobe traveled northward for about 7km surmounting a 300-380m ridge at velocities of 50-70ms-1. The main avalanche lobe traveled 23km down the North Fork Toutle River valley in about 10 minntes. An area of 60km2 was buried to an average depth of 45m by about 2.8km3 of hum- mocky, poorly sorted, easily eroded debris; 56-94 percent of the deposit is less than 10mm in diameter with 15-69 percent being sand. Much of the avalanche deposit was deposited in an unsaturated condition. Water from some saturated pockets drained during subsequent lahar formation. The original avalanche surface lacked integrated drainage. Lakes formed in closed depressios on the avalanche deposit and in the lower ends of impounded tributaries. *) While this paper was in review the following well illustrated description of the North Fork Toutle debris ovalanche deposit was published in Japanese: Ui, T, and Aramaki, S., 1983, Volcanic Dry Avalanche Deposit in 1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens, U.S.A.: Bulletin Volcanological Society of Japan, vol. 28, p. 289-299. SEDIMENTATION AND GEOMORPHIC CHANGES OF MT. ST. HELENS 13 The crater, avalanche deposit, and impounded lakes at Mount St. Helens are strikingly similarr to those formed in the July 15, 1888 eruption of Bandi-san (Sekiya and Kikuchi, 1889). My brief inspection of the Bandi-san deposit suggests that it contains far more angular boulders and blocks of coherent andesite than the North Fork Toutle deposit. Those coarse clasts probably contributed to the rapid stabilization and revegetation at Bandi-san. A number of other Japanese analogs of the North Fork Toutle debris avalanche deposit were recently described by Ui (1983) in a way that should help in hazard zonation around other stratavolcanoes. Release of confining pressure following the rockslide-avalanche caused phreatic and magmatic explosions that generated a ground-hugging directed blast (Hoblitt and others, 1981; Moore and Sisson, 1981; Waitt, 1981). The blast rushed outward at velocities of about 200ms-1 felling all the trees and depositing 0.01-1 m of noncohesive sediment over 550km2 of steep mountainous terrane. A 0.3-3.0km-wide zone where trees remained standing but were killed by searing heat forms the outer fringe of the blast-affected area.