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Stefano Alberti

Mount Saint Helens 40 years later – May 18, 1980: for everything to stay the same, everything must change

June 22, 2020
Mount Saint Helens 40 years later – May 18, 1980: for everything to stay the same, everything must change

Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it! Just a few words radioed by volcanologist David ‘Dave’ Johnston on May 18, 1980, to USGS headquarter in Vancouver, Washington State. It was 8:32 a.m., and a few hours later he lost his life during the (in)famous Mount Saint Helens eruption. That day, exactly forty years ago, the eruption of Mount St. Helen upset the world. It all started with a collapse on the nor ...[Read More]

Alpine rock instability events and mountain permafrost

and April 29, 2019
Alpine rock instability events and mountain permafrost

Rockfalls, rock slides and rock avalanches in high mountains The terms rockfall, rock avalanche and rockslide are often used interchangeably. Different authors have proposed definitions based on volume thresholds, but the establishment of fixed boundaries can be tricky. Rockfall can be defined as the detachment of a mass of rock from a steep rock-wall, along discontinuities and/or through rock bri ...[Read More]