The ground near one of the long-dormant Three Sisters volcanoes in the Cascade Mountains ofwest-central Oregon has risen approximately 10 centimeters in a 10-by-20-km parcel since 1996,meaning that magma or underground lava is slowly flowing into the area, according to a researchteam from the U.S. Geological Survey. The Three Sisters area—which contains five volcanoes—is only about 170 miles from Mount St. Helens, which erupted in 1980. Both are part of theCascades Range, a line of 27 volcanoes stretching from British Columbia in Canada to northernCalifornia. This perspective view was created by draping a simulated natural color ASTER imageover digital topography from the U.S. Geological Survey National Elevation Dataset.
References & Resources
Image courtesy of NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
