[HairOfTheDog]

For more than a year now, Mount St. Helens has been oozing lava into its crater at the rate of roughly a large dump truck load - 10 cubic yards - every three seconds.

Even after being there many times... I just can't see change in the dome...

Sept - 03:

July -05:

Doesn't look a lot different to me. So I guess I just can't grasp the scale of this thing.

[UCANSEE2]

I believe it pushes up a huge pile of ashes, then reaches a crescendo that rolls on down the mountainside, likely in small increments.

[jimtorr]

The new dome is behind of and uphill of the old dome, looking at them from the angle of the pictures you posted.

Of your two pictures, you can see the new dome most clearly in the July 05 picture. It is the slightly lighter shape behind and above the old dome. The steam plume appears to be coming from the top of it.

The problem with seeing the new dome is one of contrast. Viewed from the angle of these pictures it's the same shade of black and grey as the slope behind it.


Here's a link to the USGS Mt. St. Helens website, with a picture explaining the various features inside the crater:
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/MSH/MSH05/MSH05_crater_from_north_with_whaleback_views_annotated.jpg

This link takes you to the main Mt. Saint Helens web site:

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/Images/MSH/