What is in the pools of water around St. Helens that makes them green? Volcanic vents? A concentrated mineral deposit?

cyberkem

Neither. . . . it's bacteria. The area around Mount St. Helens was sterlized by the heat of the explosive eruption of May 18, 1980. As a result, some bacteria that is usually not very common had a pristine environment to invade and multiple, without being constraint by other, more vigorous bacteria. Some of those pools still have high concentrations of such rare bacteria. (As a footnote, the bacteria that caused the epidemic known as Legionnaire's Disease, because it caused it rash of deaths at an American Legion's Convention, is found in many environments, though usually at very low concentrations. When I was working at MSH after the 1980 eruptions, scientists from the Central for Disease Control from Atlanta study the environment around MSH and concluded that the sterile environment had allowed the bacteria that causes Legionnaire's Disease is multiple quickly in some of the pools.)

Sincerely,
John Dvorak

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