Inheritance: Volcanoes - Mammoth Displays of the Power of God

God's Warth is Coming... Are You Ready?

You had better listen to the words of Jesus, “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, shall enter, but he that does the will of my father in heaven.” If ye by the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the flesh, ye shall live. If you live after the flesh, you’ll die! The cross does not give us a minor shift or two with regard to a few of our ethical and religious values. The cross radically disrupts the very center and citadel of your life from self to Christ. And if the cross has not done that, YOU’RE NOT A CHRISTIAN! My Friend face it, young rogue, you’re not a Christian until the cross has radically disrupted the very center and citadel of your life! And brought you from a life of commitment to serve self…What are the focal points of the reign of your self? If you’ve gone to the cross in union with Christ, it’s been shattered!"
- Al Martin

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Volcanoes - Mammoth Displays of the Power of God

We have to admit - Mt. St. Helens was a powerful eruption. It was the most destructive in US history and unleashed power equivalent to approximately 20,000 Hiroshima sized atomic bombs. No small feat. But how does this volcano compare in the grand scheme of things? A little diagram might help us to see just what we are looking at a little better.

Mt. St. Helens produced an impressive amount of ash - .25 cubic miles. The ash plume reached 80,000 feet in 15 minutes and the east coast in 3 days.

But in sheer volume of expelled material, is this actually all that much? Not really.

A fissure in Iceland opened up in 1783-1784 that produced a whopping 3.8 cubic miles of basalt lava. Not as violent for sure, but in terms of actual material, that is a huge increase.

But about 1,800 years ago, a New Zealand eruption dwarfed even that.

Mt. Taupo produced 8 cubic miles of ash. That is a lot of ash compared to little old Mt. St. Helens!

But is it the biggest eruption? Not in the least, soon after the flood, our own Yellowstone erupted and produced at least 480 cubic miles of ash producing a hole so big, you have to use satellites to discern its edges. So how does that compare with the above? Well, powerpoint won't let me zoom out that far, so this screen shot is the best I can do.

Mt. St. Helens now is so small we can't even see it. The cube for Yellowstone is 48 inches to a side while poor little Helen is only .025 inches to a side.

The next illustration does not exist because I am incapable of producing it. Imagine the cube for Mt. St. Helens to be only .00025 inch to a side. This is 1,000th of an inch = 1 mile. Then imagine that the Yellowstone cube would be only .48 inches to a side. Then imagine a cube 480 inches to a side - where 1,000th of an inch still = a mile. Now we are talking an eruption! Presumably during the flood, an eruption in Russia covered 130,000 sq. miles with over 480,000 cubic miles (in volume) of basalt lava. Another one in India covered 200,000 sq. miles over a mile deep.

What an awesome God we serve. Shall we not glorify the Great King? Praise the Lord and give Him the glory due His Name.