Volcano Unrest in the Cascades Click Image to Enlarge  (JPG) (285 KB) ( 1,597 x 1,082 )

The ground near one of the long-dormant Three Sisters volcanoes in the Cascade Mountains of west-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 research team 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 the Cascades Range, a line of 27 volcanoes stretching from British Columbia in Canada to northern California. This perspective view was created by draping a simulated natural color ASTER image over digital topography from the U.S. Geological Survey National Elevation Dataset. The image is centered at 44.1 degrees north latitude, 121.8 degrees west longitude.