What Actually Happened at Mount St. Helens? - Dr. Steve Austin

After you’ve watched the documentary film and want to learn more, this is your next step. Explore the impact of the global flood on the Earth in these 20 new videos featuring scientists from the film.

In this first video in our "Beyond Is Genesis History?" series, Geologist Steve Austin provides an overview of the events of the 1980 volcanic eruption and subsequent mudflows. He explains how geologic processes associated with the volcano and its aftermath can teach us about even larger catastrophic processes that occurred during the global Flood.

Dr. Austin is a field research geologist who has done research on six of the seven continents of the world. His research has taken him by helicopter into the crater on Mount St. Helens, by bush plane onto glaciers in Alaska, by raft through the Grand Canyon, on horseback into the high Sierra, by elevator into the world’s deepest coal mines, by SCUBA onto the Great Barrier Reef, by rail into Korean backcountry, by foot onto barren plateaus of southern Argentina, and by four-wheel drive into remote desert areas of Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Dr. Austin received his PhD from Pennsylvania State University in sedimentary geology.

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[CJWJR]

I remember my 8th grade Language Arts teacher telling us this story in class one day in 1999:

"I'm originally from Oregon, and when I was 12 years old, Mt. St. Helens blew up in my back yard, and there was ash everywhere although it kind of looked like snow. Anyway, on my dad's birthday, I took my finger and wrote in the ash on the hood of his car 'Happy birthday, Dad!' Unfortunately, unlike snow, I didn't know that volcanic ash was abrasive and would scratch car paint. So, from that point on until the day he sold it, it had 'Happy birthday, Dad!' scratched in the hood of the car. So, if you ever find yourself in place where volcanic ash lands on your car, *do not* use your finger to write in it. 😄"

[FZ]

I used to climb it as a 'tune up' for more major climbs, this before it blew. On the day it let off, I was assigned to monitor the University of Washington seismograph, and was studying for my Geology finals. Someone came running in to the shop, yelling that 'Saint Helens went!', and I quickly scrambled to the next room to see the seismic squiggles on the drum seismograph. Dang, missed it! Several days later I got permission to fly into the restricted zone from the Tulan airfield nearby, and took the first infrared photos of the area. We decided to fly the Cessna into the crater - wrong move! Talk about thermals! Never will forget the scenes, with mono color tan, and several bright yellow plumes coming out of the tuff deposit - evidently the result of buried ice vaporizing in the hot tuff. Surreal.

[dearamber]

I was 4 when it erupted and I still remember it. We lived really close to it in a small town. I remember the shaking, and the noise then the sky turned blackish in the middle of the day and it began to rain ash. We still have ash all over the place. To this day Everytime I smell a burnt match I get a flash back to that day.

[billperez]

It's my belief GOD showed mercy in allowing this event back in 1980 by giving us a very very very small sample of (HIS Power and Glory) and what took place during Noah's Day. I know there will be mockers and scoffers of what this event revealed and the evidence it left behind, but I look at it this way. Even today many around the world hate and mock Jesus Christ so it stands to reason they'll do the same to those of us who believe HIS Word (not only for doctrine but also it's narrative) and put our trust in HIM. "Those who wait upon The Lord Will Not be ashamed". TY, and look forward to watching this video.

[RickyPisano]

I was stationed at Ft Lewis in Tacoma. May 18th. I'll never forget it. Just unbelievable the power of this eruption.

[livingpicture]

I was born the day after it erupted, but a year earlier, so I've always felt like I had a connection to Mt. St. Helens. I don't remember it, as I was just under 1 year old, but I've long been fascinated with events surrounding the eruption, especially so ever since finding out how the catastrophe provides us with demonstrative information that upends the traditional "millions of years" rhetoric, and gives us evidence for a catastrophe such as the flood of Noah's day.
Concerning the comparison between flood flow and normal creek/river flow, one thing doesn't appear to be mentioned: Studies were done on floods at river deltas where it was discovered/demonstrated the growth is not vertical, with sediment being laid down layer after layer, but rather laterally/horizontally, with SEVERAL layers are laid down at the same time. Material self-sorts while it's being laid down, and this alone totally destroys the idea that layers took millions, thousands, hundreds, or even one single year. They can be laid down in a single event.

[chrismoody]

This is a story of Mt. St. Helen I’ve never heard discussed before. As a former geological student in college, this event has always captured my interest as well as the Indonesian and Japan tsunami events.

[TentoesMe]

Amazing. It took millions of years to form this starting 40 years ago 😉 In the early 70's, I was in High School and I realized, "The Bible is true. If it looks like it is not true, we don't understand something we're looking at."

[BillWiltfong]

Is that "Stone & Coal" Steve Austin himself?

[brendamartin]

I was a freshman in high school living in Portland Oregon, I remember this event as if it were yesterday…

2020 was the second time in my life having to wear a mask…

[fendermcmarshall]

This is why the dating we are being told about ancient structures and geologic formations is jot even remotely accurate. The Grand canyon for instance is very likely to have occurred during a catastrophic event rather than long term geological erosion.

[jasontolkien]

Great video! Thanks so much for standing for Young Earth Creationsim! God's word is truth!

[bozzskaggs]

I wish they had mentioned the petrified forest that has formed since 1980.

[dingorex]

Thanks for making these available on YouTube while the country/world is on lock down. I am sharing on my Facebook page and Twitter account, also. God bless ICR for helping me over the years.

[jimmywrangles]

Don't take this the wrong way but i wish this had of happened now, there'd be ten million different camera angles from stationary cameras all the way up to drone film all of it uploaded in real time to a cloud and then edited to give us a VR 360 degree view of the eruption from any angle. It would have been epic in every way and nature would have won an academy award.

[kermitefrog]

This happened during the week I was graduating. I was living in the Yakima valley and it was only later in the day we realized that Mt. St. Helens made an ash out of herself. The ash cloud was hit by sun light and the color was a rusty red. What a sight and it interfered with radio and TV signals.

[franciscocepeda]

This means the Grand Canyon formed in maybe a few years, you know compared to millions or billions

[jimschiltz]

This is a great video. Extremely informative.

[SuperPhester]

THANK YOU GENTLEmen!!! You are Superstars in my book!!!!

[bradbechlyb]

Must be a old video. He said 35 years ago, it's 2020, that makes it 40 years ago. Still good video. I live about 45 miles away and was 19yrs old when it blew it's top. Climbed to the rim last summer. pretty amazing