Mt. Baker Volcano Research Center Update

Mt. Baker in the northern Cascades of Washington.

One of the best websites dedicated to any volcano is the Mt. Baker Volcano Research Center – hosted by Western Washington University. I’ve talked about it before, but David Tucker and his associates have put together an excellent resource on this (at least in my opinion) woefully underappreciated Cascade volcano.

There is a pile of news from the MBVRC and I thought I’d pass it along.

First off, the 2010 T-shirt design contest has kicked off. Last year the MBVRC raised much needed funds with a T-shirt sale and now you can try to design the shirt for 2010. The deadline for entries is March 31, so you better get designing.

The MBVRC also posted an image of the Sherman fumarole field taken in early February. Those fumaroles definitely remind you that Baker is one of the most active volcanoes in the Cascades. The image came from John Scurlock, who has some closeups of the fumaroles as well, taken in early March.

Finally, you can follow all the news at the MBVRC over on a new subscription blog started by the Center. Hear all the latest news on Baker and the Center – and it sounds like this summer will be exciting according to Tucker: “There will be some interesting research happening at the volcano this summer- gravimetry, gas sampling, tephra mapping…and the long-awaited USGS Prof Paper on the eruptive history should be out this year, too.”

I even forgot that there is a webcam pointed at Mt. Baker from the Ferndale Library, only 30 miles from the volcano … a nice vantage point when the volcano comes back to life (whenever that is).