Imaging St. Helen's 'Volcano Plumbing'

Researchers are taking a close look at the "volcano plumbing" of Mount St. Helens, looking deeper and closer than they claim science has ever looked before.

Researchers have launched a project to chart the subterranean system of magma that feeds the Mount St. Helens volcano in Washington State.

As of this weekend, researchers from the US Geological Survey, not to mention a slew of geological graduate students, have begun installing the first of about 70 seismic sensors that will be placed around Mount St. Helens, the Associated Press (AP) reports.

The project, simply called "Imaging Magma Under St. Hellens" (iMUSH), officially began last month, but research efforts are now in full swing with these first sensors (seismometers) in place. According to the iMush website, the team still promises the installation of these sensors as their top priority - having to overcome rough terrain, frequent flat tires, and ponderous "old farts," who happen to be projects principle investigators (PIs), according to Steve Malone, the team's resident blogger.

But joking aside, these PI geologists and seismo-volcanologists are leading a project that will likely reveal more about how a volcano system feeds than has ever been uncovered.

"Nobody has thrown this much technology and expertise at one volcano system," Geological Survey scientist Seth Morgan told the AP.

Once the full system of sensors is in place, the researchers hope they will be able to clearly see the depth and flow of certain magma veins using the sensor-imaging technology. Equipment will also be measuring fluctuations in the Earth's electromagnetic field, covering all their bases.

According to the AP, if everything goes off without a hitch, the iMUSH strategy might be used on other volcanoes elsewhere, helping to determine why volcanoes form where they do and why they differ.

"Through the course of three or four or five, we'll get a sense of how comparable magma systems are at depth," Moran said.

For those who want to check out Mt. St Helen for themselves, the US Forest Service recently opened the Johnston Ridge Observatory at Mount St. Helens - allowing the public to learn more about the relatively active volcano's history and check out some remarkable sights, including a 13,042-foot-long lava tube.