Bathymetric dataset for Castle Lake, Mount St. Helens, Washington, from survey on August 1-3, 2012
Description
The May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens produced a 2.5-cubic kilometer debris avalanche that dammed South Fork Castle Creek, causing Castle Lake to form behind a 20-meter-tall blockage. Risk of a catastrophic breach of the newly impounded lake drove aggressive monitoring programs, mapping efforts, and blockage stability studies. Despite relatively large uncertainty, early mapping efforts adequately supported several lake breakout models, but have limited applicability to current lake monitoring and hazard assessment. Here, we present the results of a bathymetric survey conducted in August 2012 with the purpose of (1) verifying previous volume estimates, (2) computing an area/capacity table, and (3) producing a bathymetric map.