Categories > Celebrities > 30 Seconds to Mars > The Volcanologist

Wrapping Up

by Mazwe 0 reviews

Shannon and the team finish work with their most recent eruption so they can return home. He also shares his colleagues' first eruptions.

Category: 30 Seconds to Mars - Rating: G - Genres: Drama - Published: 2011-09-22 - Updated: 2011-09-22 - 709 words - Complete

0Unrated
And so began my fascination with volcanoes. I know a bit about earthquakes too, but volcanoes were always my preference. I'd saved my brother from being burnt by a spill-over from the lake of lava, and then witnessed the very eruption.

Mt St Helens blew in 1980, when I was 10 years old and Jared was 8. We saw it in the news. Jared's jaw dropped when he saw it. There was no lava lake in the crater like Villarrica, it was completely blocked. Pressure built into a lava dome on the side of the mountain, and blew sidewards when it finally did erupt. Studying further, I discovered there were only 5 of these lakes in the world! And I'd seen one at such a young age. I didn't know if I would ever see one again (although knowing how dangerous they were, I hoped I didn't!)

"Day-dreaming?"

My thoughts are interrupted by Dannielle, currently looking at our saved video footage on her laptop computer. It was a video of the previous eruption we had seen a few days ago. She sits taking notes: what happened and at what time.

"Hmm? Oh, just thinking back."

"To?"

"My first eruption."

"I've been there."

We have all shared each other's experiences. Dannielle and Luke both know the story of my brother and I, just as I know their first eruptions. Dannielle and Luke are both younger than me, and gained an interest for Geography in their schools.

Dannielle's first experience with a volcano was in Iceland - where there are over 100 known volcanoes. Minor earthquakes had started to gather, and her team knew there were many volcanoes hidden in the area. Luckily, there was no-one living nearby. They just had to examine the volcano and make notes. Before they left, Dannielle thought it wise to take note of the direction of the wind, and then instruct the helicopter pilot to fly against it. Her team didn't understand why, but allowed her to do so. As they flew away in the helicopter, the volcano erupted. The smoke and ash blew in the direction of the wind, and away from the helicopter. Dannielle had saved all of their lives, because if she hadn't taken notes of the wind and the helicopter had flown in the original direction, ash would have been sucked into the engine and they would have crashed.

Luke finishes his conversation on the phone and turns to look at us. "Its safe to go up in the helicopter now. We'll be viewing the crater at 2pm."

Luke's first eruption was the closest to danger. There was a miscalculation, and the volcano attacked sooner than expected. It happened just as Luke and another member of his team were viewing the crater. Luke didn't want to go up there, he knew there could be a mistake. But his boss made him. They were lowered to the edge of the crater on a rope and safety harness. But before his feet even touched the floor, he knew something wasn't right. He insisted that they be pulled away immediately. The boss wanted the helicopter pilot to ignore his pleas, but the pilot believed Luke's word and pulled them both away from the mountain as fast as he could. Just as the boss was threatening Luke and the pilot with their jobs, the mountain rumbled and violently threw rocks into the air. One of them badly injured his team-mate's leg, all because of the stubbornness of his boss. That's why he left the team and now works with Dannielle and I.

We respect each others opinions and work between us. If one of us doesn't like the look of something, we can trust that instinct. Of course we work for other Volcanologists - reporting back to them with our files - but other than that, we are our own boss.

"There it is." Luke makes a video from the helicopter. "Do we all agree?"

Dannielle carefully writes down the results of the eruption to the mountain, making the final notes before we can return to our base - and our homes - in America.

"Yes Luke." I send the message to the fellow teams. 'GREEN LEVEL - NORMAL. The volcano has now reverted back to its original non-eruptive level'.
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