Mt.St. Helens erupted in 1980, Ash rock and debris destroyed plant life for miles away. how is it that....?

Question

new plants are once growing again in this area?

Answer 1

The heat was intense but brief in most areas, so it did not destroy the "seed bank" in the ground. Within weeks, ant colonies were discovered in many areas that looked totally sterile. They had survived because they were underground. Some areas with thick ash eroded quickly and exposed ground that still contained viable seeds. In addition, birds returned to the area quickly, even if just passing over. If you've washed your car recently, you know how rapidly birds act as a vector for seed distribution.

Answer 2

When Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980, because of the type of volcano that it is, it created a pyroclastic flow. A fast moving, superheated cloud of ash, rock and debris with an internal temperature of over 800 degrees farenheit. This cloud simply incinerated everything it passed over for miles. After the dust settled, within a few years, local plants started colonizing the region again and some of the forest that was destroyed is recovering.

Answer 3

Plus, volcanic ashes are very fertile so that plants return quickly. And Mt. St. Helens is just a glimpse of things to come one day when the nearby supervolcano Yellowstone, a tremendous caldera filled with cubic miles of magma, finally erupts.
This will cause the most apocalyptic scenario man has ever seen; the aftermath of this event may bring us humans and 90% of all other species to the edge of extinction. And it is disturbing to realize that this monster volcano erupts at near clock work precision every 600,000 years. 640,000 years have passed since its last eruption. Furthermore, scientists found that the ground of the Yellowstone is raising quick; about 20 inches since the 1920's, a stark indication of a dramatic built-up of volcanic gases inside the caldera.

Answer 4

Wind carrying Debris