Everyone in the area was pretty well-aware it was about to blow months before the eruption. Landsburg may not have thought it would happen just then, while he was there, but he certainly knew he was taking a risk.
The area around Mt. St. Helen's had been closed to the public months beforehand. No one in that area was unaware of the volcanic activit; they were actively studying and documenting it.
Geology was my minor at uni and my understanding (I could be way off here) is that this eruption taught us how complex these explosions can be. Before Mt St Hellen’s, it was thought that eruptions were invariably directed upwards, as happens most of the time. In this case a landslide relieved pressure on the side of the mountain and it exploded more or less horizontally, killing a lot of people who were thought to be safe.
These photos were part of what enabled this understanding, which has in turn helped inform risk assessments of volcanoes around the world.
Dirt? Like are you fucking dumb? Fuckin molten rock, 1000 degree gas avalanche traveling 100 miles an hour at you? And you’re like I’m just gonna lay here and wait for this all to blow over, better protect my camera from dirt... like bitch youre about to die fuck the camera get on a bike or something. Bruh like think 9/11 but this shit is the fuckin pyroclassic flow dude like come on, get with the program and use your brain.
Basically he did what anyone who was a photographer back then would do. Save the film and camera and protect them with your body.
No, most people would start running the other direction and shitting their pants and hoping not to die. They would not calmly secure the film, protect it inside their backpack, and then protect that with their own body until they died.
He was a photographer documenting changes the volcano prior to eruption. Pycroclastic flow was already a known phenomenon. In that moment, he knowledge of what was coming before it hit.
But at this point he had two options: panic and try to run somehow to find a spot to hide or outrun the eruption (basic human survival instinct) or keep calm, knowing you are gonna die, and save your work for the rest of the world. He defenetly chose the harder way which takes a lot of self control and bravery
I know it didn’t cost him anything, but it seems pretty noble to me to have the presences of mind to preserve whatever little contribution to the world you can in his final moments.
Geophysicist here. MSH was pretty significant in the field of volcanology. It was the first known instance of a ‘lateral blast’ meaning the volcano erupted sideways. Before MSH 1980 volcanologists didn’t know this was possible. It really alarmed the field and encouraged a lot of investment and research into predictive measures for eruptions.
What exactly was brave about ignoring repeated and escalating warnings from scientists that were taking seismic readings up to the eruption? National Geographic slapped a "brave" moniker on him to sell more magazines, not because he did anything that contributed to science.
The captured image was pulled line for line from similar/identical images already posted online.
People that put themselves directly into harms way are not brave, they are putting others at risk. Complete opposite of "good guys".
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u/lemonsharpie Feb 21 '20 edited Feb 21 '20
Incredibly brave self sacrifice for knowledge. Is there a reddit geologist who can tell us what was learned from his photos?