Cascade Mtns. Oregon

The ground near one of the long-dormant Three Sisters volcanoes in the Cascade Mountains of west-central Oregon has risen approximately 10centimeters in a 10-by-20-km parcel since 1996, meaning that magma or underground lava is slowly flowing into the area, according to a research team from the U.S. Geological Survey. The Three Sisters area -- which contains five volcanoes -- is only about 170 miles from Mount St. Helens, which erupted in 1980. Both are part of the Cascades Range, a line of 27volcanoes stretching from British Columbia in Canada to northern California. This perspective view was created by draping a simulated natural color ASTER image over digital topography from the U.S. Geological Survey National Elevation Dataset. This image was acquired on May 28, 2000 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA's Terra satellite. With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters (about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER will image Earth for the next 6 years to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA03492