Footprints in the Ash by John D. Morris

Footprints in the Ash by John D. Morris ISBN-13: 9780890514009 Hardcover: 128 pages Publisher: Master Books Released: August 19th 2004

Source: Bought the book.

Book Description from Goodreads:
In the aftermath of the Mount St. Helens eruption and the subsequent glacier slide and mudflows, there remained a geologic gold mine for earth scientists. No natural disasters in recent history could compare with the variety of process which resulted from this tectonic and volcanic event. As creation scientists have carefully studied this geological phenomenon, they have concluded that Mount St. Helens accomplished the same sort of geologic work that biblical creationists attribute to Noah's flood. While this explosion was certainly much smaller in scale and intensity, many lessons were learned through this occurrence that help us understand the unobservable past. Journey back to this catastrophic event with scientists Dr. Steve Austin and Dr. John Morris and see what was discovered as they reconstruct the sequence of earthquakes, eruptions, avalanches, mudflows, and other geologic processes and unveil their fascinating research findings!


My Review:
Footprints in the Ash talks about how observations of events during and after the explosion of Mount St. Helens impact our understanding of how quickly various geological formations are created. The book had many photographs of the destruction and of the geological formations that were created in the aftermath. The author started by detailing the events of the eruption, like the start of the mud flow or the various catastrophic events that happened at Spirit Lake.

The author then moved on to the observations taken by the scientists at that time and in the years afterwards. He talked about how a certain sedimentation pattern or whatever would be explained if seen in places like the Grand Canyon, but we now know how quickly they form because we saw them form in a matter of hours or sometimes days.

He talked about rapid strata formation, rapid hardening of sediments into rock, rock deformation, the damage caused by flowing water and mud slurry, radioisotope dating on the new lava dome, rapid erosion of canyons into solid rock, rapid formation of Badlands topography, comparing it to the Grand Canyon, the rapid formation of peat and coal beds, the rapid formation of shoreline features, the rapid fossilization of trees and about petrified wood, and how quickly plants and animals returned to the ash areas. Overall, I'd recommend this very interesting book.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.