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Blowing Its Top
BLOWING ITS TOP: Mount St. Helens in Washington erupted in 1980. When this photo was taken a year later, the volcano was more than 1,000 feet shorter! Instead of a peak, Mount St. Helens now has a caldera. That's a crater formed by a violent eruption.

Photograph by Steve Raymer
© 2005 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.