How big is the 2009 Redoubt lava dome?

The lava dome is 70 million cubic meters. For Flattop fans, the lava dome would be equivalent to a significant portion of this popular peak, as shown by the red portion in this figure.

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Here's a topographic map of Flattop (a mountain near Anchorage), with the lava dome volume superimposed in plan view (the heavy red line). Each of the section squares is a square mile.

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If we spread the lava out in a three foot thick layer, it would cover a large portion of Anchorage - 27 square miles!

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This amount of lava is equivalent to about 500 ConocoPhillips towers - currently the tallest building in the state of Alaska (22 stories, 90 m/296 ft).

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Here's a view of the Redoubt lava dome in November, 2009.

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70 million cubic meters is difficult to imagine. This volume for the 2009 Redoubt lava dome was calculated by USGS geologist Angie Diefenbach at the Cascades Volcano Observatory, using oblique airphotos taken by AVO geoscientists.

These are some cool ways to visualize 70 million cubic meters, put together by AVO volunteer scientist Doug Robbins and AVO geologist Tina Neal.

Also, the lava dome could provide a 2x2x2 foot block of lava to every American (about 304 million people). Think of the shipping charges!