| AFTER A'summer of fieldwork in and around the Tseax lava cone in the Nass Valley,

scientists are getting ready to release their findings.

PHOTO CONTRIBUTED.

i Scientists closing in fon. lava cone. secrets.

By SARAH ARTIS

SCIENTISTS ARE a few steps ( closer to un- derstanding what really happened when the - Tseax volcanic. cone erupted, killing. about 2000 people almost 250 years ago in the Nass Valley.

Dr: Catherine Hickson,. along with four.

other ‘geologists, a support technician and three volunteers from Terrace, spent almost

two weeks taking samples and studying the:

_ physical properties of the. Nass valley lava flow at the beginning of July. 4 . Although: the team needs to analyze. their samples and data before drawing final con- clusions, many of their findings so far in- dicate the Nisga’a most likely died. from a flood caused by the eruption. “In the oral history, they talk about how they°rode across the river in canoes. When _ the lava hit the Nass River, it created what appears to have been a substantial flood so anyone on the other side of the river would have been impacted by the flood and essen- ‘tially just swept away,” Hickson said. ° The scientists found pillow- shaped rock “bulges i in the Nass River, most likely caused by lava entering the water, to Support this ‘hypothesis. —

“Initial findings also confirm some people | i ’ will inspire young Nisga’a to use their cul-

died from poisonous gases, Hickson said, but how many is unknown.

And the team is now wondering if a ‘third

: village was destroyed during the eruption. . Until now, history pointed at only two. “ Other diSCoveries ‘inélide a second vol-

Night time boating trouble

A SEARCH and rescue official says night time boating can be dangerous after a man was reported missing.

The man, believed to be in his 30s, set out in his boat on Lakelse Lake around | a.m. Sept. 4 and ended up spending the night there when he piloted his boat into some leaves and became stuck, says Terrace Search and Rescue team leader Dave Jephson. _

_ “Most people. realize it’s’ dangerous to be out at night unless you're super familiar with the, area and have good lights,” Jephson: said.

The next’ ‘morning, his sister noticed he

and the boat were gone.

She called RCMP who contacted Terrace |

Search and Rescue around 10:20 a.m. Sept. The water rescue team was paged and a

«

NOW FREE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN

_ticism,”

- ideas or confirmation,” Hickson Said. ir?

4) PODCAST FGR PARENTS: listen toan- ©

-éanic cone.— - although ‘ ‘it’s. so ‘small unless

. you were a volcanologist you wouldn’ t rec- ” ognize it,’

* Hickson said. Deposits of ochre, a fine- -grained red dirt,

_ which is evidence of a lake in the past were:

also found. A long history of volcanic erup- .. tions in the-area implies more will happen in the future.

“We can’t say precisely yet what the fu- . ture might hold. . But the past is the key to.

- the future,” Hickson said.

Some of the lava found in the valley was

more than 175,000 years old, said Margaret

Vanderberg, one of the Terrace volunteers who is familiar with the area. oO

What she found most interesting about’ the new findings was indications the Tseax cone erupted only once in 1775.

‘Based on a past study, she had always be: . lieved there was a number of eruptions. -

A:preliminary report on the scientists’ findings will be ready soon while a more in- depth analysis will be available at the begin- ning of next year...

But, so far. many ) of the recent findings match Nisga’a oral history. - :

“This is important to us because.too many.

times our oral history is described as roman-, said Nita Morven, a Nisga’a Lisims Government employee who hopes the study

tural information and be the ones doing the field work one day. :

The next few months will be spent ana- lyzing and “coming up with modification of ©

y se

crew started searching with the help of the provincial emergency program (PEP) and PEP Air, which operates a fixed-wing plane that can be used to locate someone on the water.

-The search began around 10:30 a.m. after a PEP airplane from Smithers arrived — the Kitimat plane was out of town’— and the team located the man around.2 p.m.

It’s believed the man, who may have been consuming alcohol, became disoriented. in _ the dark and became stuck. He managed to make it to shore:

“The biggest concern was locating him. and once he. was located and he was fine and didn’t need assistance, crews returned,” ” said: Jephson.

He said: the,;man was found him ¢ on the © northwest end of the lake.

interview with Dr, Monika Naus from the ae Centre for Disease Coatrol whore she talks about the Chickenpox vaccing for’ children. :

northern health

i i i H i } i { i i j i ] i

‘Goto www. becde.org for more information. _

‘

The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, October 4, 2006 - At 1

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