#tephra

once were doomed by their own natures and by an accident of the weather. Obad-hai said “this is how it ought to be. They remained true to themselves even though it meant their undoing.” But Jubilex, a god of life and change, disagreed. “Let me make a creature that combines their strengths,” he said (though none but the gods could understand his churning chemistry as speech). “Then, it can survive anything.”

And so the Surgolid Scorpion-Frog was born. It could swim, and sting, and burrow into the sands of the Hydra Delta. The beast had the frog’s confidence and the scorpion’s killer instinct. With all these traits, it was feared by all creatures, until a little snake asked it “How strong is your poison?” Laughing at the snake, the Surgolid replied “I can strike dead any mortal, or beast, or even a dragon! Your puny fangs are no match for my barbed tail.” But the snake persisted “I challenge you to a contest. You sting me, I bite you, and we shall see who perishes first. For you have eaten many of my hatchlings and my kin.”

The Scorpion-frog accepted, of course. It was in its nature to prove its might, even against an insignificant little serpent. So, climbing up to the monster’s back, the snake got a good vantage point, and said “Now!” The tail came down like a thunderbolt, and instead of biting, the snake wriggled aside and let its rival sting its own neck. “Oh! You bite hard!” the Surgolid said in amazement, and tried again. Three times it stung itself, before the venom brought it down. “It was in your nature,” the snake said.

Tephra MMD rig finished

there also will be bouncing ears

(This photo rendered in EEVEE)

my beautiful children Lead Sulfide and Lava Bomb

In the aftermath of the May 18, 1980, eruption of Mount St. Helens, ash fell across a wide part of the country, including at Mount Rainier. This ash formed a layer of sediment called tephra. Tephra is more than just a mess to clean up – it actually becomes an important part of the geologic history of a landscape! Mount Rainier National Park has been covered in at least 22 tephras from past eruptions of Mount St Helens, Mount Mazama (Crater Lake), and Mount Rainier itself.

Each layer of tephra can be tied to a specific time period. This is a valuable tool in archaeology, since tephra layers can help date objects found in between the layers. Tephra layers have helped archaeologists determine that artifacts, including chip shards and hearth features, found in the Ohanapecosh area of the park date to over 7,000 years ago. Volcanic eruptions can be destructive, but they can also be used to reveal a long history of human use on the slopes of those same volcanoes.