Life returns Some researchers feared the area north of the volcano would remain a sterile moonscape for decades. But scientists studying the blast-seared zone north of the peak found vegetation on the landslide within a few years,

Nine years after the eruption, plants had returned to just over 10 percent of the hummocky terrain. Twenty years on, vegetation had expanded to cover about two-thirds of the deposit. Today, Frenzen says, about 80 percent of the once sterile area sports vegetation.

Some of the first plants to return were lupines, most of which are  perennial plants that add nitrogen to the soil.