Hi Lowell. The bulge - 4 inches high and from nine to 12 miles in diameter - is three miles west of the South Sister.

In 1990, Steve Ingebritsen, a geologist with the Geological Survey, had noted an unusually large amount of chloride in the waters of the Separation Creek area, west of South Sister.

High chloride levels are measures of dissolved rock that indicate warmer water circulating far below the surface. Although hot springs typically have high amounts of chloride, it's considered unusual in cold freshwater springs.

The geologists are wondering how that might be linked to the uplift, because the area of maximum rise is at a cold springs called Indian Holes, which also shows the highest chloride amounts.

The researchers are particularly interested in the presence of the helium-3 isotope. The only significant source of the helium-3 isotope is magma, which in this region is generated by partial melting of material in the mantle, the area of the earth between the core and the crust.

In addition, carbon dioxide measurements will be an important clue to quantifying the amounts of magma that are degassing. "Before carbon dioxide is going to get out into the surface, it's got to saturate a groundwater body," Evans said.

It should also be noted that preliminary findings from a helicopter survey of the area support that hypothesis. The survey found a small increase in carbon dioxide about 200 feet above the ground in April of 2001.

The researchers using an image taken in September of 2001 by a European Space Agency satellite showed that the roughly four-inch uplift had risen another 1.2 to 1.5 inches in the past year, for a total of about five inches over the past five years.

Gas measurements taken in the uplift area, of helium, carbon and carbon dioxide levels have indicated the presence of magma. But a third element present as eruptions near, which are swarms of shallow earthquakes – aren’t happening around the South Sister. A seismic monitoring station added last spring on The Husband, a peak west of South Sister, has registered just one quake, of 1.9 magnitude on the Richter scale, on Aug. 21, 2001.

I would suspect that this is a Volcanologist dream come true. The chance to witness what may be the birth of a volcano. Take Care…Don in creepy town

• The Bulge