Tuesday, 5 March 2013

volcano - types of explosions

When researching volcano's and their explosions i found out there are different types of explosions. 




Hawaiian Eruption

In a Hawaiian eruption, fluid basaltic lava is thrown into the air in jets from a vent or line of vents (a fissure) at the summit or on the flank of a volcano. The spatter created by bits of hot lava falling out of the fountain can melt together and form lava flows, or build hills called spatter cones. Lava flows may also come from vents at the same time as fountaining occurs, or during periods where fountaining has paused. Because these flows are very fluid, they can travel miles from their source before they cool and harden.


Strombolian Eruption

Strombolian eruptions are distinct bursts of fluid lava (usually basalt or basaltic andesite) from the mouth of a magma-filled summit conduit. The explosions usually occur every few minutes at regular or irregular intervals. The explosions of lava, which can reach heights of hundreds of meters, are caused by the bursting of large bubbles of gas, which travel upward in the magma-filled conduit until they reach the open air. Products of an explosive eruption are often collectively called tephra.


Vulcanian Eruption

A Vulcanian eruption is a short, violent, relatively small explosion of viscous magma (usually andesite, dacite, or rhyolite). This type of eruption results from the fragmentation and explosion of a plug of lava in a volcanic conduit, or from the rupture of a lava dome (viscous lava that piles up over a vent). Vulcanian eruptions create powerful explosions in which material can travel faster than 350 meters per second (800 mph) and rise several kilometers into the air. They produce tephra, ash clouds, and pyroclastic density currents (clouds of hot ash, gas and rock that flow almost like fluids).
Vulcanian eruptions may be repetitive and go on for days, months, or years, or they may precede even larger explosive eruptions. 

Plinian Eruption

The largest and most violent of all the types of volcanic eruptions are Plinian eruptions. They are caused by the fragmentation of gassy magma, and are usually associated with very viscous magmas (dacite and rhyolite). They release enormous amounts of energy and create eruption columns of gas and ash that can rise up to 50 km (35 miles) high at speeds of hundreds of meters per second. They can produce falls of ash, scoria and lava bombs miles from the volcano, and pyroclastic density currents that raze forests, strip soil from bedrock and obliterate anything in their paths.

Lava Domes

Lava domes form when very viscous, rubbly lava (usually andesite, dacite or rhyolite) is squeezed out of a vent without exploding. The lava piles up into a dome, which may grow by inflating from the inside or by squeezing out lobes of lava (something like toothpaste coming out of a tube). These lava lobes can be short and blobby, long and thin, or even form spikes that rise tens of meters into the air before they fall over. Lava domes may be rounded, pancake-shaped, or irregular piles of rock, depending on the type of lava they form from.

Lava domes are not just passive piles of rock; they can sometimes collapse and form pyroclastic density currents, extrude lava flows, or experience small and large explosive eruptions (which may even destroy the domes!)


Surtseyan Eruption

Surtseyan eruptions are a kind of hydromagmatic eruption, where magma or lava interacts explosively with water. In most cases, Surtseyan eruptions occur when an undersea volcano has finally grown large enough to break the water's surface; because water expands when it turns to steam, water that comes into contact with hot lava explodes and creates plumes of ash, steam and scoria. Lavas created by a Surtseyan eruption tend to be basalt, since most oceanic volcanoes are basaltic.




now i'm aware of the different explosions i might choose this as my aspect of volcano's. 



No comments:

Post a Comment