Volcanic eruption

Volcanism (or vulcan activity) is the eruption of magma onto the surface of the Earth. Magma
under the crustis under very great pressure. When folding and faulting occur, cracks or fractures
appear. These are lines of weakness. When these lines of weakness develop downward in the crust
and reach the magma, they will release the pressure in the magma. This allows magma to rise up
along the lines of weakness and intrude into the crust. Some magma may even reach the Earth's
surface.
A volcanic eruption occurs when hot materials are thrown out of
a volcano. Lava, rocks, dust, ash and gas compounds are some of the materials.
Eruptions can come from side branches or from the top of the volcano. Some eruptions are
terrible explosions that throw out huge amounts of rock and ash and kill many people. Some are
quiet outflows of hot lava. Several more complex types of volcanic eruptions have been described
by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of eruption has
been seen. Some volcanoes may show only one type of eruption during a period of activity, while
others may show a range of types in a series.

Volcano explosivity index

The volcanic explosivity index (commonly shortened VEI) is a scale, from 0 to 8, for measuring the
strength of eruptions. It is used by the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program in
assessing the impact of historic and prehistoric lava flows. It operates in a way similar to the Richter
scalefor earthquakes, in that each interval in value represents a tenfold increasing in magnitude (it
is logarithmic). Most volcanic eruptions are of VEIs between 0 and 2.

Volcanic eruptions by VEI index

VEI

Plume
height

Eruptive volume *

Eruption type

Frequency
**

Example

<100
m
(330 ft
)

1,000 m3 (35,300 cu ft)

Hawaiian

Continuous

Kilauea

100

10,000 m3 (353,000 cu ft)

Hawaiian/Strombol

Months

Stromboli

1,000
m
(300
3,300 f
t)

ian

15 k
m (1
3 mi)

1,000,000 m3 (35,300,000 cu
ft)

Strombolian/Vulca
nian

Months

Galeras (1992)

315 k
m (2
9 mi)

10,000,000 m3 (353,000,000
cu ft)

Vulcanian

Yearly

Nevado del
Ruiz (1985)

1025
100,000,000 m3 (0.024 cu mi
km (6
)
16 mi)

Vulcanian/Pelan

Few years

Eyjafjallajkull (20
10)

>25 k
m
(16 mi
)

1 km3 (0.24 cu mi)

Plinian

510 years

Mount St.
Helens (1980)

>25 k
m
(16 mi
)

10 km3 (2 cu mi)

Plinian/Ultra
Plinian

1,000 years

Krakatoa (1883)

>25 k
m
(16 mi
)

100 km3 (20 cu mi)

Ultra Plinian

10,000
years

Tambora (1815)

>25 k
m
(16 mi
)

1,000 km3 (200 cu mi)

Supervolcanic

100,000
years

Lake Toba (74 ka)

* This is the minimum eruptive volume necessary for the eruption to be considered within the category.
** Values are a rough estimate. Exceptions occur.
There is a discontinuity between the 2nd and 3rd VEI level; instead of increasing by a magnitude of 10, the value increases by a magnitude of 100

(from 10,000 to 1,000,000).

The magma under great pressure with molten materials forces its way through the fissure of the
underground rocks and reaches the Earth's surface to form igneous extrusion. When the molten
materials reaches the surface, it is called extruded materials and such volcanic activity is known as
extrusive or surface vulcanicity.Some people classified extrusive vulcanicity into vent eruption and
fissure eruption depending on how the magma rising to the ground.
Major extruded materials include gas, liquid and solid.

Gas - sulphur, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and hot steam (geysers). When uprising magma
decreases in pressure suddenly, gases within magma explode to the Earth's surface and cause
destruction.

Solid - pyroclast. Mainly composed of: fragments of country-rock, solidified lava and fine
materials of volcanic ash and dust. It can be classified in term of size into volcanic bombs,
volcanic blocks, lapilli, volcanic ash and volcanic dust. This occurs inside the volcanic features
under ground

Liquid - lava, hot spring.

Features formed are:

Caldera: Is a large depression in a former volcanic site. When it is filled with water it is called
a 'Caldera Lake'.

Composite cones: Is a large volcanic mountain formed by solidified lava on the surface.

Geysers: Are eruption of hot water and steam shooting into the air at regular intervals.

Hot springs: Are springs of hot water that flows out continuously without shooting up into the
air.

Types of volcanic eruptions

Several types of volcanic eruptionsduring which lava, tephra (ash, lapilli, volcanic
bombs and blocks), and assorted gases are expelled from avolcanic vent or fissurehave been
distinguished by volcanologists. These are often named after famous volcanoes where that type of
behavior has been observed. Some volcanoes may exhibit only one characteristic type of eruption
during a period of activity, while others may display an entire sequence of types all in one eruptive
series.

There are three different types of eruptions. The most well-observed are magmatic eruptions, which
involve the decompression of gas within magma that propels it forward. Phreatomagmatic
eruptions are another type of volcanic eruption, driven by the compression of gas within magma, the
direct opposite of the process powering magmatic activity. The third eruptive type is the phreatic
eruption, which is driven by the superheating of steam via contact with magma; these eruptive types
often exhibit no magmatic release, instead causing the granulation of existing rock.
Within these wide-defining eruptive types are several subtypes. The weakest
are Hawaiian and submarine, then Strombolian, followed by Vulcanianand Surtseyan. The stronger
eruptive types are Pelean eruptions, followed by Plinian eruptions; the strongest eruptions are called
"Ultra Plinian."Subglacial and phreatic eruptions are defined by their eruptive mechanism, and vary
in strength. An important measure of eruptive strength isVolcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), an order of
magnitude scale ranging from 0 to 8 that often correlates to eruptive types.

Eruption mechanisms

Diagram showing the scale of VEIcorrelation with total ejecta volume.

Volcanic eruptions arise through three main mechanisms:[1]

Gas release under decompression causing magmatic eruptions

Thermal contraction from chilling on contact with water causing phreatomagmatic eruptions

Ejection of entrained particles during steam eruptions causing phreatic eruptions

There are two types of eruptions in terms of activity, explosive eruptions and effusive eruptions.
Explosive eruptions are characterized by gas-driven explosions that propels magma and tephra.

[1]

Effusive eruptions, meanwhile, are characterized by the outpouring of lava without significant

explosive eruption.[2]
Volcanic eruptions vary widely in strength. On the one extreme there are effusive Hawaiian
eruptions, which are characterized by lava fountains andfluid lava flows, which are typically not very
dangerous. On the other extreme, Plinian eruptions are large, violent, and highly dangerous
explosive events. Volcanoes are not bound to one eruptive style, and frequently display many
different types, both passive and explosive, even the span of a single eruptive cycle. [3] Volcanoes do
not always erupt vertically from a single crater near their peak, either. Some volcanoes
exhibit lateral and fissureeruptions. Notably, many Hawaiian eruptions start from rift zones,[4] and
some of the strongest Surtseyan eruptions develop along fracture zones.[5]Scientists believed that
pulses of magma mixed together in the chamber before climbing upwarda process estimated to
take several thousands of years. But Columbia University volcanologists found that the eruption of
Costa Ricas Iraz Volcano in 1963 was likely triggered by magma that took a nonstop route from the
mantle over just a few months.

A volcano is a vent or fissure in Earth's crust through which lava, ash, rock and gases
erupt. A volcano is also a mountain formed by the accumulation of these eruptive
products. Let's take a look at how volcanoes form:
Earth's crust is 40 to 250 miles (64 to 402 kilometers) thick. It is broken up into 14 major
and 38 smaller pieces called tectonic plates. These plates float on a layer of magma
semi-liquid rock and dissolved gases. At the boundaries of these plates where they
move past, are pushed under, or move away from each other magma, which is
lighter than the surrounding solid rock, is often able to force its way up through cracks
and fissures. Magma can explode from the vent, or it can flow out of the volcano like an
overflowing cup. Magma that has erupted is called lava.

Calderas: A caldera is a bowl-shaped depression formed when a volcano collapses into

the void left when its magma chamber is emptied; there are three types. The first type is
a crater lake caldera. This is the result of a stratovolcano collapsing into its magma
chamber during a violent eruption. Basaltic calderas have a concentric ring pattern
resulting from a series of gradual collapses rather than a single event. They are often
found at the summit of shield volcanoes such as the craters at the tops of Mauna Loa
and Kilauea. Resurgent calderas are the largest volcanic structures on Earth. They are

the result of catastrophic eruptions that dwarf any eruptions ever recorded by human
beings. Yellowstone caldera, sometimes called the super volcano, is one example.
Volcanic plugs: When magma solidifies in the fissure of a volcano the hard dense rock
may form a neck that remains when softer surrounding rock has been eroded away.
This can result in dramatic landmarks such as Ship Rock in New Mexico, and Devils
Tower in Wyoming.
Lava Plateaus: Shield volcanoes may erupt along lines of fissures rather than a central
vent spilling liquid lava in successive layers. Over time as these layers form broad
plateaus such as the Columbia Plateau. These plateaus are often cut by deep canyons
that expose the layers of rock.

A fissure vent opened on Hawaii's Kilauea volcano.

Volcanoes in history

A.D. 79: One of the most famous volcanoes isMount Vesuvius, which sits along the
Bay of Naples in southern Italy. It has erupted more than 50 times in the past 2,000
years. The A.D. 79 eruption, which buried Pompeii, made Vesuvius famous, but another
eruption in 1631 killed some 4,000 people.
1669: In Sicily, Mount Etna sent a river of lava through the streets of Catania, killing
some 20,000 people there and in the surrounding region. [Video: Mount Etna's Dramatic
New Eruption]
1783: The eruption of Mount Skaptar in Iceland devastated farming and fishing,
causing a famine that killed a fifth of the country's people.
1815:Whirlwinds and tsunamis from the eruption of Mount Tambora, on Sumbawa
Island in Indonesia, killed 12,000 people. The volcano sent a cloud ejecta into the
atmosphere that was more than four times the amount ejected by Mount Pinatubo in
1991.
1883: Another Indonesian volcano, Krakatoa, erupted in an explosion heard 3,000
miles away. Seventy-pound boulders landed on islands 50 miles away, and a 130-foot

tsunami devastated hundreds of villages, including Java and Sumatra. About 36,000
people died. Dust high in the atmosphere caused the Moon to appear blue, and
sometimes green, for two years.
1902: Mount Pele, on the island of Martinique, smothered the town of Saint-Pierre in
deadly gas and hot ash, killing 29,933 of the 29,937 residents.
1980: Mount St. Helens in Washington state blew 1,300 feet off its top, killing 57
people and causing a midday darkness in towns 85 miles away.
1991: After 600 years of dormancy, Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines rumbled for days
before erupting and killing about 750 people. Ash was more than 6 feet deep in a twomile radius around the volcano, and buried a U.S. air base 15 miles away.
Pinatubo's cloud of sulfuric acid, some 20 million tons of it, climbed to more than 12
miles in the stratosphere. Over the next several weeks, the cloud encircled the equator
and spread to the poles, covering the entire planet. The particles reflected sunlight and
cooled the Earth by nearly a full degree Fahrenheit.
Other significant U.S. volcanoes
Lassen Peak, California: Erupted between 1914 and 1917, causing no deaths. Lassen
is considered one of the most likely in the Cascade Range to erupt again.
Long Valley, California: The Long Valley Caldera is a 10-by 20-mile depression in the
Sierra Nevada Mountains caused by an eruption 700,000 years ago. A tremendous
explosion spit out molten rock from 4 miles under the surface; afterward, the whole
mess settled more than a mile down into the depression where the magma had been.
Magma still feeds hot springs in the caldera. Earthquakes in 1980 marked the beginning
of new activity that has included shifts in the position of hot springs and swarms of other
small earthquakes. Geologists say it probably indicates that magma is again rising from
below, and they suspect the area will erupt again.
Mount Shasta, California: Last known eruption was in 1786. It is believed to erupt
every 600 to 800 years. Mountain is significant as the incredibly dominant visual
element in the Northern California landscape.

Kilauea and Muana Loa, Hawaii: Each tends to erupt every two or three years;
eruptions are non-explosive, allowing these two volcanoes to be among the most
studied active volcanoes in the world.