![]() Mazama, which blew itself in an eruption about 42 times more powerful than Mount St. However, the volcano could explode like Mt. An eruption would most likely to create a large pyroclastic flow, and perhaps a lahar. Lassen continues to have geothermal activity and could erupt explosively again. On May 22, 1915, an explosive eruption sent a column of ash and gas 30,000 feet into the air and triggered a high-speed pyroclastic flow, which melted snow and created a lahar. Helens was preceded by the eruption of Lassen Peak, one of the three Cascade Volcanoes in northern California. In the Cascade Range, the explosive eruption of Mount St. These gases contribute to environmental problems like acid rain and ozone destruction, and can actually cool the Earth’s atmosphere. Additionally, volcanic gases like water vapor, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and hydrogen chloride can form poisonous and invisible clouds that roam about the atmosphere. Sometimes secondary explosions occur that are even greater than the first. This huge mushroom cloud reached 45,000 feet and caught a Boeing 747 in its plume. This pressure grows and grows until these dissolved gases cause it to burst in an enormous explosion.įigure 8.10: Explosive eruption of Mt. As hot magma beneath the surface interacts with water, gases accumulate and the magma pressure builds up. Explosive volcanic eruptions can be that powerful (Figure 8.9). Now imagine an explosion 10,000 times as powerful. Imagine the devastation and force caused by the atom bomb dropped on Nagasaki at the end of World War II in which over 40,000 people died. Volcanic eruptions tend to be one or the other. In reality, these two phenomena rarely occur in the same volcano. When we think of volcanic eruptions, we often think of huge clouds of volcanic ash ejected high into the atmosphere and then thick rivers of red lava snaking down the mountainside. These are the two types of volcanic eruptions that we see–explosive and non-explosive eruptions. We talked about eruption to mean both a violent explosion or a sort of silent spreading. However, we tend to see two major kinds of eruptions. In the same way, each volcano and its eruptions are unique. Their composition and construction depend on so many factors, that it would be impossible for two formations to be exactly alike. Types of EruptionsĮvery geological formation is unique. These two definitions are similar to the two kinds of eruptions that we see in volcanoes. But an eruption can also be a spreading of something like a rash on your skin, gradual and relatively calm. An eruption can be an outburst or explosion, a violent and sudden occurrence, like when a crowd erupts in anger. The word eruption is used in other contexts, as well. Eventually, the magma reaches the surface when it comes out, we call it an eruption. As a result, the magma seeks a way out pushing toward the surface, the magma seeps through cracks in the Earth’s crust called vents. As the rock heats, it expands, which creates even more pressure. The magma collects in magma chambers that can be 160 kilometers (100 miles) beneath the surface.
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