Volcanoes and Plate Tectonics

Volcanic Activity
Volcanic activity ranges from emission of gases, non-explosive lava emissions to extremely violent explosive bursts that may last many hours. The types of eruptions determine the relative volumes and types of volcaniclastic material and lava flows, consequently the shapes and sizes of volcanoes. A volcanic event occurs when there is a sudden or continuing release of energy caused by nearsurface or surface magma movement. The energy can be in the form of earthquakes, gas-emission at the surface, release of heat (geothermal activity), explosive release of gases (including steam with the interaction of magma and surface of ground water), and the non-explosive extrusion or intrusion of magma. An event could be non-destructive without release of solids or magmatic liquid, or if there is anything to destroy, could be destructive with voluminous lava flows or explosive activity. Destruction usually refers to the works of mankind (buildings, roads, agricultural land, etc.). A volcanic event can include (1) an eruptive pulse (essentially an explosion with an eruption plume, but also non-explosive surges of lava. A pulse may last a few seconds to minutes,

http://www.geol.ucsb.edu/~fisher/erupt.htm

Activity (2) an eruptive phase that may last Volcanic a few hours to days and consist of numerous eruptive pulses that may alternate between explosions and lava surges, and
(3) a single eruption or eruptive episode, composed of several phases, that may last a few days, months or years (Fisher and Schmincke, 1984). Paricutin, Mexico was in eruption for nine years. Stromboli, Italy has been in eruption for over 2000 years.

Various Hazards Associated with a Volcano

Simkin et al. (1981) define eruptions in terms of inactive periods. An eruption that follows its predecessor by less than 3 months is considered to be a phase of the earlier eruption unless it is distinctly different (explosive versus effusive, different magma type). Some volcanoes (e.g., domes and basaltic scoria cones) may form completely within a few weeks or months. Others, such as shield volcanoes and composite volcanoes may show high order discontinuities such as major chemical changes, volcano-tectonic events like caldera collapse, or long erosional intervals, and may last 10 m.y. or more before volcanism completely dies out. During a single eruption, styles of activity and types of products may change within minutes or hours, depending upon changes in magma composition, volatiles, or other magma chamber and vent conditions.
http://www.geol.ucsb.edu/~fisher/erupt.htm

USGS Fact Sheet 002-97

Mt. Pelee, West Indies, 1902

* * * * * * * * * * *
Mt. Pelee is famous for the May 8, 1902 eruption which killed 29,000 people and destroyed the city of St. Pierre. This is the largest number of casualities for a volcanic eruption this century. Photograph of Mt. Pelee by Heilprin, May 26, 1902.

Hazards
lava flows lahars/mudflows pyroclastic flows/ash flow tuffs/base surges plinian ash fall (tephra); other ballistic ejecta landslides/debris avalanches tsunamis lava domes volcanic gases & acid rain atmospheric gases and particulates famine water discharge/floods/jokulhaups (glacial bursts) gas emissions and global climate change
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~leeman/volcanic_hazards.html

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_mt_pelee.html

Five Types of Volcanoes

Description of Volcano Types

Magma Types

Volcano Statistics prepared by Bill Leeman

Characteristics of common magma types
Composition (SiO2) Common name (intrusive equivalent) Low Silica (<53%) basalt (gabbro) Medium Silica (53-66%) andesite - dacite (diorite-tonalite) High Silica (>66%) rhyolite (granite)

Topography of Shield vs Stratovolcano

Color

dark green, gray, or black

gray, green

white, tan, pink

Viscosity ('dry')# Typical volcanoes

fluid shield, cinder cone, rift

intermediate stratovolcano, cinder cone

viscous stratovolcano

# Note that viscosity will decrease with increasing water content

http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~leeman/Volcanoes1.html

Shield vs Composite (stratovolcano)

Variety Hawaiian (Kilauea, 1983) Icelandic (Laki, 1783) Strombolian (Paracutin, 1943) Vesuvian (Ruiz, 1985) Plinian (Vesuvius, 79 AD) Cataclysmic (Krakatau, 1883) Phreatic (Kilauea, 1924)

Types of Eruptions
Typical products or effects Basaltic lavas Volume large Violence low Typical Volcano Type shield

Basalt sheet flows

huge

none

shield flood basalt

Basaltic lava & cinders

moderate

moderate

composite cinder cone

Intermediate ash

moderate

high

composite

Rhyolite to andesite ash tephra, pyroclastic flows Rhyolite ash, pumice, & ash flows steam & fragmented rocks

large

very high

composite

huge

very high

composite

small

small

maar, shield, composite

http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~leeman/Volcanoes1.html

Types of Eruptions
he type of volcanic eruption Is often labeled with the name of a well-known volcano where characteristic behavior is similar--hence the use of such terms as "Strombolian," "Vulcanian," "Vesuvian," "Pelean," "Hawaiian," and others. Some volcanoes may exhibit only one characteristic type of eruption during an interval of activity--others may display an entire sequence of types. n a Strombolian-type eruption observed during the 1965 activity of Iraz Volcano in Costa Rica, huge clots of molten lava burst from the summit crater to form luminous arcs through the sky. Collecting on the flanks of the cone, lava clots combined to stream down the slopes in fiery rivulets. n contrast, the eruptive activity of Parcutin Volcano in 1947 demonstrated a "Vulcanian"-type eruption, in which a dense cloud of ash-laden gas explodes from the crater and rises high above the peak. Steaming ash forms a whitish cloud near the upper level of the cone.

Types of Eruptions

T I I

Hawaiian" eruptions may occur along fissures or fractures that serve as linear vents, such as during the
eruption of Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii in 1950; or they may occur at a central vent such as during the 1959 eruption in Kilauea Iki Crater of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. In fissure-type eruptions, molten, incandescent lava spurts from a fissure on the volcano's rift zone and feeds lava streams that flow downslope. In central-vent eruptions, a fountain of fiery lava spurts to a height of several hundred feet or more. Such lava may collect in old pit craters to form lava lakes, or form cones, or feed radiating flows.

Phreatic" (or steam-blast) eruptions are driven by explosive expanding steam resulting from cold ground or
surface water coming into contact with hot rock or magma. The distinguishing feature of phreatic explosions is that they only blast out fragments of preexisting solid rock from the volcanic conduit; no new magma is erupted. Phreatic activity is generally weak, but can be quite violent in some cases, such as the 1965 eruption of Taal Volcano, Philippines, and the 1975-76 activity at La Soufrire, Guadeloupe (Lesser Antilles). he most powerful eruptions are called "plinian" and involve the explosive ejection of relatively viscous lava. Large plinian eruptions--such as during 18 May 1980 at Mount St. Helens or, more recently, during 15 June 1991 at Pinatubo in the Philippines--can send ash and volcanic gas tens of miles into the air. The resulting ash fallout can affect large areas hundreds of miles downwind. Fast-moving deadly pyroclastic flows ("nues ardentes") are also commonly associated with plinian eruptions.

In a "Vesuvian" eruption, as typified by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy in A.D. 79, great quantities
of ash-laden gas are violently discharged to form cauliflower-shaped cloud high above the volcano.

In a "Pelan" or "Nue Ardente (glowing cloud) eruption, such as occurred on the Mayon Volcano in the
Philippines in 1968, a large quantity of gas, dust, ash, and incandescent lava fragments are blown out of a central crater, fall back, and form tongue-like, glowing avalanches that move downslope at velocities as great as 100 miles per hour. Such eruptive activity can cause great destruction and loss of life if it occurs in populated areas, as demonstrated by the devastation of St. Pierre during the 1902 eruption of Mont Pele on Martinique, Lesser Antilles.

Tilling: Volcanoes http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/

Tilling: Volcanoes http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/

Explosiveness
Eruption type is a function of magma composition, viscosity, and gas content (all influenced by plate tectonic setting), recurrence time between eruptions, magma volume, replenishment of magma reservoir, strength of surrounding rocks, and access of external water. Non-explosive: Flood lavas - basaltic, can be highly voluminous - Iceland, Columbia River Plateau and other flood basalt provinces, lunar mare (cf. large igneous provinces or 'LIPs') Hawaiian style - similar to flood type, but with some tephra and fast-moving fluid lavas, often channelized; these tend to form large shield-like cones * Mid-ocean ridges (e.g., Juan de Fuca Ridge) - largely restricted to spreading center rifts as small cones and sheet flows Explosive (in order of increasing energetics): * Strombolian - bombs, molten ejecta, lavas --> symmetrical scoria cones, mafic compositions * Vulcanian - ejecta blocks, pasty silicic lavas --> scoria cones & stratovolcanoes of tephra layers and ejecta deposits * Surtseyan - hydrovolcanic, magma and water mixtures --> large clouds of fine pyroclastic dust, near vent rings of coarser ejecta * Vesuvian/Plinian - very explosive, wide distribution of tephra, can lead to caldera collapse in large stratovolcanoes (Vesuvius, Pinatubo) * Peleean - collapse of ash columns --> pyroclastic flows (nuees ardentes), debris avalanche deposits or ignimbrites (Mt. Pelee, Martinique) * Bandaian - lateral explosion --> cyclone-like (up to 150 km/hr) base surge deposits (Mount St. Helens) *
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~leeman/Volcanoes1.html

Volumes of Mass and Volcanic Explosive Index (VEI)

Volumes extruded Volcanic Explosive Index [VEI] - roughly tenfold increase in ejecta volume (and energy release) for each VEI-step; applied to explosive or pyroclastic volcanoes. Certain types of eruptions (e.g., flood basalts, ignimbrite flows) are not included. Also, time-history of eruptive activity is highly variable between volcanoes - some deposits accumulated over significant time periods (years, Mazama) whereas others were formed in days (Krakatoa). * * * * * * * * * 0 - only fumarolic activity I - <0.00001 km3 (e.g., 1949 Yakeyama, old detritus) II - <0.0001 km3 (e.g., 1926 Tokachidake, old detritus) III - <0.001 km3 (e.g., 1893 Asama, 0.0005 km3 fragmental ejects) IV - <0.01 km3 V - <0.1 km3 (e.g., 1959 Oshima; 0.03 km3 lavas) VI - <1 km3 (e.g., 1911 Taal; 1707 Fuji; 1980 Mt. St. Helens, 0.5 km3 pyroclastics) VII - <10 km3 (e.g., 1888 Bandai; 1.2 km3 old detritus) VIII - <100 km3 (e.g., 1883 Krakatoa, 18 km3; 1470 B.C. Santorini, 30 km3; Mazama, >40 km3 pyroclastics) * IX - >100 km3 (e.g., 1815 Tambora, 150 km3 pyroclastics) Maximum volumes for a single event generally increase with silica content and vent size - up to 100s - 1000s km3 for large caldera-related silicic eruptions; can be significant for large basalt eruptions. Caldera sizes - range up to 100 x 35 km (Toba), 70 x 40 km (Yellowstone). There is a complete spectrum to smaller sizes. Number of examples decreases with increasing size.
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~leeman/volcanic_hazards.html

Sizes of Selected Eruptions

Examples Santorini, 1628 BC Crater Lake, 4650 BC Tambora, 1815 Katmai, 1912 Laki, 1783 Krakatau, 1883 Coseguina, 1835 Vesuvius, 79 AD Bezymianny, 1955-6 Paricutin, 1943-52 Mauna Loa, 1950 Mt. Saint Helens Kilauea, 1959-60 Kilauea, 1952 Taal, 1965 Bikini A-bomb test Volume of magma (km3) 60 60 50 14 13 6 5 3 3 1.6 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.6 0.03 NA Energy (ergs * 10^22) 90000 60000 42000 20000 86000 5000 5000 2500 2200 2800 1400 100 500 180 10 <1 Explosivity (VEI) 6 6 7 6 4 6 5 5 5 3 0 5 2 0 4 NA
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/ ~leeman/Volcanoes1.ht ml

Probabilities of Eruption
Probabilities of eruptions
Recurrence intervals [R] for eruptions increase with size of eruptions (as indicated by volcanic explosive index [VEI]). R is a function of volume of magma input, type of magma, type of reservoir, and strength of containing rocks, among other factors (tectonic activity, access of water to magma body, triggering earthquakes, etc.). Larger R generally implies higher probability of a violent eruption. Areal density of volcanoes in regions - problems involved in counting distinct volcanoes - is a parasitic cone a different volcano? (recall Mt. Shasta, which has numerous parasitic cones on the main cone; also, the main cone sits on eroded remnants of at least 2 older stratocones). Individual volcanoes - estimates are based on relatively few events in a comparatively short period of observation; average recurrence intervals and uncertainties (one standard deviation) are as follows for selected volcanoes: Mauna Loa - since 1832, an eruption has occurred on average every 3.8 3.0 yr Kilauea - since 1750, averaged an eruption every 3.2 6 yr Hekla (Iceland) - since 930 AD, averaged an eruption every 54 36 yr Vesuvius - averaged an eruption every 5.3 4.8 yr - because the last eruption occurred in 1944, a new one seems overdue and may be more violent than usual. However, activity may be Mt. Pelee - since 1792, avg 364 473 yr between eruptions (VEI = 3-4) Fuji - since 781 AD, avg 71 113 yr between eruptions (last eruption was in 1707!) Mt. St. Helens - since 1500, avg 37 58 yr between eruptions, more violent events are less frequent
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~leeman/volcanic_hazards.html

Distance and Areas of Impact

Scales of impact Distances covered * * * * * lavas - up to >100 km (depending on magma type, viscosity, volume ejected, topography, etc.) glowing avalanches (nuees ardentes) - up to >50 km (roughly 10-20 * height of volcano) ash/tephra - 100s to 1000s of km (depending on volume of ejecta and column height [proportional to thermal energy released], wind velocity and distribution) volcanic projectiles (stones, bombs) - up to 50-100 km (depending on muzzle velocity, size and density of particles, ejection angle, etc.) mudflows/lahars - up to 300 km (Cotopaxi volcano)

Composite Volcanoes
Composite volcanoes

Some of the Earth's grandest mountains are composite volcanoes--sometimes

called stratovolcanoes. They are typically steep-sided, symmetrical cones of large dimension built of alternating layers of lava flows, volcanic ash, cinders, blocks, and bombs and may rise as much as 8,000 feet above their bases. Some of the most conspicuous and beautiful mountains in the world are composite volcanoes, including Mount Fuji in Japan, Mount Cotopaxi in Ecuador, Mount Shasta in California, Mount Hood in Oregon, and Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier in Washington. ost composite volcanoes have a crater at the summit which contains a central vent or a clustered group of vents. Lavas either flow through breaks in the crater wall or issue from fissures on the flanks of the cone. Lava, solidified within the fissures, forms dikes that act as ribs which greatly strengthen the cone. he essential feature of a composite volcano is a conduit system through which magma from a reservoir deep in the Earth's crust rises to the surface. The volcano is built up by the accumulation of material erupted through the conduit and increases in size as lava, cinders, ash, etc., are added to its slopes.
Tilling: Volcanoes http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/

Areas covered per eruptive phase * * * * flood basalt eruptions - more than 10,000 km2 (but commonly 10s -100s); 1783 Laki eruptions covered 565 km2 glowing avalanches - up to 100s km2 (1902 Mt. Pelee, >80 km2) ignimbrites (ash flow tuffs) - up to 1000s km2 lahars (up to 1000s km2)

http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~leeman/volcanic_hazards.html

Shield Volcano
Shield volcanoes
The internal structure of a typical shield volcano hield volcanoes, the third type of volcano, are built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. Flow after flow pours out in all directions from a central summit vent, or group of vents, building a broad, gently sloping cone of flat, domical shape, with a profile much like that of a warrior's shield. They are built up slowly by the accretion of thousands of highly fluid lava flows called basalt lava that spread widely over great distances, and then cool as thin, gently dipping sheets. Lavas also commonly erupt from vents along fractures (rift zones) that develop on the flanks of the cone. Some of the largest volcanoes in the world are shield volcanoes. In northern California and Oregon, many shield volcanoes have diameters of 3 or 4 miles and heights of 1,500 to 2,000 feet. The Hawaiian Islands are composed of linear chains of these volcanoes including Kilauea and Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii-- two of the world's most active volcanoes. The floor of the ocean is more than 15,000 feet deep at the bases of the islands. As Mauna Loa, the largest of the shield volcanoes (and also the world's largest active volcano), projects 13,677 feet above sea level, its top is over 28,000 feet above the deep ocean floor.

Cinder Cone
Cinder cones

Cinder cones are the simplest type of volcano. They are built from particles and blobs of congealed lava ejected from a single vent. As the gas-charged lava is blown violently into the air, it breaks into small fragments that solidify and fall as cinders around the vent to form a circular or oval cone. Most cinder cones have a bowl-shaped crater at the summit and rarely rise more than a thousand feet or so above their surroundings. Cinder cones are numerous in western North America as well as throughout other volcanic terrains of the world. In 1943 a cinder cone started growing on a farm near the village of Parcutin in Mexico.
Explosive eruptions caused by gas rapidly expanding and escaping from molten lava formed cinders that fell back around the vent, building up the cone to a height of 1,200 feet. The last explosive eruption left a funnel-shaped crater at the top of the cone. After the excess gases had largely dissipated, the molten rock quietly poured out on the surrounding surface of the cone and moved downslope as lava flows. This order of events--eruption, formation of cone and crater, lava flow--is a common sequence in the formation of cinder cones.
Tilling: Volcanoes http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/

In some eruptions, basaltic lava pours out quietly from long fissures instead of central vents and
floods the surrounding countryside with lava flow upon lava flow, forming broad plateaus. Lava plateaus of this type can be seen in Iceland, southeastern Washington, eastern Oregon, and southern Idaho. Along the Snake River in Idaho, and the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon, these lava flows are beautifully exposed and measure more than a mile in total thickness.
Tilling: Volcanoes http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/

Lava Domes
Lava domes
olcanic or lava domes are formed by relatively small, bulbous masses of lava too viscous to flow any great distance; consequently, on extrusion, the lava piles over and around its vent. A dome grows largely by expansion from within. As it grows its outer surface cools and hardens, then shatters, spilling loose fragments down its sides. Some domes form craggy knobs or spines over the volcanic vent, whereas others form short, steep-sided lava flows known as "coulees." Volcanic domes commonly occur within the craters or on the flanks of large composite volcanoes. The nearly circular Novarupta Dome that formed during the 1912 eruption of Katmai Volcano, Alaska, measures 800 feet across and 200 feet high. The internal structure of this dome--defined by layering of lava fanning upward and outward from the center--indicates that it grew largely by expansion from within. ont Pele in Martinique, Lesser Antilles, and Lassen Peak and Mono domes in California are examples of lava domes. An extremely destructive eruption accompanied the growth of a dome at Mont Pele in 1902. The coastal town of St. Pierre, about 4 miles downslope to the south, was demolished and nearly 30,000 inhabitants were killed by an incandescent, high-velocity ash flow and associated hot gases and volcanic dust
Tilling: Volcanoes http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/

Hazards
* * * * * * * * * * * * lava flows lahars/mudflows pyroclastic flows/ash flow tuffs/base surges plinian ash fall (tephra); other ballistic ejecta landslides/debris avalanches tsunamis lava domes volcanic gases & acid rain atmospheric gases and particulates famine water discharge/floods/jokulhaups (glacial bursts) gas emissions and global climate change
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~leeman/volcanic_hazards.html

Lava Flows
Lava Flows are sheets and tongues of liquid rock expelled from the crown or flank of an effusively erupting volcano and are probably the best known volcanic hazard. They are usually depicted in books and movies as roaring down the erupting volcano's steep slopes to inundate houses, cars, trees and expendable movie extras. Although some lava flows can travel at 50-60 mph, others move at human walking speeds or slower. The speed of a flow depends on the viscosity of the lava and the incline of the volcanoe's slope. The destructive power of lava flows lies in the high temperature of the rock, which can set structures aflame, and in the size and mass of the flow, which can engulf or crush even large buildings. Some lava flows are small enough for a person to step across and cause little damage; on the other hand, lava flows like the Columbia River Basalts are large enough to literally cover entire states, and totally destroy everything in their path. Photo: Courtesy of NGDC/NOAA.

Lava Flows

Lava flows Lava flows rarely threaten human life because lava usually moves slowly -- a few centimeters per hour for silicic flows to several km/hour for basaltic flows. An exceptionally fast flow (extremely rare) at Mt. Nyiragongo, Zaire (30-100 km/hour), overwhelmed about 300 people. Major hazards of lava flows -- burying, crushing, covering, burning everything in their path. Sometimes lava melts ice and snow to cause floods and lahars. Lava flows can dam rivers to form lakes that might overflow and break their dams causing floods. Methods for controlling paths of lava flows: (1) construct barriers and diversion channels, (2) cool advancing front with water, (3) disruption of source or advancing front of lava flow by explosives.

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/vhazards.html

http://magic.geol.ucsb.edu/~fisher/hazards.htm

Lava Flow Kileuea

Lava Flow Hawaii

Braided lava flows spread from a lava fountain on the side of Pu`u `O`o cone, located on the southeast rift zone of Kilauea Volcano. During similar fountaining episodes in 1983 and 1984, several lava flows traveled about 6.5 km through rainforest and into the Royal Gardens subdivision, which is built on the steep south flank of the volcano. The lava flows reached the http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/hazards/ subdivision in as little as 13 hours, and destroyed 16 houses.

Photograph by J. Kauahikaua on September 10, 2000

Sluggish lava flow spreads from the base of the Pulama pali (background), burning vegetation sandwiched between flows emplaced in 1985 and 1992. As new lava continued to feed the leading edge of flow, the trailing surface inflated by several meters. http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/archive/spotlight_images

Mud Flows
Mudflows are masses of fluid mud moving downhill under the influence of gravity. Mudflows commonly occur on volcanoes with large deposits of ice and snow on their summits. Mudflows typically begin with the rapid melting of a large amount of ice--the melting may be caused by an eruption or simply by friction in an ice avalanche that has broken free because of an earthquake or collapse of an overloaded ice mass. As the meltwater flows down the volcano's flank, it mixes with the usually abundant loose soil and ash to form a muddy liquid about the consistency of wet cement. The mud follows stream and river valleys down and away from the volcano to become a fast-moving (4050 mph) wall of mud that will carry away anything in its path. These two images show a house in the Philippines before and after a mudflow from Mt. Pinatubo. Only the pointed roof is visible in the second image. Mudflows at Mount St. Helens carried huge trucks and machinery many miles and tore bridges and houses from their foundations. They can be seen along river valleys in the Shuttle image above. A mudflow roared down a river valley on the side of Nevado del Ruiz in Columbia in 1985 and swept through a town of 25,000 people, killing nearly everyone and leaving nothing standing.
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/vhazards.html

Mud Flows
Mudflows are a particular problem on high volcanoes that have glaciers on them, such as those in the Andes Mountains in South America and the Cascades in the western United States. Mount Rainier's "cap" and drapings of ice are clearly visible in this image of its west side. Photo: Dr. Stephen M. Pompea, Pompea & Associates

As you might expect, the larger the amount of ice available to melt, the larger the potential mudflows. About 3.5 billion cubic feet of ice melted during the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption. Mudflows from that eruption flowed many tens of miles down local river drainages. Mudflows around Mount Rainier, with its much larger mass of glaciers, are an ongoing problem. Some Rainier mudflows have traveled 50 to 100 miles away from the mountain. Mudflows are a significant danger during eruptions, because the heat from the inside of the mountain or from falling hot ash is capable of melting large amounts of ice.
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/vhazards.html

Debris Flows Mud Flows_Peru

Debris-flow Avalanches
The eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 started with a relatively small volcanic earthquake that caused collapse of the north side of the volcano because it was oversteepened and therefore unstable. When the landslide occurred, it decreased the pressure on the pressurized interior of the volcano which expanded explosively to form a lateral blast that devastated the countryside north of the volcano. Most of the debris flow avalanche was diverted down the North Fork Toutle River, but some moved directly northward over a 300 meter ridge and down into the next valley. Since the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption, dozens of volcanoes that have given rise to avalanches have been discovered. For example, 40 avalanches exceeding 1 Km3 in volume, and 22 with a volume of less than 1 km3, are now known from the Quaternary alone, and 17 historic volcanic avalanches have been identified. The hilly topography north of Mount Shasta in northern California is now known to be the result of a have debris-flow avalanche. Some are known to extend up to 85 km from their sources and to cover tens to more than 1000 km2 in area. However, mudflows can also occur when there is no eruption. An earthquake may shake off a mass of ice that melts because of friction as it rolls down the mountain, mixing with loose material to make a mudflow. A heavy snow fall or rapid spring melt may trigger a burst of ice or water from a glacier that may also form a mudflow.
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/vhazards.html

1970 Peru, 60,000 Deaths Photo: NOAA

http://magic.geol.ucsb.edu/~fisher/hazards.htm

Prehistoric Mt Ranier Mudflows

Nevada del Ruiz 1985 Euruption 23,000 deaths in Armero

Nevado del Ruiz Lahar

Mt St Helens Debris Flow

Ro Lagunillas, former location of Armero. Within four hours of the beginning of the eruption, lahars had traveled 100 km and left behind a wake of destruction: more than 23,000 people killed, about 5,000 injured, and more than 5,000 homes destroyed along the Chinchin, Gual, and Lagunillas rivers. Hardest hit was the town of Armero at the mouth of the Ro Lagunillas canyon, which was located in the center of this photograph. Three quarters of its 28,700 inhabitants perished.
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Hazards/What/Lahars/RuizLahars.html

Debris-flow avalanche deposit from Mount St. Helens formed on 18 May 1980. Hummocky surface is typical of avalanche deposits.
http://magic.geol.ucsb.edu/~fisher/hazards.htm

Mt St Helens

St Helens Damage

This photograph shows a large dacitic block from Mount St. Helens within a matrix of smaller sized and more mafic composition fragments. Erosion has carved into the debris avalanche to provide exposures of individual blocks. Although the blocks are coherent masses, they have been extensively fractured and can be excavated with a shovel. Dr. Eric Baer for scale (arrow).
http://magic.geol.ucsb.edu/~fisher/hazards.htm

Glacial Outbursts
Glacial Outbursts as the name suggests, are masses of water or ice
suddenly released from a glacier. Outbursts may be caused by rapid melting, an earthquake, or heat from lava moving inside a volcano. Glacial outbursts are primarily water, but they can turn into mudflows if they flow over ground with abundant soil or gravel. Glacial outbursts and mudflows can occur on any mountain with glaciers or heavy snow pack, but since many volcanoes grow to altitudes at which glaciers form, outbursts and mudflows are frequently significant volcano-related hazards as well.
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/vhazards.html

Hazards
* * * * * * * * * * * * lava flows lahars/mudflows pyroclastic flows/ash flow tuffs/base surges plinian ash fall (tephra); other ballistic ejecta landslides/debris avalanches tsunamis lava domes volcanic gases & acid rain atmospheric gases and particulates famine water discharge/floods/jokulhaups (glacial bursts) gas emissions and global climate change
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~leeman/volcanic_hazards.html

Lahars
Lahars
Lahars are part of the family of debris flows that are fluids composed of mixtures of water and particles of all sizes from clay-size to gigantic boulders. The abundance of solid matter carries the water, unlike watery floods where water carries the fragments. Debris flows have the viscous consistency of wet concrete, and there is a complete transition to watery floods. Lahars are composed of volcanic particles and originate directly or indirectly from volcanic action. Lahars can form by hot pyroclastic surges or flows entering watershed systems or flowing over snow and ice, by eruptions through crater lakes, by heavy rains on loose volcanic debris -- that is, any process by which volcanic particles can become saturated by water and move downslopes. They can move with velocities as low as 1.3 m/s to as great as 40 m/s on steep slopes (1 m/s = 2.55 miles per hour). They are known to have travelled as far as 300 km (1 km = 0.63 miles). Lahars have destroyed many villages and lives living on Indonesian volcanoes because most people live in valleys where lahars flow. The 21,000 lives lost at Armero, Colombia, was from a lahar that formed during the eruption of Nevado del Ruiz in 1985. It was generated by meltwater from the interaction of pyroclastic surges with snow and ice, from a very small eruption. Lahars can transform into regular floods as they become increasingly diluted with water downstream. This phenomenon was first discovered at Mount St. Helens where hot pyroclastic surges transformed to lahars, which further transformed to hyperconcentrated streamflow and then to normal stream-flow turbulence (floods).
http://magic.geol.ucsb.edu/~fisher/hazards.htm

Mt St Helens Lahar

Predicted Lahar at Mt Ranier

Santa Maria, Guatemala Lahar

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/Rainier/Outreach/ screen_poster_lahar_haz.jpg

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/volcano_types/lahar.htm

Santa Maria (Guatemala) Lahar: 15 miles from source

RockDebris/Avalanches
Rock/Debris avalanches are masses of cold, dry rock which have broken free from the sides of a volcano. They are driven downslope by gravity, smashing everything in their path by the force of their motion and then burying what remains under a mass of rock and debris. A good example of a rock avalanche triggered by an eruption is the mass of rock that broke off the north face of Mount St. Helens and buried the valleys to the north. However, an eruption is not needed to trigger a rock avalanche. Simple undermining of a mass of rock or an earthquake unrelated to an eruption can start a rock avalanche. Of course, such rock avalanches can occur on any steep mountain slope, but volcanoes are particularly prone to rock avalanches because: their sides consist of outward-sloping layers of solid and fragmental rock (is easier to slide down a sloping table top than across the ends of a bunch of stacked tables.), and volcanic rock is easily changed by water into slippery clay which promotes failure and sliding.
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/vhazards.html

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/ vwdocs/vwlessons/volcano_t ypes/lahar.htm

Spirit Lake Dammed by Debris Flow Mt Shasta Debris Avalanche

Volcano Generated Landslides

These illustrations show the landslide (green) and directed blast (red) that occurred during the first few minutes of the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. Before the eruption, an estimated 0.11 km3 of dacite magma had intruded into the volcano (equivalent to sphere about 600 m in diameter!). The rising magma forced the volcano's north flank (right side of illustration) outward about 150 m and heated the volcano's ground water system, causing many steam-driven explosions (phreatic eruptions). The hot magma and surrounding hydrothermal system were unroofed by the landslide (green), and the resulting rapid depressurization caused a series of steam- and volcanic-gas-driven explosions. The explosions burst through part of the landslide, blasting rock debris northward. The resulting pyroclastic surge quickly overran the landslide and spread over ridges and valleys across an area of 550 km2.
USGS Cascade Volcano Observatory

Sequence of Events Mt St Helens

Hazards
* * * * * * * * * * * * lava flows lahars/mudflows pyroclastic flows/ash flow tuffs/base surges plinian ash fall (tephra); other ballistic ejecta landslides/debris avalanches tsunamis lava domes volcanic gases & acid rain atmospheric gases and particulates famine water discharge/floods/jokulhaups (glacial bursts) gas emissions and global climate change
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~leeman/volcanic_hazards.html

Pyroclastic Density Currents

Pyroclastic Density Currents
Pyroclastic density currents are are gravity-driven, rapidly moving, ground-hugging mixtures of rock fragments and hot gases. This mixture forms a dense fluid that moves along the ground with an upper part that is less dense as particles fall toward the ground. The behavior of the fluid depends upon the solids concentration relative to the amount of hot gases (i.e., solids-gas ratio). High concentration density flows are called "pyroclastic flows" and are essentially nonturbulent and confined to valleys. Low concentration density flows are called "pyroclastic surges" which can expand over hill and valley like hurricanes. Temperatures may be as hot as 900 degrees Celsius, or as cold as steam ( see "base surges" in section on Hydroclastic Processes). Pyroclastic flows and surges are potentially highly destructive owing to their mass, high temperature, high velocity and great mobility. Deadly effects include asphyxiation, burial, incineration and crushing from impacts. Many people and the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed in 79 AD from an erupion of Mount Vesuvius; 29,000 people were destroyed by pyroclastic surges at St. Pierre, Martinique in 1902; >2000 died at Chichnal Volcano in southern Mexico in 1982 from pyroclastic surges. The only effective method of risk mitigation is evacuation prior to such eruptions from areas likely to be affected by pyroclastic density currents. Pyroclastic flows are heavier-than-air gas-particle emulsions that travel across the ground at velocities ranging from 10 m/sec to 300 m/sec. They can attain temperatures of over 1000 C. They range from high density flows that move down valleys and can move beneath water, to dilute flows that extend over mountains and can move across water. The term "pyroclastic surge" is a synonym for "dilute pyroclastic flow." Pyroclastic flows and surges commonly develop simultaneously from the same flow and evolve one from the other. http://magic.geol.ucsb.edu/~fisher/hazards.htm

Pyroclastic Flow: Definition

What are pyroclastic flows? Pyroclastic flows are high-density mixtures of hot, dry rock fragments and hot gases that move away from the vent that erupted them at high speeds. They may result from the explosive eruption of molten or solid rock fragments, or both. They may also result from the nonexplosive eruption of lava when parts of dome or a thick lava flow collapses down a steep slope. Most pyroclastic flows consist of two parts: a basal flow of coarse fragments that moves along the ground, and a turbulent cloud of ash that rises above the basal flow. Ash may fall from this cloud over a wide area downwind from the pyroclastic flow.
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Hazards/NRC_Definitions/pyro_flows.html

Pyroclastic Flow

Pyroclastic flow, August, 1986, flowing down valley from St. Augustine volcano, Alaska. Photo by Maurice and Katia Krafft.
http://magic.geol.ucsb.edu/~fisher/hazards.htm

Nuee Ardente

St. Pierre After the Pyroclastic Nuee Ardente

The destruction was caused by a nuee ardente, a type of pyroclastic flow that consists of hot incandescent solid particles. Photograph of a pyroclastic flow by Heilprin, 1902.
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_mt_pelee.html

Photograph of the remains of St. Pierre by Heilprin, 1902.

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_mt_pelee.html

Mayon Volcano--Pyroclastic Flow

1998 Colima Volcanic Eruption: Avalanche becomes Pyroclastic Flow

Photograph courtesy of Abel Cortes, Colima Volcano Observatory, University of Colima, November 22, 1998.

Pyroclastic flows descend the south-eastern flank of Mayon Volcano, Philippines. Maximum height of the eruption column was 15 km above sea level, and volcanic ash fell within about 50 km toward the west. There were no casualties from the 1984 eruption because more than 73,000 people evacuated the danger zones as recommended by scientists of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Imgs/Jpg/Mayon/32923351-020_caption.html

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Hazards/What/Lava/19981122Pf_caption.html

Dome Collapse at Unzen Volcano

During collapse events of the Unzen dome, an avalanche of hot lava blocks crashed downslope. The avalanche quickly became a fast-moving pyroclastic flow of shattered lava fragments, volcanic gas, and air. Within seconds, a faster moving "cloud" of smaller ashsized fragments, called an ash-cloud surge, formed above and in front of the pyroclastic flow. Finally, as the flow spread away from the volcano, ash and hot gas rose to build an eruption column; when detached from the volcano, the volcanic ash and gas became an eruption cloud.

Unzen Volcano 1995

Sketch by B. Myers

http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Hazards/What/PF/PFUnzen.html

Gray pathways spreading from the lava dome atop Unzen Volcano are the deposits of many small pyroclastic flows that originated from dome collapses. A few pyroclastic flows swept as far as 5 km down this populated river valley, destroying several hundred homes and precious farmland. Lahars destroyed even more property downstream of the loose pyroclastic-flow deposits. The lava dome http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Hazards/What/PF/PFUnzen.html was active between 1991 and 1995.

Unzen Today

Nakao River Valley in Path of Unzen Pyroclastic Flow

Eastern view of Unzen Volcano. Dacite dome with an apron of pyroclastic flow deposits had formed near the summit of Mt. Fugen (1,359 m) since May 1991. Mt. Mayuyama with a natural amphitheater facing to the Shimabara City, collapsed in 1792 just after eruption, killing 15,000 people by debris avalanche and tsunami.
Taken on Oct. 13, 1995 by Nagasaki Photo Service

Nakao River Valley. Buildings and vegetation in the central valley were burned by the intense heat and knocked over by the momentum of ash-cloud surges that moved beyond the pyroclastic flows (Photograph by K. Scott in 1994 ) http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Hazards/What/PF/

Lava and Pyroclastic Flows Predicted for Mt Ranier

Explosive Blasts
The Explosive Blast is the "Feature Presentation" of a (surprise!) explosively erupting volcano. It is an outburst of fragments of rock and lava driven by expanding gases which were dissolved in the erupting lava at great depths. These blasts may throw great blocks of rock many miles. However, the superheated blast cloud itself, which expands out from the volcano at hundreds of miles per hour, enveloping and searing anything in its path is more destructive. The destructive power of the blasts lies in the high velocity winds (exceeding wind speeds in hurricanes) within the cloud and the very high temperatures of the gas. The blasts are capable of destroying all life within many miles of the volcano in a matter of minutes. The main blast at Mount St. Helens destroyed more than 230 square miles of forest in a few seconds. The destroyed area is pictured to the upper right of the shattered cone of the mountain in this Shuttle image. Photo: NASA
Shuttle photograph #STS 47-73-056 (EarthRISE archive).

http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/vhazards.html

Yellowstone

Yellowstone Eruptions

Snake River Plain

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/ /north_america/yellowstone.html

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/ /north_america/yellowstone.html

Vesuvius

Pompeii

Vesuvius, Space Shuttle photograph. Compare to the map. The Somma Rim, a caldera-like structure formed by the collapse of a stratovolcano about 17,000 years ago, is visible as an arcuate dark area to the right and above Vesuvius. The Bay of Naples is on the lower left. The small hook of land near the right margin of the photo is part of a caldera of the Phlegraean Fields volcanic region. The caldera formed about 34,000 years ago. From 1983-1985 an area of 31 square miles (80 square kilometers) was uplifted, in places up to 5.9 feet (1.8 meters), damaging homes, the harbor, and the tourist industry. Ultimately 36,000 people were relocated.
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_vesuvius.html

Vesuvius is famous for the catastrophic eruption in 79 A.D. that buried the towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Photograph is looking northwest from Pompeii to Vesuvius. Photo by Chuck Wood.

http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_vesuvius.html

Krakatau

El Chicon 1982

On Aug. 26 and 27, 1883, an astonishing volcanic explosion rocked Southeast Asia. Fully 600 kilometers away, the noise sounded like cannon fire (match that, Metallica!). The Volcano Krakatau's rumblings were even audible 4,500 kilometers away in the Indian Ocean. Krakatau lofted the equivalent of 20 cubic kilometers of rock into the atmosphere, sending a column of smoke and ash 26 kilometers into the atmosphere. Movement of the seafloor caused tsunamis (defined) that killed 36,000 people and destroyed 160 villages; remnants of the giant waves were measured in the English Channel, on the far side of the Earth. Krakatau (until lately written Krakatoa by Westerners) obliterated two-thirds of the 11-kilometer-long island of Krakatau, darkened the skies for dozens of kilometers around, and deposited a red-hot layer of ash 30 meters thick (and up to 60 meters in some places) on the one-third of Krakatau that remained, and on neighboring islands.

This is a view of the El Chichon caldera, formed during the very explosive eruptions of late March and early April of 1982. The caldera is about a kilometer wide and a few hundred meters deep. Prior to the 1982 eruptions the summit of the volcano consisted of a large lava dome within a shallow caldera. There is a shallow acidic lake in the caldera, fed entirely by ground water. You can see that there have been numerous landslides into the caldera.
http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_america/mexico/elch1.html

Hazards
* * * * * * * * * * * * lava flows lahars/mudflows pyroclastic flows/ash flow tuffs/base surges plinian ash fall (tephra); other ballistic ejecta landslides/debris avalanches tsunamis lava domes volcanic gases & acid rain atmospheric gases and particulates famine water discharge/floods/jokulhaups (glacial bursts) gas emissions and global climate change
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~leeman/volcanic_hazards.html