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Volcanoes Earthquake
Volcanoes Earthquake
1. What is an earthquake?
2. What are the different types of
earthquakes?
3. What are the different types of
boundaries?
4. What are the layers of the
atmosphere?
5. What are the layers of the Earth?
Volcanic Eruptions
and Hazards
Mt. St. Helen
What is a volcano?
A mountain or hill,
typically conical,
vent having a crater or
vent through which
molten rock
(magma), rock
cone fragments, hot
vapor, and gas are
or have been
erupted from the
earth's crust
conduit The volcano
includes the
surrounding cone
of erupted
magma material.
chamber
What causes the magma to escape
the mantle and come up through
the crust of Earth?
Subduction Zone Volcanoes
– Remember that subduction happens at
convergent plates
Divergent Zone Volcanoes
– This results in ridges
Hot Spots
– These can pop up anywhere the crust is
weak and thin, even in the middle of
plates
What are Hotspot Volcanoes?
Volcanism is
mostly
focused at
plate
margins
Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire has 452 volcanoes
and is home to over 75% of the world's
active and dormant volcanoes
The Ring of Fire is a direct result of
plate tectonics and the movement and
collisions of crustal plates
Explosive Eruptions
Explosive volcanic
eruptions can be
catastrophic
Erupt 10’s-1000’s km3 of
magma
Send ash clouds > up to
25 km into the
stratosphere Mt. Redoubt
Have severe Above: Large eruption column and
environmental and climatic ash cloud from an explosive
effects eruption at Mt Redoubt, Alaska
Hazardous!!!
Explosive Eruptions
Three products from an
explosive eruption
– Ash fall
The fallout of rock, debris and ash
– Pyroclastic flow
Pyroclastic flows are hot, turbulent,
fast-moving, high particle concentration
clouds of rock, ash and gas.
– Pyroclastic surge
they don’t have a high concentration
of particles and contain a lot of gas
Pyroclastic flows on
Montserrat, buried
the capital city.
Direct
measurements of
pyroclastic flows
are extremely
dangerous!!!
Pyroclastic Flow - direct impact
Courtesy of www.swisseduc.ch
Pyroclastic Flow - burial
Pyroclastic Flow - burns
Pyroclastic Flow - lahars
Hot volcanic activity can melt
snow and ice
Melt water picks up rock and
debris
Forms fast flowing, high
energy torrents
Destroys all in its path
From above you can see their fine grainsize and the distinctive
slight ridges and grooves that show which way the mass of hot
dusty air was moving.
Pyroclastic Fall
Ash load
Collapses roofs
Brings down power lines
Kills plants
Contaminates water supplies
Respiratory hazard for
humans and animals
Effusive Eruptions
Hawaii
Courtesy of www.swisseduc.ch
Lava Flow
It is not just explosive volcanic activity that
can be hazardous. Effusive (lava) activity
is also dangerous.
Lava flows have temperatures in excess
of 200 degrees Celsius
How can scientists tell if there is
going to be an eruption?
Volcanoes Give Signs
"These signs may include very small
earthquakes beneath the volcano,
slight inflation, or swelling, of the
volcano and increased emission of
heat and gas from vents on the
volcano,"
said
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano
Hazards Program coordinator John
Eichelberger.
Deformation Monitoring
“Tiltmeters” are used to measure the
deformation of the volcano
– The tiltmeters measure changes in slope as small as one
part per million. A slope change of one part per million is
equivalent to raising the end of a board one kilometer long
only one millimeter!
Deformation Monitoring
Tiltmeters can tell you when new material enters the magma chamber.
Note the
B presence of
earthquakes in
relation to the
deformation.
Often it is a
combination of
events that
fore-warns of
an eruption.
Gas Monitoring
Commonly gas output from a volcano increases or changes
composition before an eruption.
– As magma rises to the surface it releases (exsolves) much
of its gas content.
– This can be measured
Types of volcanoes:
Composite Volcanoes-are a mixture
between shield volcanoes and cone
volcanoes, their eruptions are
explosive.
Types of volcanoes:
Composite Volcanoes
Shield Volcanoes-are low and flat and
have small, flowing eruptions
Types of volcanoes:
Composite (Strato) Volcanoes
Shield Volcanoes
Cinder Cones
- Cones are the tallest
and largest
volcanoes,
and they have
VERY explosive
eruptions.
Types of volcanoes:
Composite Volcanoes
Shield Volcanoes
Cinder Cones
Spatter Cones
Types of volcanoes:
Composite Volcanoes
Shield Volcanoes
Cinder Cones
Spatter Cones
Super (Complex)
Volcanoes
In Summary..
Volcanoes are extremely hazardous.
However, the volcano can be
studied, monitored and understood.
Each volcano is different, and offers
a unique set of dangers
Plans may be emplaced to help
control potential damage.
Post-lecture Question:
What should geologists do about
volcanic eruptions in the future?
Figure showing
the distribution of
earthquakes
around the globe
5.5 - 6.1 500 Slight damage to buildings, plaster cracks, bricks fall.
Destruction after a
volcanic induced
earthquake in Japan
Pyroclastic flow
A pyroclastic flow is a fluidized mixture of
solid to semi-solid fragments and hot,
expanding gases that flows down the flank of
a volcanic edifice. The features are heavier-
than-air emulsions that move much like a
snow avalanche, except that they are
fiercely hot, contain toxic gases, and move
at phenomenal, hurricane-force speeds,
often over 100 km/hour. They are the most
deadly of all volcanic phenomena.
Pyroclastic Surge
Pyroclastic Surge: A more energetic
and dilute mixture of searing gas and
rock fragments is called a pyroclastic
surge. Surges move easily up and
over ridges; flows tend to follow
valleys. They are relatively thin; usually
no more than about 10 cm thick,
except in local "drifts" (like snow).