What is the most explosive type of magma?

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).

What is explosive magma?

Explosive eruptions occur where cooler, more viscous magmas (such as andesite) reach the surface. Dissolved gases cannot escape as easily, so pressure may build up until gas explosions blast rock and lava fragments into the air!

What magma type is the least explosive?

The least explosive type of volcano is called a basalt plateau. These volcanoes produce a very fluid basaltic magma with horizontal flows. The form of these volcanoes is flat to gently sloping and they can occupy an area from 100,000 to 1,000,000 square kilometers.

Is basaltic magma the most explosive?

Basalt has a SiO₂ content of ≤ 52% and contains relatively more magnesium and iron than more silicic igneous rocks. A basaltic lava flow has a low viscosity due to its low SiO₂ content. Eruptions associated with basaltic lava usually are not explosive due to the low silica and gas content.

What is the most explosive eruption type?

A Plinian eruption is the most explosive of the eruption types. Mt. St. Helens eruption was a plinian eruption.

What type of lava is explosive?

Explosive eruptions are favored by high gas content & high viscosity magmas (andesitic to rhyolitic magmas). The explosive bursting of bubbles fragments the magma into clots of liquid that cool as they fall through the air. These solid particles become pyroclasts or volcanic ash.

What type of volcano is explosive?

A Pelean eruption is associated with explosive outbursts that generate pyroclastic flows, dense mixtures of hot volcanic fragments and gas described in the section Lava, gas, and other hazards. Pelean eruptions are named for the destructive eruption of Mount Pelée on the Caribbean island of Martinique in 1902.

Where are the most explosive volcanoes?

Subduction Zone Volcanism

Most explosive eruptions occur in volcanoes above subduction zones, where one tectonic plate dives beneath the other. Eighty to 120 kilometers below the surface, magma forms when the rocks of the mantle melt just above the subducting plate.

Which type of volcano has the most violent eruptions?

Stratovolcanoes

Stratovolcanoes are considered the most violent. Mount St. Helens, in Washington state, is a stratovolcano that erupted on May 18, 1980.

What is non explosive eruption?

Nonexplosive eruptions are the most common type of volcanic eruptions. These eruptions produce relatively calm flows of lava in huge amounts. B. Vast areas of the Earth’s surface, including much of the sea floor and the Northwestern United States, are covered with lava form nonexplosive eruptions.

Why is silica rich magma explosive?

Why does silica make magma more explosive? Magmas with higher silica concentration are more viscous, and thus move slower than magmas with less silica. … More crystals in the magma enable more gas bubbles to form, and so they make an eruption more explosive.

What are the 4 types of volcanic eruptions?

There are four types of eruptions with properties determined mostly by the silica content of magma, and the amount of gas it contains. In order of increasing explosiveness, these are Hawai’ian, Strombolian, Vulcanian, and Plinian eruptions.

What is Vesuvian eruption?

Plinian eruptions or Vesuvian eruptions are volcanic eruptions marked by their similarity to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, which destroyed the ancient Roman cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. The eruption was described in a letter written by Pliny the Younger, after the death of his uncle Pliny the Elder.

What is Subplinian eruption?

Introduction. Sub-Plinian eruptions produce higher eruption columns than Vulcanian eruptions, but are not as explosive as Plinian eruptions. Sub-Plinian eruption columns are usually less than 12 miles (20km) in height, and are unsteady but sustained.

What is Plinian lava?

Plinian eruptions are extremely explosive eruptions, producing ash columns that extend many tens of miles into the stratosphere and that spread out into an umbrella shape. These large eruptions produce widespread deposits of fallout ash. Eruption columns may also collapse due to density to form thick pyroclastic flows.

What kind of eruption was Pompeii?

The volcano is classed as a complex stratovolcano because its eruptions typically involve explosive eruptions as well as pyroclastic flows. A pyroclastic flow is a high-density mix of hot lava blocks, pumice, ash and volcanic gas, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

How did Vesuvius erupt?

A westerly wind protected Herculaneum from the initial stage of the eruption, but then a giant cloud of hot ash and gas surged down the western flank of Vesuvius, engulfing the city and burning or asphyxiating all who remained. This lethal cloud was followed by a flood of volcanic mud and rock, burying the city.

What type of volcano is Mount Vesuvius?

The Somma-Vesuvius volcanic complex is a central composite volcano formed by an older stratovolcano (Monte Somma) with a summit caldera partially filled by the composite cone of Vesuvius. The most noted eruption, in 79 A.D., destroyed the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

What continent has no volcanoes?

Australia

Australia is the only continent without any current volcanic activity, but it hosts one of the world’s largest extinct volcanoes, the Tweed Volcano.

Does India have a volcano?

If you took a ferry from the southeast Indian city of Chennai, it will take you 58 hours to reach Port Blair, the capital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Four-hour sail from there, you will get to see India’s only active volcano, the Barren Island volcano.

Which is the coldest volcano?

The coldest erupting lava in the world is the natrocarbonatite lava of the volcano Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania that erupts at temperatures of 500-600°C (930-1,110 °F). Common basaltic lavas erupt at temperatures between 1,100 and 1,200°C (2,010-2,190 °F). Oldoinyo Lengai is the only active carbonatite volcano on Earth.

Does Korea have a volcano?

There are three volcanoes in the Korean Peninsula. The biggest one is Mt. Baekdu with the last activity being recorded in 1903. The second volcano is Mt.

Is Jeju a volcano?

Jeju, also known as Jejudo, is a volcanic island, 130 kilometers from the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula. The largest island and smallest province in South Korea, the island has a surface area of 1,846 square kilometers.

Is Jeju an active volcano?

Judging from the findings, Jeju Island is not an extinct volcano, but seems to a potentially live volcano; volcano that has erupted within 10,000 years is defined to be a live volcano on a geological basis.

How was Jeju formed?

About 2 million years ago, the island of Jeju was formed through volcanic activity. About 1.2 million years ago, a magma chamber formed under the sea floor and began to erupt. About 700 thousand years ago, the island had been formed through volcanic activity.

What does Jeju mean in Korean?

In Korean, do is the phonetic transcription of two distinct hanja (Chinese characters) meaning “island” (島) and “province” (道). However, Jejudo generally refers to the island, while Jeju-do refers to the government administrative unit.

What does Jeju Island look like?

Jeju has a spectacular volcanic cone that looks like a grass-covered butte, the longest lava tunnel in the world, and an immense extinct volcano, Mount Halla, at the very center of the island. Jeju is three times the size of Thailand’s Phuket but attracts one-sixth the number of foreign tourists.