Causes of Volcanic Eruptions

Scientists from the University of Southampton, UK, found that the factors considered responsible for the enormity of the eruption of a volcano. By studying the eruption of Las Cañadas  the largest volcano on Earth ever, they know the combination of cold and hot magma magma can trigger a huge explosion.

NASA's astronaut photograph of Las Cañadas volcano and caldera, taken on June 8, 2006. (Picture from: http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/)

Las Cañadas volcanic caldera in Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, is believed to have produced at least eight major eruptions over the last 700 thousand years. The natural disaster resulted in the formation of eruption column height of more than 25 kilometers.

This is the Las Cañadas volcano. (Picture from: http://phys.org/)

Material pyroclastic volcano also spread up to 130 kilometers from the point of eruption. "Magma mixing cold and old younger hot magma in the magma chamber when the pre-eruption triggered the eruption of large-scale repetitive," said study leader, Dr Rex Taylor.

The conclusion, published in the journal Scientific Reports on October 12, 2012, obtained after they do an analysis on a crystal-stack nodules igneous rocks formed by the accumulation of crystals in the magma chamber-which is found in pyroclastic deposits from a major eruption Las Cañadas.

The diagram shows the repeating development of the Las Cañadas magma chamber. (Picture from: http://www.nature.com/)

Taylor said these nodules to trap and preserve the ready spewed magma beneath the volcano shortly before the eruption. Nodules and magma is trapped under investigation to uncover the cause of the eruption. Nodules noted changes in the magma pipe up when the volcano erupted.

These nodules are very special because it can glide quickly from magma chamber before it becomes rock solid. "They're soft, like grains of wet sand the rough," said Taylor, a senior lecturer of the Ocean and Earth Science Department in University of Southampton.

Outskirts of the crystals in the nodules formed from magma that is very different. It shows a large mixing that occurred prior to the eruption. Stirring the two kinds of these, he said, it seems common place before large-scale eruption.

Tom Gernon, co-researcher of Taylor said analysis of crystalline nodules from the volcano could indicate the end of the process and the changes that occurred shortly before the big eruption. *** [SCIENCEDAILY | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI | KORAN TEMPO 4028]

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