Molten rock and water can be an explosive combination. That is why, scientists are trying to learn. Yes, when the molten rock mixed with water, it can show a strange and unexpected response, even dangerous things.
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| UB geologists make their own lava — For science, of course. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1bbrRn) |
Making the lava by the university is one of the largest in the world. Each batch put 10 gallons of basaltic rock in the high-powered furnaces, heating to a temperature of 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the process is perfected, it's likely on this summer the researchers will begin to expose the molten rock with water.
Alison Graettinger, a geologist at the University of Buffalo said that previous studies ever conducted by Universität Würzburg in Germany. They use a small number of man-made lava, only the size of a coffee cup.
"Before, no one does it on this scale, and the interaction of lava and water is not well understood," Graettinger said in a statement.
"Sometimes when water and lava meet, lava will appear completely ignoring water. Sometimes, lava will cool down and form a typical crack pattern, or other forms of interest such as lava pillow. And sometimes, a strong reaction. Why?"
The research, funded by the National Science Foundation, was carried out in a field station in Ashford, New York.
According to the project leader, Ingo Sonder, a research scientist at the University at Buffalo's Center for GeoHazards Studies, big explosive event does not happen often, but this proves that the interaction of lava and water can pose a serious threat. In 2010, for example, the eruption at the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland turned into an explosive blast after magma melts on a large number of ice.
Basically, the lava experiment is much more complicated than the baking soda and vinegar experiment. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO | THE HUFFINGTON POST]
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