Researchers managed to create an artificial lava

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. 

UB geologists make their own lava — For science, of course. (Picture from: http://adf.ly/1bbrRn)

Geologists from the University at Buffalo seeking a better understanding of the interaction. They had perfected their recipe to create lava. And this artificial lava almost equally striking with real lava.

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.

"As geologists, we want to understand what conditions would produce an explosion? How much water do you need? And how long?" Sonder said further.

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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