| Title | Scientists Develop New Approach to Understanding Massive Volcanic Eruptions | |
| Date | Sunday January 10 2021, @03:20AM | |
| Author | requerdanos | |
| Topic | ||
| from the How-big-will-the-splatter-be? dept. | ||
Scientists develop new approach to understanding massive volcanic eruptions:
A geosciences team led by the University of South Florida (USF) has developed a new way to reconstruct the sizes of volcanic eruptions that occurred thousands of years ago, creating a first-of-its kind tool that can aid scientists in understanding past explosive eruptions that shaped the earth and improve the way of estimating hazards of future eruptions.
The advanced numerical model the USF team developed allows scientists to reconstruct eruption rates through time by estimating the dimensions of the umbrella clouds that contribute to the accumulation of vast deposits of volcanic ash. The research is published in the new edition of the Nature journal, Communications, Earth and Environment.
[...] Current technology allows scientists to observe ash clouds. However, past eruptions are characterized based on the geological interpretation of their tephra deposits—the pieces and fragments of rock ejected into the air by an erupting volcano. [...] Until now, the most sought-after information is the eruption column height and the total erupted mass or volume, [USF doctoral candidate Robert] Constantinescu said.
But over time, deposits erode and can provide an uncertain picture of older eruptions. Also, current models have been limited in that they assume all volcanic eruptions created mostly vertical plumes, Constantinescu said, and don't account for large explosive eruptions that form laterally spreading umbrella ash clouds.
The USF team's work shows that it is the dimensions of the umbrella clouds that is the telling factor in reconstructing past large explosive eruptions.
[...] The researchers propose updating the VEI [Volcanic Explosivity Index] scale with the umbrella cloud dimensions, which can now be easily estimated using the mathematical models they've developed.
Journal Reference:
Robert Constantinescu, Aurelian Hopulele-Gligor, Charles B. Connor, et al. The radius of the umbrella cloud helps characterize large explosive volcanic eruptions [open], Communications Earth & Environment (DOI: 10.1038/s43247-020-00078-3)
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