Kīlauea Reveals A New "Stomp Rocket" Type Of Volcanic Eruption

PUBLISHED
Yesterday

When the Hawaiian volcano erupted 12 times in quick succession, it forced scientists to look for a new explanation, which they have now found.

STEPHEN LUNTZ
Freelance Writer

Edited
by
Maddy Chapman



The lava flow from Kīlauea devastated the town below, but it also appears to have created the conditions for the eruptions 40 kilometers (25 miles) away.

Image Credit: United States Geological Survey

In May 2018, Kīlauea volcano in Hawai'i erupted repeatedly in quick succession, driving ash more than 9,000 meters (30,000 feet) into the sky. Although the damage to the towns below swallowed by lava looked tragically familiar, the eruptions had features so unusual that volcanologists have been studying them for six years, eventually identifying a new cause to explain them.

When the eruption of the Halema’uma’u crater first occurred, it was compared to the same volcano’s 1924 eruption. It was a joy to study, from the production of pyrocumulus clouds to blue fire caused by escaping methane gas. We even got some brief new islands.

Explosive volcanic eruptions are usually attributed to either magma fragmenting during decompression or vaporized groundwater. Often, it’s a little from column A, a little from column B, to the extent that volcanologists place eruptions on a phreatic-magmatic spectrum for how much each contributed.

However, Dr Josh Crozier, who explored the Kīlauea event for his PhD at the University of Oregon, said in a statement: “These eruptions are quite interesting in that they don’t really seem to involve either of those. The eruptive material contained very little that looked like fresh magma that was blasted out, but there’s no evidence for significant groundwater being involved, either.”



The eruption as seen from a (possibly) safe distance.
Image Credit: United States Geological Survey

More:
https://www.iflscience.com/kilauea-reveals-a-new-stomp-rocket-type-of-volcanic-eruption-74397