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Volcanic mesocyclones

Nature volume 458, pages 497–500 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

A strong volcanic plume consists of a vertical column of hot gases and dust topped with a horizontal ‘umbrella’1. The column rises, buoyed by entrained and heated ambient air, reaches the neutral-buoyancy level, then spreads radially to form the umbrella. In classical models of strong volcanic plumes, the plume is assumed to remain always axisymmetric and non-rotating. Here we show that the updraught of the rising column induces a hydrodynamic effect not addressed to date—a ‘volcanic mesocyclone’. This volcanic mesocyclone sets the entire plume rotating about its axis, as confirmed by an unprecedented analysis of satellite images from the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo2,3,4. Destabilized by the rotation, the umbrella loses axial symmetry and becomes lobate in plan view, in accord with satellite records of recent eruptions on Mounts Pinatubo, Manam, Reventador, Okmok, Chaiten and Ruang. The volcanic mesocyclone spawns waterspouts5,6 or dust devils6,7,8, as seen in numerous eruptions, and groups the electric charges about the plume to form the ‘lightning sheath’ that was so prominent in the recent eruption of Mount Chaiten. The concept of a volcanic mesocyclone provides a unified explanation for a disparate set of poorly understood phenomena in strong volcanic plumes5,6,7,8,9,10.

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Figure 1: Analysis of Pinatubo’s umbrella (15 June 1991).
Figure 2: Diagrams to illustrate the formation of a volcanic mesocyclone starting from different sources of vorticity (not to scale).
Figure 3: Satellite images of lobate umbrellas.
Figure 4: Secondary signatures of a volcanic mesocyclone.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge discussions with A. Tupper, D. MacGorman, S. Nesbitt and M. Fromm. We thank the members of the ‘volcanic clouds’ discussion list for help with satellite images. P.C. and S.W.K. acknowledge support through the latter’s Walgreen Chair funds and NSF\EAR grant 06-09712 (S. Esperanza, programme director). G.G. acknowledges support through NSF\DMR grant 06-04435 (W. Fuller-Mora, programme director).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology,,

    Pinaki Chakraborty & Susan W. Kieffer

  2. Department of Mechanical Science & Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA,

    Gustavo Gioia

Authors
  1. Pinaki Chakraborty
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  2. Gustavo Gioia
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  3. Susan W. Kieffer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pinaki Chakraborty.

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Chakraborty, P., Gioia, G. & Kieffer, S. Volcanic mesocyclones. Nature 458, 497–500 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07866

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