Abstract
THE necessary conditions for explosive volcanism cannot yet be stated, but certain tentative requirements emerge from the study of pyroclastic rocks and from the observation of erupted magmas. In the first quantitative report on the mechanics of ash formation, Verhoogen1 required that the magma have high viscosity and a large gas content. More recently McBirney and Murase2 emphasized that the disruptive force of gas pressure must exceed the combined surface tension and tensile strength of the liquid. Both articles describe the vesiculation of a magma in terms of the formation, motion and coalescence of bubbles. I wish to point out a novel fluid dynamic process which may control the production of ash and pyroclastic material emanating from a major eruption of the Plinian type.
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References
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BENNETT, F. Vaporization Waves in Explosive Volcanism. Nature 234, 538–539 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1038/234538a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/234538a0
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