1,721,012 research outputs found
The volcanic ash problem
No full textExplosive volcanic eruptions are the result of intensive magma and rock fragmentation, and they produce volcanic ash, which consists of fragments < 2 min in average diameter. The problem with volcanic ash is that its formation is poorly understood from the standpoint of eruption energetics. Because the source of explosive eruption energy should be the thermal energy of magma, and because an explosion requires rapid conversion of energy into a mechanical form, and because of the physical properties of magma thermal energy is dominantly released by conduction, the energy release on a short time scale (explosion) in volcanic processes has to be the result of a special mechanism, probably a positive feedback mechanism of fragmentation and heat exchange. In fact, the most explosive volcanic explosions are characterized by the most intensive fragmentation. In any fragmentation mechanism the generated particle sizes reflect the kinetic energy available (i.e. the fragmentation energy density). Consequently, fine ash (less than or equal to 64 mum) provides information on fragmentation mechanisms that are the most energetic and related to the highest explosive energy release. In this letter we discuss mechanisms of formation of fine volcanic ash, using experimental results, theoretical considerations, and field observations. We focus on the potency of these mechanisms to explain fine ash produced by explosive volcanism. We conclude that quantitative analysis of fine ash particles is necessary to estimate the mechanical energy of volcanic explosions
Identifying magma-water interaction from the surface features of ash particles
No full textThe deposits from explosive volcanic eruptions (those eruptions that release mechanical energy over a short time span(1)) are characterized by an abundance of volcanic ash(2,3). This ash is produced by fragmentation of the magma driving the eruption and by fragmenting and ejecting parts of the pre-existing crust (host rocks). Interactions between rising magma and the hydrosphere (oceans, lakes, and ground water) play an important role in explosive volcanism(4,5), because of the unique thermodynamic properties of water that allow it to very effectively convert thermal into mechanical energy, Although the relative proportion of magma to host-rock fragments is well preserved in the pyroclastic rocks deposited by such eruptions, it has remained difficult to quantitatively assess the interaction of magma with liquid water from the analysis of pyroclastic deposits(2-5). Here we report the results of a study of natural pyroclastic sequences combined with scaled laboratory experiments. We find that surface features of ash grains can be used to identify the dynamic contact of magma with liquid water, The abundance of such ash grains can then be related to the water/magma mass ratios during their interaction
Great Sumatra Earthquake Registers on Electrostatic Sensor
No full textStrong electrical signals that correspond to
the Mw = 9.3 earthquake of 26 December 2004,
which occurred at 0058:50.7 UTC
off the west coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia,
were recorded by an electrostatic sensor
(a device that detects short-term variations in
Earth’s electrostatic fi eld) at a seismic station
in Italy, which had been installed to study the
infl uence of local earthquakes on a new landslide
monitoring system
Phreatomagmatic explosions of rhyolitic magma: Experimental and field evidence
No full textExperimental studies on explosive molten fuel-coolant interaction (MFCI) using basaltic melt compositions and water as the coolant have provided insight into the physical processes of basaltic and andesitic phreatomagmatic volcanism. Abundant field evidence indicates that rhyolitic and dacitic phreatomagmatism occurs in nature, but it has not been possible until now to generate laboratory MFCI explosions from the interaction between high-silica melts and water under laboratory conditions. The high viscosity of these melts apparently prevents formation of an effective hydrodynamic premix of melt and water, the documented precursor of experimental explosive MFCI caused by mafic melts. Our new experiments utilized samples from a rhyolitic tuff ring volcano in Mexico (Tepexitl). An experimental approach was developed, in which premixing conditions were generated by mechanical deformation of the melt, leading to brittle-type fragmentation at the melt-water interface. Physical measurements recorded during laboratory explosion provide quantitative evidence for rhyolitic explosive MFCI. Additionally, a comparison of experimentally produced particles with natural ones from Tepexitl deposits show nearly identical chemical/mineralogical composition, grain size, and grain morphology. Detailed textural analysis confirmed the presence of phreatomagmatically produced particles in both experimental and natural analog particles. The results from this series of experiments indicate that under natural conditions, stress-induced magma fracturing can lead to a critical magma-water-interface growths and trigger phreatomagmatic explosions of high-silica magma. The water source for these eruptions may include shallow aquifers, surface water bodies, strong precipitation, and intrusion into ice or wet, unconsolidated sediments
Large-scale experiments on the mechanics of pyroclastic flows: design, engineering and first results
No full textA newly designed apparatus for experimental studies of pyroclastic flows consists of a cylindrical conduit that is filled with samples of natural volcanic products (tephra). Blowing nozzles in the base plate of the conduit are connected to a volume of highly pressurized gas. Opening of fast solenoid valves results in impulse-like coupling of the released gas to the sample. The system was designed so that the range of mechanical energy transferred to the particle mass in the conduit reflects the mechanical energy observed and measured during fragmentation experiments with melts of similar composition. Depending on the specific mechanical energy (SME) of the system, which results from Delta PV/m, where Delta P is gas overpressure (i.e., pressure > atmospheric), V is gas volume, and m is sample mass, different behaviors are observed. If SME > 2.6 kJ/kg, a dilute plume develops, and particles are sedimented by fallout exclusively. If SME 10(6), implying that flows are fully turbulent and that particle coupling to gas turbulence of natural pyroclastic flows is replicated by the experiments. The measured shear current velocities are proportional to the impact mass flow rate, i.e., the product of mixture density and impact velocity. Experimental data and grain-size analysis of the produced particle deposits suggest that the scale of the experiment is large enough to reproduce the transport dynamics of natural pyroclastic flows
Thermohydraulic explosions in phreatomagmatic eruptions as evidenced by the comparison between pyroclasts and products from Molten Fuel Coolant Interaction experiments
No full textThermohydraulic explosions were produced by Molten Fuel Coolant Interaction (MFCI) experiments using remelted shoshonitic rocks from Vulcano (Italy). The fragmentation history and energy release were recorded. The resulting products were recovered and analyzed with the scanning electron microscope. Fine particles from experiments show shape and surface features that result from melt fragmentation in brittle mode. These clasts relate to the thermohydraulic phase of the MFCI, where most of the mechanical energy is released; they are here called "active'' particles. The total surface area of such particles is proportional to the energy of the respective explosions. Other particles from experiments show shape and surface features that result from melt fragmentation in a ductile regime. These fragments, called "passive'' particles, form after the thermohydraulic phase, during the expansion phase of the MFCI. In order to verify thermohydraulic explosions in volcanic eruptions, we compared experimental products with samples from phreatomagmatic base-surge deposits of Vulcano. Ash particles from the experiments show features similar to those from the deposits, suggesting that the experiments reproduced the same fragmentation dynamics. To achieve discrimination between active and passive particles, we calculated shape parameters from image analysis. The mass of active particles in base-surge deposits was calculated. As the material properties for the natural samples are identical to the experimental ones, the energy measurements and calculations of the experiments can be applied. For a single phreatomagmatic eruption at Vulcano, a maximum mechanical energy release of 2.75 x 10(13) J was calculated, representing a TNT analogue of 6.5 kt
Laboratory studies on electrical effects during volcanic eruptions
No full textThis laboratory study reports on electrical phenomena during the explosive eruption of a basaltoid silicate melt. Contact electricity is produced in the phase of thermo-hydraulic fracturing of magma during the explosive interaction with water. The electrical charge produced is directly proportional to the force of the explosion, as the force of explosion is linearly proportional to the surface generated by the thermo-hydraulic fracturing. Simulation of the ejection history using inerted gas as a driving medium under otherwise constant conditions did not result in significant electric charging. The results have the potential to explain in nature observed lightening in eruption clouds of explosive volcanic events.JCR Journalope
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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