Is it neat to see a volcano erupt?
Jennifer Christianson
Hi Jennifer,
Depending on how safe you happen to feel, it can be really neat to watch a
volcano erupting or it can be really scary! In Hawai'i our volcanoes are
quite safe. The sometimes produce high lava fountains (few hundred meters
high at most), and these are very spectacular. From about a mile away (as
long as you are upwind) the sight is awesome. These high fountains are
not very noisy--they just sound like a heavy rain. At night there is
enough light to read a newspaper from a mile away.
Lava flows are also a common sight at Hawaiian volcanoes. 'A'a flows move
quickly (about as fast as you can walk) and are kind of noisy. They have
top surfaces that are fragmented into pieces called clinker, and these
clinkers grind together and roll off the sides and front of the flow.
This makes a good amount of noise. Pahoehoe flows are very quiet, and
sometimes hardly make any noise at all. They move slowly and creep along
the ground. Sometimes you can see into a lava tube and this is an
exciting (but frightening sight). The lava is moving along at about 1-2
meters/second, making a quiet shooshing noise. The heat coming out of a
skylight into a tube is intense and you have to be very very careful.
Lava flowing into the ocean is also exciting. This activity can range
from quiet flowing of lava to violent explosions as the water and lava
interact.
Whereas Hawaiian volcanoes are quite safe to watch, other volcanoes are
usually terrifying. It is often said that while people run towards
Hawaiian volcanoes when they erupt, they run AWAY fom most other volcanoes
when they are erupting. Volcanoes such as Mt. Saint Helens, Pinatubo,
Fuji, and the other members of the Pacific Rim of Fire are very explosive
and dangerous. There are also lots of people living on the slopes of
these volcanoes, and for these folks, eruptions are not very neat--in
fact, they are very messy and scary!
To really appreciate what some of these descriptions are saying, you may
have to go watch an eruption yourself. The next best thing to do would be
to watch a movie or video.
I hope this gives you some of the impression of an erupting volcano, and
also shows you why people are so happy to be able to study them.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland, University of Hawaii
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