What is the average amount of lava that comes out of a volcano when it
erupts?
Philip
Dear Philip,
The amount of lava erupted from volcanoes varies widely. For example,
the smallest historical eruption was in Iceland in 1977 when 27 m3 of
lava extruded out of a borehole. Iceland also had the largest historic
eruption, 12.3 km3 at Lakagigar in 1783. The current eruption of
Kilauea, now in its thirteenth year, has erupted nearly 1 km3 lava (the
eruption rate is about 300,000-500,000 m3 per day). The Smithsonian
Institution's Volcanoes of the World provides information on 1511
volcanoes that have erupted in the last 10,000 years. The average amount
of lava erupted appears to be about 10 million m3, without regard for
eruption duration or type of volcano.
Thank you for your question.
Steve Mattox, University of North Dakota
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