How to Measure the Explosive Power of Volcanoes

Scientists have scales to quantify the speciality of lifelike phenomenon like earthquakes and hurricanes . But what about the eruptive mightiness of vent ? For that , geologist use the Volcanic Explosivity Index . Here ’s how it work .

The Volcanic Explosivity Index ( VEI ) was first proposed in 1982 by Christopher Newhall of the U.S. Geological Survey and Stephen Self of the University of Hawaii . Their design was to develop a plate to estimate the volatile order of magnitude of diachronic volcano .

To that end , they came up withan incrementing logarithmic musical scale to evaluate the order of magnitude of preceding volatile eruptions , which Newhall discover as a “ semiquantitative compromise between short data and the motivation in various disciplines to evaluate the record of past volcanism . ”

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But establishing the parameters for a utile ordered series try out light said than done . Unlike earthquakes or hurricanes , there are different types of volcanoes , and they develop different products , like massive plumage of ejected rock-and-roll and ash , or liquified lava flows .

Moreover , and as scientist after learned , volcanoes also churn - out vary degrees of atomic number 16 dioxide at rates disregardless of eruptive power . It ’s for that ground that the VEI had to be rejected as a way of life to valuate an eructation ’s potential wallop on the climate . Today , it ’s used exclusively to value the volatile power of both historic and raw eruptions .

exchangeable to the Richter scale of measurement , the VEI practice a numerical indicant tramp from 0 to 8 . Each increment represents an 10 - fold increase in explosivity .

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divisor that are take into account include the volume of pyroclastic material ( including ashfall , pyroclastic flows , and other ejecta ) , the peak of the irruption , continuance in hours , and a number of other qualitative measurements .

So , given that the exfoliation is principally drive by the volume ejected , it snuff it like this :

VEI 0 : eruptions that produce less than 0.0001 cubic kilometer of ejecta ( small events that typically produce flowing lava , which is called an burbling bang )

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VEI 1 : bam that produce between 0.0001 and 0.001 three-dimensional kilometers of ejecta

VEI 2 : eruptions that produce between 0.001 and 0.01 three-dimensional kilometers of ejecta

VEI 3 : irruption that acquire between 0.01 and 0.1 cubic kilometers of ejecta

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And so on until we get to VEI 8 .

So , a VEI 5 is just about 100 times more explosive than a VEI 3 , and a VEI 8 is a million times more powerful than a VEI 2 . Sometimes a + symbol is added to account for the broad degree of variation between each number in the scale .

The VEI does n’t go past 8 , but that does n’t intend a VEI 9 is n’t out of the question . Scientists may still bring out grounds of such an event buried somewhere in the geologic record .

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And indeed , by using the VEI , geologists have been able-bodied to document the Earth ’s riotous volcanic past times . Here’sa graphic put together by Geology.comthat shows the comparative impact of renowned diachronic eruptions :

Shockingly , as this graphic shows , a volcanic outbreak like the one at Mt. St. Helens — a cataclysmal event that blow a huge glob off the side of the mountain — is absolutely dwarfed in compare to some of the larger single . The sizing of the Yellowstone eruption isalso disturbinggiven thatthe caldera could catch fire at any time .

https://gizmodo.com/yellowstones-megavolcano-is-more-terrifying-than-we-ev-476149605

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https://gizmodo.com/further-evidence-that-the-yellowstone-megavolcano-could-5940099

Geology.com elaborates on the jaw - dropping powerfulness of megavolcanoes :

Forty - seven eruptions have been rated VEI 8 because they are thought to have bring forth an awe-inspiring 1,000 three-dimensional kilometers or more of ejecta . This would be a mass of uncompacted ejecta ten kilometers in distance , ten kilometers in width and ten kilometers deep . eruption at Toba ( 74,000 days ago ) , Yellowstone ( 640,000 year ago ) and Lake Taupo ( 26,500 years ago ) are three of the 47 VEI 8 sites that have been identified .

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The VEI 8 bang with the keen volume of ejecta known to have occurred in the United States , and peradventure in the public , was at La Garita Caldera in southwest Colorado about 28 million geezerhood ago . There , the Pisces Canyon Tuff has an original estimated book of about 5,000 cubic kilometers !

Eruption(s ) at the Paraná and Etendeka ensnare pyrogenous province had an eruptive volume of over 2.6 million cubic kilometers . However , these are thought to be effusive extravasation producing fluid basalt lava rather than volatile eruption produce ejecta . The Paraná and Etendeka eruption(s ) occur about 128 to 138 million years ago . Their lava feed duo from eastern Brazil onto the westerly portions of Namibia and Angola . They occurred when Africa and South America were plug into .

Historically talk , as the economic value of VEI increases , the relative frequency of that character of eruption decreases .

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