Vulkanologi

Definisi
 Suatu lubang dimana lava, piroklastik
debris (abu dan fragmen batuan yang
sudah membeku sebelumnya) dan gas
erupsi.
 Erupsi dapat membentuk gunung di
sekitar lubang erupsi.
 Anatomi gunungapi terdiri dari dapur
magma dan lubang erupsi di permukaan.
Dimaan gunungapi terbentuk?
 Mid-ocean ridge (tetapi kita tidak bisa
melihat)
 Batas konvergen (the majority of major
volcanoes; e.g., Sunda-Banda, the Andes,
Japan, Aleutians)
 Rifts (e.g., East African rift)
 Hot spots (e.g., Hawaii; Yellowstone Park)
 Sifat alami lava
 Karakteristik lava tergantung suhu dan
viskositas. (viscositas adalah ukuran
kemampuan fluida untuk mengalir;
viscositas tinggi berarti kental dan
mengalir pelan).
 Semakin tinggi suhu lava semakin rendah
viskositasnya
 Semakin rendah kandungan siika,
semakin rendah viskositas. Disebabkan
karena polimerisasi silika.
 Semakin tinggi kandungan gas semakin
rendah viskositas.
 Mafic lava (kaya akan Mg dan Fe, rendah
silika) mempunyai suhu tinggi (1100°C).
Mafic lava cenderung mudah mengalir,
basalt mengalir luas dan tipis.
 Silicic lava bersuhu rendah (750°C). Silicic
lavas sangat kental dan menyumbat
gunungapi, kecuali sangat gelasan.
 Type Erupsi
 Sifat erupsi tergantung utamanya pada
tipe magma (high viscosity vs. low
viscosity) yang dierupsikan oleh
gunungapi.
 Erupsi dominasi Lava
 Karakteristik lava viskositas rendah.
Komposisi basaltik
 Jika lava viskositas tinggi, akan mudah
menyembur.
 Erupsi Explosive
 Karakteristik silicic volcanoes. Sticky, very
viscous lava clogs up the vent. Also, these
lavas contain gas (CO2 and H2O) that
come out of solution and make bubbles,
like the bubbles in a can of soda. Gas
pressure builds up and the volcano
explodes.
 Result is a cloud of ash that blankets
countryside (air fall ash); or an ash flow
(nuée ardent) that rushes down the
volcano side at 100 km/h, incinerating
everything in its path.
 Ash fall creates a tuff, ash flow creates an
ignimbrite (welded tuff).
 St. Pierre in Caribbean was incinerated by
an ash flow from Mt. Pelée in 1902. The
event killed 40,000 people; only survivor
was a prisoner in the dungeon.
 Pompeii was covered by ash from
Vesuvius in 79 A.D.; The town was
completely preserved by the ash, for
archeologists to find in the 19th century. In
fact, we can still find the casts of victims.
 Can also get explosions when water gets
into magma chamber and turns to steam
 this happened at Krakatoa (1883); the
explosion was heard 3000 km away, and
the waves it generated killed 40,000
people; great sunsets for a year.
 Can get explosion when part of the
mountain slips away and pressure is
released.
 this happened at Mt. Ste. Helens in 1980
(as much energy as an A-bomb). Flattened
the forest like it was made of toothpicks.
Ash mixed with meltwater to create a slurry
(lahar) that washed away bridges and
houses far away.
Types of Volcanoes (classified
by shape)
 - Shield volcano: characteristic of
eruptions emitting low viscosity lava.
Hawaii is an example.
 - Cinder cone: cone shaped mountain built
up of "cinders" (small fragments of lava
that cool from drops splattered up and
cooled instantly).
 - Composite volcano: consists of
alternating layers of lava and cinders or
ash. Big "classic looking" cone-shaped
volcanoes are composite volcanoes.
 Caldera: when a volcano explodes and the
magma chamber beneath collapses, may
get a large circular depression called a
caldera.
 Yellowstone Park is an example of a large
caldera (50 km across). Exploded 700,000
years ago, and covered the entire US with
a layer of ash. The explosion was 100X
larger than Mt. Ste. Helens.
 Types of Volcanic Hazards
 Lava Flows: Basaltic (lava-dominated)
eruptions may emit flows that can bury
highways and towns.
 Ash falls and ash flows: Ash falls can bury
the countryside. Ash flows can incinerate
towns.
 Explosive blast: Letusan gunungapi dapat
meluluhlantakkan apapun disekitarnya.
 Lahars: These are fast-moving slurries
made from a mixture of water and ash (the
water may come from melting snow on the
volcano during the eruption). Lahars rush
down river valleys and wash away or bury
everything in their path.
 Predicting Eruptions and
Decreasing Consequences
 Geologists are able to determine if a
volcano is about to erupt, based on
several clues:
 (1) Change in shape of the volcano (due to
the ballooning of the magma chamber as it
fills)
 (2) Change in heat flow (the ground gets
hot as the underlying magma chamber
fills).
 (3) Increase in local seismicity (as the
magma chamber fills, rocks crack and
break, causing small earthquakes. Also,
there may be underground explosions due
to the release of gas from the magma.
 - If there is enough warning, the region can
be evacuated. People must also get out of
river valleys that could fill with lahars.