VolcanicDegassing

volcanology

Why does it always rain (ash) on me?

May 2, 2018
Why does it always rain (ash) on me?
Volcanic ash samples collected on Barbados, deposited after eruptions of St Vincent in 1812 (small vial) and 1902. British Geological Survey Archives.

On May 1st, 1812, a remarkable weather system reached Barbados. ‘At half-past twelve AM a heavy dark cloud obscured the heavens completely. [..]  at half past one a sandy grit began to fall in small quantities‘. Through the night there was the sound of explosions and thunder, and by late afternoon, Barbados had been blanketed in several centimetres depth of ash. The origin of the ̵ ...[Read More]

Lahar: Lost in translation?

December 14, 2017
Lahar: Lost in translation?
Guntur volcano, Java. Original lithograph by Franz Wilhelm Junghuhn, and published in Johannes Muller's Beschreibung der Insel Java (1860). Oxford, Bodleian Library (OC) 246 h.70 opp. p. 109. Guntur volcano - meaning 'thunder' in Javanese; 'torrent or flood' in Sundanese - was one of the most active volcanoes in Java in the early 19th century. During the eruption of October 1800, lahars inundated several villages near Guntur.

Since late September, the eyes of the volcano world have turned to Gunung Agung. This prominent volcano in Bali last erupted in 1963, when it released enough sulphur dioxide to form a global stratospheric sulphate aerosol layer that led to vivid sunsets, and short-term global cooling. The 1963 eruption was one of the largest and deadliest in Indonesia in the 20th century; and many of the casualtie ...[Read More]