Volcano Blog by Tom Pering
  • Blog
  • About the Blog
  • About Me
  • Publications
  • Slug Calculator
  • Codes
    • Corrplot
    • Image Acquisition and Signal Processing
    • Image Processing
    • Other Matlab Codes
  • Photos
    • Etna 2011
    • Etna 2012
    • Etna 2013
    • Glencoe
    • Iceland 2011
    • Rainier
    • Sakurajima 2013
    • Stromboli 2013
    • Vulcano 2014
    • Yellowstone 2013
  • Videos
    • Dynamics of mild strombolian activity on Mt Etna Elsevier AudioSlides presentation
    • High time resolution fluctuations in volcanic carbon dioxide degassing from Mount Etna AudioSlides Presentation

Eruption of Tongariro, a brief look

30/11/2012

 
Picture
From the GVP website, the Tongariro complex is at the front.
Tongariro is a volcanic complex, which is shown in the picture to the right in the foreground, with Ruapehu behind. On the 20th November it had its second significant explosion of 2012 from the Te Maari crater (video below).

Historically Tongariro (from current centre of activity Ngauruhoe) and the nearby Ruapehu are the most active in New Zealand. Tongariro last erupted in 1977 in a very small eruption classified as VEI 1 and generally throughout history it has experienced little strong activity above VEI 3, an exception being a VEI 5 event a few thousand years ago. It is highly likely therefore that the current period of inactivity will follow the same trend.

After finding the below video from the recent Eruptions blog post, I thought it would be a nice idea to discuss briefly what is potentially occurring in the conduit for the duration of this video. It is not often that you have videos as good as this (click the read more button on the right!).


Read More

Eruption of Tolbachik, Russia

28/11/2012

 
Picture
Taken by Oleg Volynets, eruption in 1975.
After the eruption of Plosky Tolbachik for the first time in 36 years, I thought it might be useful to have a quick background look at the volcano. When looking at the previous eruption history eruptions were spaced more closely together prior to 1975 and were generally smaller in nature than the VEI 4 category of the 1975 eruption (pictured to the right). It certainly has a rich amount of activity stretching back several thousand years.

As ever eruptions blog has provided information and will likely give regular updates on the eruption. I highly recommend taking a look at the Russian website for Kamchatkan activity (KVERT) where there is a nice overview of various volcanoes not just Plosky Tolbachik (here I link to Plosky Tolbachik). By looking at the following link on the same website, you can see images of the summit area taken at different times over the past few years. The most recent was taken during August 2012 and I note the visible absence of steam from the volcano. Suggesting (tentatively) that at this stage there may have been no evidence of a reawakening at the summit.

Furthermore, when looking at the seismic activity this seemed only to increase a few days prior to the eruption, as detailed on Volcano Discovery. All this illustrates that there can be a minimum amount of activity detected prior to the eruption of a volcano!

Personally I find the volcanoes of Kamchatka fascinating and it will be thoroughly interesting to see how this eruption develops over the coming months and potentially longer.

The tale of the amusing documentary

9/11/2012

 
Picture
In the evening I occasionally like to watch a documentary (and have talked about their importance) or two and yesterday evening was no different. I am used to the cheesy nature of National Geographic and Eden type programmes but have never physically burst out laughing as much as I did during this one! The culprit - Amazing Planet: Born of Fire on Eden in the UK at the moment.

It is evidently an American made documentary with a female speaker and if you watch it you will understand when I say that I have never heard someone make volcanoes sound so much like moody teenagers and the sexual connotations were everywhere!

The script writers certainly need to look at what they have written...here are some examples:

- "Why is it some volcanoes go BOOM instead of BLOOP?" - I don't know....she never really got round to telling me and have you ever heard a volcano go BLOOP?! 
- "Pyroclastic flows are hotter than your oven." - Brilliant thanks for that incite!
- "The mantle is like glowing taffy" - First of all what is taffy and what the hell does it look like when its glowing!
- "Plates perform their catastrophic mating dance" - Talking about subduction - WOW - also used the terms - plunging, ramming and thrusting a lot when talking about ridges - not really sure there is much of that going on at volcanoes love!

- "The Earth is like something Dr Frankenstein put together"- Really, are you sure? I think its quite beautiful myself...
- How did the Himalayas form? Like this apparently - "Then 50 million years ago, BOOM" - BRILLIANT!

- "For a glimpse of what could be giving the globe major indigestion-go to Hawaii" - Why? Is the Earth ill? Should I be concerned at all? Should I call a Doctor?
- "The Earth, spits and vomits and generally has a bad case of indigestion" - Poor Kilauea its going through a tough time it would seem...
- "Earth soup performing its acrobatics" - more an Hawaiian eruptions.

And finally: "Montserrat is totally repressed" - have no idea where she was going with this one...should I be offering counselling to the lava dome? Is it going through a difficult time?

Anyhow, if you get chance to watch it, I highly recommend it, very amusing!

The L'Aquila trial: my two cents worth

3/11/2012

 
There has been a lot banded round in the press recently about the L'Aquila trial and the manslaughter charges of 6 years which have been passed on to the scientists involved:

Franco Barberi
Enzo Boschi
Giulio Selvaggi
Gian Michele Calvi
Claudio Eva
Mauro Dolce
Bernado De Bernardinis

I am not going to go into the in's and out's of the trials, good summaries can be had on the BBC website and from other sources. I am not a lawyer or judge, but a scientist, therefore my knowledge of the law and how it works is very sketchy.  

I want to say a couple of things about the possible global implications of this decision. Lets take a hypothetical example from the UK, perhaps the Environmental Agency 'falsely reassures' a neighbourhood about the risk of a flood and the flood actually ends up occurring or a tv meteorologist plays down the effects of a blizzard. From the events in Italy, someone could now say, well, they were prosecuted and imprisoned in Italy, why not here?

Will this mean in the future, any event such as this will be met with a more severe warning? What if nothing happens? What if there are several warnings and nothing happens? People will start to get complacent and the job of scientists will get more difficult. 

Science is based upon the interpretation of data or information that they believe to be correct and on theories that are currently believed to be the best available. Scientists on the whole, will act to the best of their ability to try and prevent any harm coming to a population. Lets take another example: Mt. Vesuvius, a dormant volcano with the large population of Naples nearby. Volcanologists think that it may erupt so they issue advice to the authorities to evacuate. The evacuation turns out to be unnecessary, can the authorities prosecute volcanologists for damages or even imprison due to inaccurate information?

As you can see, this trial throws up several scientific dilemmas, which need to be addressed or we will see more controversial decisions such as this. Could this lead to less talented scientists in important decision making roles, or a reluctance to make a decision in fear of imprisonment?

To finish if any appeal is thrown out (or even if they are freed) the results of this trial will surely be felt globally throughout the scientific community and threatens the progress of science, particularly with respects to hazard prediction. 

I would like to finish with this message; free the seven, liberen a los siete, rilasciare il sette. 

If you feel strongly that the seven should not be charged with manslaughter please sign this petition.

    RSS Feed

    Volcano Blog Logo
    Picture
    Eruptions Blog
    Picture
    Magma Cum Laude
    Donate to the IVM-Fund! Click on the picture to go to the website!
    Share this page

    Archives

    November 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    October 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    January 2017
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011

    Author

    I am currently studying volcanology in the UK and want to share this interest with others. 

    Categories

    All
    Adams
    Arthurs Seat
    Australia
    Avachinsky-Koryaksky
    Basalt
    Bbc
    Blog Update
    Cascades
    Castle Rock
    Chile
    Colima
    Column
    Costa Rica
    Decade Volcano
    Decade Volcanoes
    Dolerite
    Dubbi
    Edinburgh
    El Chichón
    El Hierro
    Eritrea
    Etna
    Eyjafjallajökull
    Fumarole
    Further Study
    Galeras
    General
    Geoinformatics
    Glencoe
    Grimsvotn
    Harmonic Tremor
    Hawaii
    Haystacks
    Hidden Journeys
    Hotspot
    Iceland
    Ignimbrite
    Importance Of Gas
    Indonesia
    Information
    Insar
    Jokulhlaup
    Kagoshima
    Katla
    Kilauea
    Lake District
    Langdale
    Lava Flows
    Lava Fountain
    Lava Lake
    Lava Stalactites
    Lava Tube
    Lightning
    Maar
    Mantle
    Mauna Loa
    Media
    Merapi
    Mercury
    Mexico
    Modelling
    Mount Hood
    Myrdalsjokull
    Mythology
    Nabro
    Nyamuragira
    Nyiragongo
    Passive Degassing
    Planetary Volcanism
    Plume
    Popocatepetl
    Popocatépetl
    Puyehue Cordon
    Puyehue-Cordon
    Puyehue-Cordon Caulle
    Puyehue-Cordón Caulle
    Pyroclastic Deposits
    Rainier
    Rift Valley
    Ruapehu
    Sakurajima
    Santa Maria
    Santiaguito
    Skaftafell
    St Helens
    Strokkur
    Stromboli
    Strombolian
    Summary
    Super Eruption
    Svartifoss
    Tag Cloud
    Terminology
    Thrihnukagigur
    Tuff Ring
    Turrialba
    Uk
    United Kindom
    Vei 8
    Vidgelmir
    Volatiles
    Volcanology
    Volcano Puzzle
    Vulcanian
    Xenolith
    Xenoliths
    Yellowstone

An informative blog for anyone interested about all things volcano related!