DEFINE AND GIVE EXAMPLES OF THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF ERUPTIONS:

Strombolian type Vulcanian type Vesuvian Pelan/Nue Ardente (glowing cloud)

Hawiian a) Fissure type b) Central vent

Phreatic Plinian

Types of Volcanic Eruptions

During an episode of activity, a volcano commonly displays a distinctive pattern of

behavior. Some mild eruptions merely discharge steam and other gases, whereas other eruptions quietly extrude quantities of lava. The most spectacular eruptions consist of violent explosions that blast great clouds of gas-laden debris into the atmosphere.

The type of volcanic eruption Is often labeled with the name of a well-known volcano
where characteristic behavior is similar--hence the use of such terms as "Strombolian," "Vulcanian," "Vesuvian," "Pelean," "Hawaiian," and others. Some volcanoes may exhibit only one characteristic type of eruption during an interval of activity--others may display an entire sequence of types.

In a Strombolian-type eruption observed during the 1965 activity of Iraz Volcano in

Costa Rica, huge clots of molten lava burst from the summit crater to form luminous arcs through the sky. Collecting on the flanks of the cone, lava clots combined to stream down the slopes in fiery rivulets.

Iraz Volcano, Costa Rica, 1965.

In contrast, the eruptive activity of Parcutin Volcano in 1947 demonstrated a

"Vulcanian"-type eruption, in which a dense cloud of ash-laden gas explodes from the

crater and rises high above the peak. Steaming ash forms a whitish cloud near the upper level of the cone.

Parcutin Volcano, Mexico, 1947.

In a "Vesuvian" eruption, as typified by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy in A.D.

79, great quantities of ash-laden gas are violently discharged to form cauliflower-shaped cloud high above the volcano.

Mount Vesuvius Volcano, Italy, 1944.

In a "Pelan" or "Nue Ardente (glowing cloud) eruption, such as occurred on the

Mayon Volcano in the Philippines in 1968, a large quantity of gas, dust, ash, and incandescent lava fragments are blown out of a central crater, fall back, and form tongue-

like, glowing avalanches that move downslope at velocities as great as 100 miles per hour. Such eruptive activity can cause great destruction and loss of life if it occurs in populated areas, as demonstrated by the devastation of St. Pierre during the 1902 eruption of Mont Pele on Martinique, Lesser Antilles.

" awaiian" eruptions may occur along fissures or fractures that serve as linear vents, such as during the eruption of Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii in 1950; or they may occur at a central vent such as during the 1959 eruption in Kilauea Iki Crater of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. In fissure-type eruptions, molten, incandescent lava spurts from a fissure on the volcano's rift zone and feeds lava streams that flow downslope. In centralvent eruptions, a fountain of fiery lava spurts to a height of several hundred feet or more. Such lava may collect in old pit craters to form lava lakes, or form cones, or feed radiating flows.

Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii, 1950.

Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, 1959.

" hreatic" (or steam-blast) eruptions are driven by explosive expanding steam resulting from cold ground or surface water coming into contact with hot rock or magma. The distinguishing feature of phreatic explosions is that they only blast out fragments of preexisting solid rock from the volcanic conduit; no new magma is erupted. Phreatic activity is generally weak, but can be quite violent in some cases, such as the 1965 eruption of Taal Volcano, Philippines, and the 1975-76 activity at La Soufrire, Guadeloupe (Lesser Antilles).

Taal Volcano, Philippines, 1965.

The most powerful eruptions are called "plinian" and involve the explosive ejection of
relatively viscous lava. Large plinian eruptions--such as during 18 May 1980 at Mount St. Helens or, more recently, during 15 June 1991 at Pinatubo in the Philippines--can send ash and volcanic gas tens of miles into the air. The resulting ash fallout can affect large areas hundreds of miles downwind. Fast-moving deadly pyroclastic flows ("nues ardentes") are also commonly associated with plinian eruptions.

Mount St. Helens about noon, May 18, 1980.

http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/eruptions.html
All volcanoes erupt, but not always in the same way. There are seven types of volcanic eruptions: Strombolian, Vulcanian, Pelan, Hawaiian, Phreatic, Plinian, and subglacial. A Strombolian eruption, named after Stromboli in Sicily, consists of large blobs of magma thrown tens to hundreds of meters in the air, until they fall to the ground and produce short, viscous streams of lava. Strombolian volcanic eruptions are caused by the buildup of bubbles, called gas slugs, which rapidly rise to the surface, emerging with such force that they eject many tons of magma into the air. Strombolian eruptions are of low or medium intensity. Vulcanian eruptions, named after Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Mediterranean, are characterized by large amounts of gas released in an explosive fashion. Vulcanian eruptions are often accompanied by Phreatic, or steam-blast eruptions, caused when red-hot magma comes into constant with ground water and turns it instantly to steam. In Vulcanian eruptions, a large cloud of volcanic ash forms in the sky above the volcano, with white steaming ash making up the highest part of the smoke pillar. Vulcanian volcanic eruptions usually do not eject much magma into the air. Pelan eruptions, also called "glowing cloud" eruptions, are named after Mt. Pele in the Caribbean. Pelan eruptions are characterized by sudden explosions of gas, dust, ash, and lava fragments which rain down on kilometer-wide areas in a pyroclastic avalanche. When a Pelan eruption occurs in a populated area it can cause many deaths. Pelan volcanic eruptions are often accompanied by the creation of a lava dome. Hawaiian eruptions are named after the eruptions of the volcano Mauna Loa in the Hawaiian islands. These are among the most peaceful eruptions, and may last for many years. They consist of large amounts of lowviscosity lava pouring down the volcano's slope, and produce very little volcanic ash or gas. A Hawaiian eruption is safe enough to view up close, and many helicopter tours in Hawaii offer tours of the actively volcanic Mauna Loa. Over geologic time, Hawaiian eruptions produce very large mountains, as is the case with the island of Hawaii itself if measured from the ocean floor, Mauna Loa can be considered the tallest mountain on Earth. Phreatic eruptions, also known as steam-blast eruptions, are named after a word meaning "well" or "spring" in Greek, and refers to the contact of superheated magma with a subterranean water table. Phreatic eruptions result in explosions of steam, water, ash, rock, and volcanic bombs, and have been known to kill hundreds of people, mostly due to the release of poisonous gases such as carbon dioxide or hydrogen sulfide. The former merely causes asphyxiation, while the latter is actually an active poison, killing plants and animals alike. Plinian eruptions, named after Pliny the Younger, whose uncle was killed in the Plinian eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE, are the most severe and extreme of the volcanic eruptions. They consist of an extremely tall column of ash and magma being ejected all the way into the stratosphere (>11 km, 6.8 mi). This column spreads out at its top, resembling a stone pine tree. Plinian volcanic eruptions are known to distribute dust over areas hundreds of miles wide, and are often accompanied by very loud explosive noises which can be heard from thousands of miles away. Sometimes, Plinian eruptions eject so much magma that the volcano's summit collapses, forming a caldera. Subglacial volcanic eruptions occur when a volcano erupts from beneath an ice sheet, which is usually more than a kilometer deep. Only five subglacial eruptions have been recorded in modern history, and only the most severe are capable of actually melting through the entire ice cap above.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-some-different-types-of-volcanic-eruptions.htm

A Hawaiian eruption is a type of volcanic eruption where lava flows from the vent in a relative gentle, low level eruption, so called because it is characteristic of Hawaiian volcanoes. Typically they are effusive eruptions, with basaltic magmas of low viscosity, low content of gases, and

high temperature at the vent. Very little amount of volcanic ash is produced. This type of eruption occurs most often on hotspot volcanoes such as Klauea, though it can occur near subduction zones (e.g. Medicine Lake Volcano in California, United States.) Another example of Hawaiian eruptions occurred on Surtsey from 1964 to 1967, when molten lava flowed from the crater to the sea. Hawaiian eruptions may occur along fissure vents, such as during the eruption of Mauna Loa Volcano in 1950, or at a central vent, such as during the 1959 eruption in Klauea Iki Crater, which created a lava fountain 580 meters (1,900 ft) high and formed a 38 meter cone named Puu Puai. In fissure-type eruptions, lava spurts from a fissure on the volcano's rift zone and feeds lava streams that flow downslope. In central-vent eruptions, a fountain of lava can spurt to a height of 300 meters or more (heights of 1600 meters were reported for the 1986 eruption of Mount Mihara on Izu shima, Japan). Hawaiian eruptions usually start by formation of a crack in the ground from which a curtain of incandescent magma or several closely spaced magma fountains appear. The lava can overflow the fissure and form a or phoehoe style of flows. Eruptions from a central cone can form small lightly sloped shield volcanoes, for example the Mauna Loa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_eruption