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    Question ID:   11930         Current Version: 1
Question: How do volcanoes trigger debris flows and landslides?
Category: Science > Earth Sciences
Keywords: avalanche, debris, lahars, pyroclastic flows, landslides, volcano
Type: how
Rating:(0 ratings)    Views: 293    Discussions: 0   In Watch Lists: 1  

 
    Answer:

Pyroclastic Flows

Fast-moving avalanches of hot ash, rock fragments, and gas can move down the sides of a volcano during explosive eruptions or when the steep side of a growing lava dome collapses and breaks apart. These pyroclastic flows can be as hot as 1,500° F and move at speeds of 100 miles (160 km) per hour, up to 150 miles (240 km) per hour. Such flows tend to follow valleys and are capable of knocking down and burning everything in their path. Lower density pyroclastic flows, called pyroclastic surges, can easily overflow ridges hundreds of feet high.

The climactic eruption of Mount St. Helens, Washington, on May 18, 1980, generated a series of explosions that formed a huge pyroclastic surge. This so-called "lateral blast" destroyed an area of 230 square miles (368
square km). Trees 6 feet (2 meters) in diameter were mowed down like blades of grass as far as 15 miles (24 km) from the volcano.

Volcano Landslides

A landslide or debris avalanche is a rapid downhill movement of rocky material, snow, and (or) ice. Volcano landslides range in size from small movements of loose debris on the surface of a volcano to massive collapse of the entire summit or sides of a volcano. Steep volcanoes are susceptible to landslides because they are built partly of layers of loose volcanic rock fragments. Some rocks on volcanoes have also been altered to soft, slippery clay minerals by circulating hot, acidic ground water. Landslides on volcano slopes are triggered when eruptions, heavy rainfall, or large earthquakes cause these materials to break free and move downhill.

At least five large landslides have swept down the slopes of Mount Rainier, Washington, during the past 6,000 years. The largest volcano landslide in historical time occurred at the start of the May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens eruption.

Lahars

Mudflows or debris flows composed mostly of volcanic materials on the flanks of a volcano are called lahars. These flows of mud, rock, and water can rush down valleys and stream channels at speeds of 20 to 40 miles per hour (32 to 64 km per hour) and can travel more than 50 miles (80 km). Some lahars contain so much rock debris (60 to 90 percent by weight) that they look like fast-moving rivers of wet concrete. Close to their source, these flows are powerful enough to rip up and carry trees, houses, and huge boulders miles downstream. Farther downstream they entomb everything in their path in mud.

Historically, lahars have been one of the deadliest volcano hazards. They can occur both during an eruption and when a volcano is quiet. The water that creates lahars can come from melting snow and ice (especially water from a glacier melted by a pyroclastic flow or surge), intense rainfall, or the breakout of a summit crater lake. Large lahars are a potential hazard to many communities downstream from glacier-clad volcanoes. 

Source: USGS

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