Volcanic eruption dynamics

Dynamics of explosive volcanic eruptions are in many aspects similar to beer and champagne dynamics. They are driven by the exsolution of a gas from a liquid. Figure 4-31 describes the various stages of an explosive eruption. In the magma chamber, much H2O (such as 6 wt%) and some CO2 (such as 40 ppm) are... 

Let us now determine the functional and dynamic characteristics of the fluxes of phosphorus (Table 4.4) based on analysis of existing ideas about their nature. The atmospheric cycle is governed by rock weathering, volcanic eruptions, and by the leaching of phosphorus by precipitation. From available estimates, the content of phosphorus in the lithosphere constitutes 0.093%, and the processes of weathering deliver annually to the atmosphere from 0.67 mgPcm 3 yr 1 to 5.06mgPcm-3 yr-1. Every year, volcanic eruptions contribute to the atmosphere about 0.2 106 tP. Since these processes are complicated and stochastic in nature and their models are absent, as a first approximation fluxes H and //f9 can be considered constant. 

The tenet that volcanic eruptions would affect the climate is neither new (Benjamin Franklin is credited with the original suggestion for an early statement of the problem see Humphreys, 1940) nor basically disputed, but the state of knowledge was, and perhaps still is, such that the dynamic response of the system could not be reliably predicted. 

Kieffer S. W. (1982) Dynamics and thermodynamics of volcanic eruptions implications for the plumes on lo. In Satellites of Jupiter (ed. D. Morrison). University of Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 647—723. 

Kodera, K., 1994. Influence of volcanic eruptions on the troposphere through stratospheric dynamical processes in the Northern Hemisphere winter. Journal of Geophysical Research, 99, 1273-1282. 

The observed trends in the NAM towards higher indices may have resulted from human-induced changes in the temperature structure of the lower stratosphere in response to greenhouse gas emissions and ozone depletion (Shindell et al., 2001). The radiative effects of solar activity and of volcanic eruptions may also have produced NAM- like signatures detectable at the Earth s surface. The response of the Earth system to climate forcing may therefore involve changes in particular dynamical modes, and hence the human influence on climate at the Earth surface may occur in part by way of the stratosphere. 

Helz R.T., 1987, Diverse olivene types in lava in the 1959 eruption of Kilauea volcano and their bearing on eruption dynamics. In Decker R.W., Wright T.L, and Stauffer P.H. (eds), Volcanism in Hawaii. US Gcol. Surv. Prof. Paper 1350, pp. 691-722. 

Dynamics of explosive volcanic and lake eruptions. In Environment, Natural... 

Aiuppa A, Federico C, Paonita A, Pecoraino G, Valenza M (2002) S, Cl and F Degassing as an Indicator of Volcanic Dynamics The 2001 Eruption of Mount Etna. Geophys Res Lett 29 1559... 

TrigilaR, SperaFJ, Aurisicchio C (1990) The 1983 Mount Etna eruption thermochemical and dynamical inferences. Contrib Miner Petrol 104 594—608 Wiemer S, McNutt SR (1997) Variations in the frequency-magnitude distribution with depth in two volcanic... 

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