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The word lava comes from Italian and is probably derived from the Latin word labes, which means a fall or slide. [2] [3] An early use of the word in connection with extrusion of magma from below the surface is found in a short account of the 1737 eruption of Vesuvius, written by Francesco Serao, who described "a flow of fiery lava" as an analogy to the flow of water and mud down the flanks of ...
Pahoehoe lava is smooth and ropy while Aa lava is blocky and hard. Lava flows normally follow the topography, sinking into depressions and valleys and flowing down the volcano. Lava flows will bury roads, farmlands and other forms of personal property. [1] This lava could destroy homes, cars, and lives standing in the way. [2]
A'a lava moves in a peculiar way—the front of the flow steepens due to pressure from behind until it breaks off, after which the general mass behind it moves forward. Pahoehoe lava can sometimes become A'a lava due to increasing viscosity or increasing rate of shear, but A'a lava never turns into pahoehoe flow. [11]
The flows have flow fronts about 16 feet (5 m) high; [44] lobes, inflation structures and material rafted off the cone appear on the lava flows, [45] which are classified as aa lava. [46] During the eruption of Marcath, tephra was emplaced northeastward for over 3.1 miles (5 km) and is formed by lapilli and scoria; [ 44 ] another tephra deposit ...
A hyperconcentrated-flow lahar can leave even frail huts standing, while at the same time burying them in mud, [8] which can harden to near-concrete hardness. A lahar's viscosity decreases the longer it flows and can be further thinned by rain, producing a quicksand-like mixture that can remain fluidized for weeks and complicate search and ...
A broad lava-flow field often forms a lava tube system that consists of a main lava tube and a series of smaller tubes that supply lava to the front of one or more separate flows. When the supply of lava stops at the end of an eruption, or lava is diverted elsewhere, lava in the tube system sometimes drains downslope and leaves partially or ...
Pyroclastic flows sweep down the flanks of Mayon Volcano, Philippines, in 2018. A pyroclastic flow (also known as a pyroclastic density current or a pyroclastic cloud) [1] is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano at average speeds of 100 km/h (30 m/s; 60 mph) but is capable of reaching speeds up to ...
Mafic lava flows show two varieties of surface texture: ʻAʻa (pronounced ) and pāhoehoe ([paːˈho.eˈho.e]), both Hawaiian words. ʻAʻa is characterized by a rough, clinkery surface and is the typical texture of cooler basalt lava flows.