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Pahoehoe lava is a relatively smooth lava flow that can be billowy or ropey. They can move as one sheet, by the advancement of "toes", or as a snaking lava column. [10] A'a lava flows are denser and more viscous than pahoehoe, and tend to move slower. Flows can measure 2 to 20 m (7 to 66 ft) thick.
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]
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 ...
Hawaii's Big Island continues to be plagued by volcanic eruptions, which have destroyed several homes and forced roughly 2,000 people to evacuate.
Around Aberdeen, lava flows from diverse vents form a large field with aa and pahoehoe forms [11] and neatly preserved surface features. [9] Lava flows reach lengths of 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) [3] and have thicknesses of 0.01–30 metres (0.39 in – 98 ft 5.10 in) and sometimes lava flows from separate cones overlap, such as in Papoose Canyon. [8]
Lava tubes are the most common and extensive type of lava cave. Lava tubes usually form in pahoehoe lava flows, though exceptions exist. As the lava is emitted from the vent area, it spreads in the path of least resistance. The outer layers of the lava harden, while the interior forms horizontal conduits that channel the advance of the flow.
In many cases the water is supplied by the sea, such as in the Surtsey eruption. In other cases the water may be present in a lake or caldera-lake, as at Santorini, where the phreatomagmatic component of the Minoan eruption was a result of both a lake and later the sea. There have also been examples of interaction between magma and water in an ...
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 ...