Guest Post by Steven Goddard
The Guardian image below taken this week near Iceland has the caption “Smoke and ash billows from a volcano in Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland Photograph: Ingolfur Juliusson/Reuters”
The Guardian caption is for the most part incorrect. Note that the volcanic cloud is largely indistinguishable from the other clouds, except for it’s shape. The reason for the similarity is that the vast majority of the volcanic plume is water vapour, not ash and definitely not smoke. Where would smoke come from??? There aren’t any trees on Iceland to burn.
The abundance of gases varies considerably from volcano to volcano. However, water vapor is consistently the most common volcanic gas, normally comprising more than 60% of total emissions. Carbon dioxide typically accounts for 10 to 40% of emissions.
70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water. Where did that water come from? It is generally believed that most of it outgased from the interior of the earth during the first 700 million years of the earth’s existence.
Steam from the interiorToday most authors believe that early steam from the hot mantle but already cool atmosphere, caused the oceans in the very early stages of the planet. They reason from studies of chondrites (space rocks) in space that under compression, enough water could be released to form an ocean. Today one can observe the gases escaping from active volcanoes, and these too contain water. In this scenario, the oceans would still be increasing in size, a gradual process that would never really end.The amount of water stored in rocks of the primary lithosphere is estimated at 25E21kg (Hutchinson G E, 1957), whereas the water in all oceans is 1.35E21kg, so it is quite possible that all this water emerged slowly after rocks were compressed and heated while the atmosphere had cooled already.
We know that the oceans could not have condensed out of the early atmosphere, because even a 100% water vapour atmosphere would only contain 10 metres of liquid water. People have hypothesized that the oceans came from comets, but the hydrogen isotope ratios in the oceans are different than that seen in comets Halley, Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp.
The only plausible origin of the oceans is from the interior of the earth. So why don’t we see oceans on other planets and the moon? Liquid water only exists in a narrow range of temperatures and pressures. Other planets are too hot, too cold or too small to hold liquid water, though some of the moons of the giant planets may have liquid water.
Why is the relationship between volcanoes and water important? Because steam pressure is the primary driver of explosive volcanic eruptions.
Below are some images of potentially explosive eruptions :
Mt. St. Helens 1980 : Mostly steam, some ash, almost no smoke.
The video above shows the moment of the big eruption May 18, 1980
Mayon 1984 USGS photo : Steam rising, ash cloud falling down the sides of the mountain.
Fourpeaked Volcano, Alaska 2006 USGS photo : 100% steam
Tungurahua 2006 NASA EO image : Steam, ash and lava
Eyjafjallajökull 2010 NASA EO image : Steam, lava, ice
Below are USGS images of non-explosive eruptions at Mauna Loa, Hawaii
Note in the image above that there is some smoke on the left side – from burning trees, and a little steam at the summit. So what is the difference between explosive and non-explosive eruptions? The difference is mainly due to the presence or absence of water. Water mainly enters volcanoes from two primary sources.
- Subduction on the sea floor, and transport upwards into a magma chamber. (Mt. St. Helens)
- Melt from snow and ice above. (Eyjafjallajökull and Mt. St. Helens)
Mauna Loa on the other hand has very little water mixed in with the magma, as it is neither near a subduction zone nor is it covered with snow most of the time. So eruptions from Mauna Loa tend to produce lava rather than steam and ash.
Looking at the mechanics, it becomes clear that explosive volcanic eruptions can not occur in the absence of large amounts of steam. Liquids (like magma) have very low compressibility and can not store enough mechanical energy to cause an explosion. Gases on the other hand are extremely compressible and can store vast amounts of energy. Steam has the unique property that it is liquid until it comes in contact with the magma (or the overburden pressure becomes low enough to allow it to switch to vapour phase) – then it converts thermal energy into mechanical energy very efficiently. The world used to run off steam engines based on this principle.
Most modern power plants still use steam to convert thermal energy into mechanical energy. Same principle that makes volcanoes explode.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Joe (05:01:11) :
The energy source which drives earthquakes and volcanoes is mainly radioactive decay of Uranium and Thorium inside the earth.
What if the water cycle is not closed but opened?. Cosmic rays, as during solar minimums (mainly composed of protons-90%-, which, btw, we must remember are Hydrogen Nucleii), then these react with ozone to produce water 2H+…O3=H2O+O2.
Remember Aquarius, the constellation depicted as a girl pouring down on earth a jug of water?, well, a japanese satellite has discovered a big source of cosmic rays (aka: protons 90%) in that direction. Curious, isn´t it?
————————————————————–
THis from Brian Cox’s Solar program on BBC2 goes into water plumes on one of Saturn’s Moons..Encelidus (sp?) as found by Casini. The heat on Encelidus is caused by eliptical interactions with saturn and it’s affect on the tectonic plates on Encelidus; heating the plate locals up, which heats the water, which causes…..volcanoes of water. …..FY
—————————————————————
What I find interesting is that the infra-red scans of Encelidus revealed that the tectonic plates where heated. It was felt the center of Encelidus had long cooled down. As the earth mantal rises with motions of the tidal effect (LHC has to accomodate this effect) perhaps it is the phenomenon that heats the magma we see in volcanoes in localized areas as in Encelidus. What proof do we have that the center of the earth is molten to the core? Molten at the area of plates, heated by friction from the plates moved by the tidal effect? I’m going to get some protective clothing on now and wait for the answers!! 🙂
————————————————————-
Walter M. Clark (20:33:36) :
johnythelowery (19:29:37)
You aren’t going far enough back.
Matt B (20:02:45)
You’re closer, but still not there.
—————————————————-
I’m definately a ‘yom’ guy as explained by someone else here.
Re: Tom T (20:35:02) :
I keep hearing that one volcano produces more CO2 than all the cars ever made have, but others have said that is not true, which is correct?
—
I’m pretty convinced we produce more CO2 than volcanoes, but also the amount of volcanic CO2 may be underestimated, and same may be true for frequency. For example-
http://www.volcano.si.edu/faq/index.cfm?faq=06
So what counts as an eruption for estimating CO2 output given there’s lots of venting ongoing without eruptions. It seems to me to be one of those areas where we’re still discovering a lot and our ability to observe and measure is improving. To make things ever more complex, the chemistry in a volcano can change over time. Isotope analysis does show we produce more than they do though.
They are one of those things though where I sometimes wish I could go back in time and pick a career in geology as it seems we’ve still a lot to learn about volcanoes.
“The abundance of gases varies considerably from volcano to volcano. However, water vapor is consistently the most common volcanic gas, normally comprising more than 60% of total emissions. Carbon dioxide typically accounts for 10 to 40% of emissions.”
Well, then, look for a spike in temperatures in coming months. As CAGW proponents have told us over and over, more CO2 equals more greenhouse effect equals higher temperature. It’s quite simple really. What more do you need to know. You can prove it with a glass jar in a lab.
What? History shows volcanic eruptions cause cooling? But what about all that CO2? I guess it might be more complicated than that, huh?
Is it just me, or are the Brits being rather fussy and skittish about all this? I have yet to see anyone state that they have direct evidence of ash clouds but rather they seem to be relying on computer simulations. I even heard one “authority” state that the test flights are in no way adequate to re-open British airspace.
I also note with approval that British Airways CEO BA Willie Walsh will be on its test flight. Bravo!!
Maybe I’m just a cowboy, but if an airline and its passengers agree to lift off, then I’m OK with that. No nannies needed.
stevengoddard (04:48:44) :
The viscosity of magma is largely dependent on the amount of volatiles, like water, mixed in.
Actually, the viscosity of the magma is dependent on the amount of silica (SIO2) in the magma.
Low silica = fluid flow (basalts – Hawaiian volcanoes)
High silica = sticky magma/explosive (rhyolites – Mt. St. Helens)
This volcano’s ash, at the moment, is andesitic in composition (57-58% silica).
http://scienceblogs.com/eruptions/2010/04/eyjafjallajokull_eruption_cont.php
I’m not positive, but I think much of the ash is being produced by explosive mixing of glacial ice melt with the rising magma. That would also produce copious amounts of steam/water vapor.
Steven:
Right. The ash gets entrained into the steam and other rising gases, but once the steam cools downstream from the volcano, its the ash particles that make the plume visible. The particles that are left are small enough to become suspended in the air, and can remain aloft for years.
Comets are not made of ICECREAM That’s what the New Age post normal astronomers thought. The NASA “Deep Impact” probe, proved it was wrong:
http://www.thunderbolts.info/tpod/2006/arch06/060214comet.htm
The latest value : 13,768,594 km2 (April 18, 2010)
Paul Hildebrandt (06:57:49) :
Silica rich magmas melt at much lower temperatures than basalt magma -partly because of the presence of water. Their lower temperature makes them more viscous.
“The presence of even 0.8% water may reduce the temperature of melting by as much as 100 °C. ”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magma
Madman (06:55:55) :
The fact that the ash didn’t bring down a plane on it’s first flight, doesn’t mean that the accumulated damage over 100 flights won’t significantly increase the odds of engine failure.
enneagram (07:20:06)
Interesting read in your link. What does it mean??? What are it’s implications??
Matt (07:01:07) :
I can see clouds and jet contrails just fine, without any ash.
kcom (06:36:17) :
Global temperatures will rise over the next few months because of the NH summer, but anomalies should drop as ENSO goes negative into the summer. The volcano won’t have much affect on temperatures.
Steven:
You see clouds and contrails because there are CCNs or other aerosols present for the water vapor to deliquesce onto. You’re not seeing ‘steam’ as you put it.
johnythelowery (08:12:14) Well, this leads you to a real science breakthrough, a new paradigm, which btw, reveals itself as a universal “key”, which contrasts with a purely flintstones’ universe conception, derived from Newton a man who saw the apple falling but forgot to see, above, the apple tree growing:
http://www.holoscience.com/index.php
stevengoddard (08:08:46) :
Silica rich magmas melt at much lower temperatures than basalt magma -partly because of the presence of water. Their lower temperature makes them more viscous.
Andesitic magmas usually erupt as blocky lavas.
http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/andesiterhyolite_lava.html
I’m not having an issue with whether there is water in the magma or not. What I’m having an issue with is whether or not the ash is being produced by the water in the magma (doubtful, not enough gas present, water or otherwise) or by the interaction of the magma with the glacial meltwater and/or groundwater.
“The presence of even 0.8% water may reduce the temperature of melting by as much as 100 °C. ”
That is true. However, your reference above is in regard to the formation of magma by melting of the parent rock. This is where the water is introduced into the magma and the reference is valid. Not at the surface, where it is being expelled.
This explains it much better detail. It’s known as a hydrovolcanic eruption:
http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Hydrovolcanic.html
A senior Iranian cleric says women who wear revealing clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes.
‘Many women who do not dress modestly … lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which (consequently) increases earthquakes,’ Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.
Women in the Islamic Republic are required by law to cover from head to toe, but many, especially the young, ignore some of the more strict codes and wear tight coats and scarves pulled back that show much of the hair.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1267262/Iranian-cleric-Women-wear-revealing-clothing-cause-earthquakes.html#ixzz0lYwFmU4m
Here we have it. Now it is the fracturing coupled with plate tectonics that creates a weak spot in the crust.
Paul Hildebrandt (08:54:25) :
Reposting, for you:
Paul Hildebrandt (08:40:27) :
I am assuming that you read my article above the comment section?
With all European air traffic grounded you have to hand it to the brave souls who risk their lives to bring us such beautiful AERIAL photos of this eruption.
—————————————————————
enneagram (08:32:31) :
johnythelowery (08:12:14) Well, this leads you to a real science breakthrough, a new paradigm, which btw, reveals itself as a universal “key”, which contrasts with a purely flintstones’ universe conception, derived from Newton a man who saw the apple falling but forgot to see, above, the apple tree growing:
http://www.holoscience.com/index.php
————————————————————–
…….um……what does?