Monday, December 16, 2013

Nice example of Kizimen low level plume: Steaming or atmospheric?

This image below is a nice example to discuss the difference between a volcano steaming from a change in volcanic activity or a change in atmospheric conditions with the conversion to liquid vapor at the summit of the volcano.


By viewing just one image and saying, there is a now a plume from the volcano can be misleading. Not to say that it is volcanic activity, but there is a possibility that the atmospheric conditions could have changed at the volcano and now the water vapor has turned to a liquid (water droplets) and a cloud/plume has formed downwind of the summit.

To confirm if such a plume is volcanic requires additional data, such as local atmospheric conditions and ground based volcanic signals from seismic data. Then one can assess its a volcanic plume and if the change in the volcano is significant.



No comments:

Post a Comment

Panorama of Lower East Rift Zone Camera from Lower East Rift Zone [PGcam], May 7 - June 5, 2018

See the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory for Real-Time updates:  https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/ June 5, 2018 at 15...