From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Type of volcanic eruption
The 2002 eruption of
Mount Etna was a flank eruption, occurring along two
rift zones to the north-east and south of the summit craters. In this image taken from the
International Space Station , the northeast flank is in the foreground. Steam rising from the summit craters obscures the lower part of the south flank
eruption column .
A flank eruption is a volcanic
eruption which occurs on the flanks of a
volcano , instead of at its summit. Such eruptions occur when the conduit connecting the summit to the
magma chamber below is blocked, forcing the
magma to move laterally.
Overview
At some volcanoes, flank eruptions are common, and occur along clearly defined
rift zones . This is the case at
Mauna Loa and
Kilauea volcanoes in
Hawaii ,
Piton de la Fournaise on
Reunion Island ,
[1] and
Mount Etna in
Italy .
[2] Flank and summit eruptions may occur at the same time.
[3]
Where there are inhabited areas on the flanks of a volcano, flank eruptions may be more destructive and dangerous than summit eruptions.
[4] Flank eruptions may also trigger the collapse of the volcanic edifice, causing
lateral eruptions (such as the
1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens ), landslides and tsunamis. Collapse-drive eruptions are among the largest and most destructive volcanic phenomena.
[5]
References
^ Michon, Laurent; Ferrazzini, Valérie; Di Muro, Andrea; Villeneuve, Nicolas; Famin, Vincent (September 15, 2015).
"Rift zones and magma plumbing system of Piton de la Fournaise volcano: How do they differ from Hawaii and Etna?" (PDF) . Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research . 303 : 112–129.
Bibcode :
2015JVGR..303..112M .
doi :
10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2015.07.031 .
^ Bonforte, Alessandro; Fanizza, Giovanni; Greco, Filippo; Matera, Alfredo; Sulpizio, Roberto (September 15, 2017).
"Long-term dynamics across a volcanic rift: 21years of microgravity and GPS observations on the southern flank of Mt. Etna volcano" . Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research . 344 : 174–184.
Bibcode :
2017JVGR..344..174B .
doi :
10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2017.06.005 .
^
"The 2018 rift eruption and summit collapse of Kīlauea Volcano | Science" . science.sciencemag.org .
Archived from the original on 2019-01-25.
^ Negro, Ciro Del; Cappello, Annalisa; Bilotta, Giuseppe; Ganci, Gaetana; Hérault, Alexis; Zago, Vito (2019). "Living at the edge of an active volcano: Risk from lava flows on Mt. Etna". GSA Bulletin . 132 (7–8): 1615–1625.
doi :
10.1130/B35290.1 .
S2CID
212809291 .
^ Hunt, James E.; Cassidy, Michael; Talling, Peter J. (January 18, 2018).
"Multi-stage volcanic island flank collapses with coeval explosive caldera-forming eruptions" . Scientific Reports . 8 (1): 1146.
Bibcode :
2018NatSR...8.1146H .
doi :
10.1038/s41598-018-19285-2 .
PMC
5773679 .
PMID
29348427 .