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Contemporaneous convective and collapsing eruptive dynamics: The transitional regime of explosive eruptions
Author(s) -
Di Muro A.,
Neri A.,
Rosi M.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2004gl019709
Subject(s) - geology , pyroclastic rock , convection , explosive material , geophysics , explosive eruption , dynamics (music) , volcano , mechanics , physics , seismology , geography , archaeology , acoustics
Two contrasting eruptive regimes have been classically postulated to describe the behavior of explosive eruptions: convective and collapsing. Early studies have recognized that many eruptions evolve from the first to the second regime and have assumed the existence of a sharp boundary between them. Consequently, the dynamics of such transition has never been investigated in detail. Here, we present results of integrated deposit analyses and numerical simulations which demonstrate univocally that both dynamics can, and often do, coexist for hours in a new intermediate transitional regime of explosive eruptions. The study elucidates the features of the new regime in terms of mass partitioning, pyroclastic current dynamics and interplay among convective and collapsing styles.