TYPES OF VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
QUIET ERUPTIONS
EXPLOSIVE ERUPTIONS
 Magma flows easily
 Magma is thick and sticky
 Thin, runny lava oozes quietly from the vent or
vents
 Thick magma does NOT flow out the crater and
down the mountain, instead magma…
 Lava can flow many kilometers from the vent
1- builds up in the pipe plugging it like a cork in a
bottle
 Can produce 2 types of lava
2- builds up pressure until it explodes
1- Pahhoehoe- fast moving hot lava that forms a
solid mass of wrinkles
2- Aa- cooler slower moving lava that has a
rough surface consisting of jagged lava chunks
when it cools
3- creating a Pyroclastic Flow- explosive eruption
which hurls ash, cinders and bombs as well as
gases out of the vent
ASH- smallest pieces- fine, rocky particles small as
sand
CINDERS- pebbles sized particles of cooled
lava/rock
BOMBS- largest pieces of cooled lava/rock the size
of baseballs to the size of a car