pyroclastic flows
Superheated volcanic currents
Pyroclastic flows are fast-moving currents of hot gas, ash, and rock fragments that race down volcanic slopes during eruptions.
They can reach speeds over 100 miles per hour and temperatures exceeding 1,000°F, incinerating everything in their path.
The flows that buried Pompeii in 79 AD remain the most famous example.
The pyroclastic flows from Mount St. Helens devastated hundreds of square miles.
- superheatedHeated beyond phase change
- eruptionViolent sudden release
- volcanoEarth's fiery vent
- crater rimBoundary of circular depression
- volcanic ashFragmented rock from eruptions
ash cloud · lahar · welded tuff · ash · pyroclast · tephra · lava dome · Herculaneum · calderas · volcanic hazards · magma chamber · lava · volcanic gases · obliteration · geology · debris · suffocating · instant death
- volcanicslava, magma, volcanoes, eruptions, lava flows
- volcanoesvolcano, volcanic eruption, Mount Fuji, volcanic eruptions, caldera
- Mount St. Helenseruption, crater, volcanic crater, lava dome, ash cloud
- PompeiiPompeii, Vesuvius, Mount Vesuvius, Herculaneum, eruption
- Supervolcanoessupervolcano, Yellowstone, caldera, calderas, magma chamber
- volcanic geologyvolcano, lava, magma, volcanic ash, volcanic rock
volcanic flow type
pyroclastic flowslava flows
Moving volcanic rock
molten lava · magma · lava lake · lava lakes · lava tubes