Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Pyroclastic flow from Kizimen
Pyroclastic flows, the dreaded "glowing avalanche" unleashed by a certain variety of volcanoes, are one of nature's most terrible and mesmerizing sights. Can't say that I've been in position to see one in person - doing that requires a good safe vantage point near the type of volcano that does this. And such volcanoes tend to be unpredictable, occasionally unleashing a bigger pyroclastic flow than expected, which has (and probably will continue to) catch observers that were too close, with unfortunate deadly consequences.
Nonetheless, the pyroclastic flow is a spectacle, and recently Kizimen, a Kamchatkan volcano, let one fly down the slopes when its thick viscous lava spine (this type of volcano frequently features thick viscous domes and spines, and when they collapse, the collapse products can turn into the flow). So I found this picture of Kizimen's recent production (captured via a Webcam far enough away).
There's a video here (this is where I got the picture from).
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