BrainStuff Classics: Could Humans Control Volcanic Eruptions?

powdered rocks shut down air travel and major highways. Then twice in May and July, the U S Geological Survey raised the alert level for Pavlov which seems ready to do it again, but then they downgraded it in August.

Volcanic eruptions are notoriously unpredictable. Hans Lechner, a doctorial candidate in geology and engineering sciences at Michigan Technological University, says volcanologists have figured out the timing yet, He wrote via email, a volcano may show all the signs of an impending eruption, increased seismicity, high gas flux, surface deformation, but then never actually erupt and over time return back to baseline levels, or he says, it can show none of the signs

of an impending eruption and then erupt. There are those in the field who muse about going on the offensive, the volcanic preemptive strike, if you will. The idea is humans somehow modify the eruption process, either by initiating an eruption under controlled conditions, or by downgrading the energy of an impending eruption to limit the resulting damage. The energy

involved in a volcanic eruption defies the imagination. Italy's infamous Mount Etnas spewed about three cubic feet that's ten cubic meters of lava per second during its four month eruption in three lets Know reports that in nine, Mount Pinatubo's initial blast ejected about two point four cubic miles or ten cubic kilometers of material to an altitude of about twenty five miles or forty kilometers. He says that magma represents massive amounts of energy. It originates deep inside the Earth,

where extreme temperatures and pressures can melt rock. Molten rock, or magma is lighter than solid rock, so it rises, forming a magma chamber that moves upward through Earth's crust. As the volume of magma grows, the pressure in the chamber increases, forcing magma through the volcanoes vents tubes formed by prior eruptions sealed at the surface by a lid

of rock. If the pressure gets high enough and Event suddenly opens to the atmosphere, the rapid depressurization causes gases to come out of solution, which causes the magma to explode. It spews through the open vents, along with pulverized rock, steam, and various gases. In the case of Mount Saint Helen's in Lechener says that extreme pressure had forced Event lid to bulge outward, a classic sign of impending eruption, and

a landslide took it off to modify that eruption. Lechner theorizes, I suppose humans could have triggered the landslide or removed the overburden lid through say excavation or even donating a nuclear device. Of course, Newton, a volcano should not be anyone's first plan, and drilling into the magma chamber to release the pressures out too. Volcanologist Eric Cleametti, writing on Wired in, likened that theory to trying to bleed to death with a needle prick. But we couldn't avert an

eruption by slowly depressurizing the chamber either. Lechner wrote, we have to get past the misconception that a magma chamber is like a fluid filled balloon or soda bottle that we can gently insert a straw and suck out the lava and gas. We're talking about pressures and volumes of material that are beyond the capacity of man made equipment. He says, would have to drill down several kilometers with massive pipes hundreds of meters in diameter to handle the

volcanic output that would rush from the chamber. The pipes would have to withstand temperatures above three thousand, six hundred degrees fahrenheit that's two thousand degrees celsius, and pressures quote beyond our capabilities to manage and even comprehend. And then he adds there would still be the gases held in solution and by the pressure of the chamber that escape

violently when the chamber depressurized. Generally speaking, it seems the main problem facing human modication of volcanic eruptions is that it's laughably impossible. Volcanoes are too big and volcanic eruptions are too powerful. Yet, says Janet Bab, geologist with the U s GS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, humanity is not completely without modification options. Bab rope via email. Humans cannot stop or control an eruption, but we have taken some actions

to control products erupted from a volcano. Diverting lava flows. For instance, Bab points to Mount Etna and that three eruption mentioned earlier, which sent lava flowing into populated areas. With the lava flow threatening to overrun three towns, hundreds of workers desperately constructed a system of massive rebel barriers to redirect it, and it worked. They successfully diverted the lava. Attempts to guide lava flows by bombing them have generally failed.

Cooling them has shown promise, though. In Vree, the lava from a volcano on the Icelandic island of Haymi was flowing into towns. Officials built barriers to stop its progress and dumped seawater on the lava to cool it. Down, slow the flow, and help it harden the barriers held against the lower energy lava flow. As for exerting control before the lava starts flowing, Lechner says it's mostly science fiction daydreaming. Volcanology research instead focuses on advancing methods of

monitoring and prediction. However, he writes, it's not absurd to think that our own hubrists might encourage us to attempt to modify a volcanic eruption. Humans have a history of large scale engineering feats that have forever modified the service of the Earth. Today's episode was written by Julia Layton and produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Playing. For more on this and lots of other explosive topics, visit how stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart

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