Lots of rumors going around about #Kilauea. Scared people make patterns to find safety, but we need to use science to tell us what patterns are real. This thread will have some basic facts about volcanoes. #ScienceForBetterDecisions.
1. Magna with more quartz is stickier, can grow into tall cone, traps gases & more likely to explode: Think Mt. St. Helens or Krakatoa. Low quartz magma, like Kilauea, create lava flows that travel out into a large, flatter shield volcano. Kilauea will not behave like St. Helens!
2. Volcanic explosions happen because gases are trapped and pressure builds up like a pressure cooker. These can be the gases produced by the volcano or steam from interacting with the ground water. At Kilauea, it is interaction with ground water that is causing the explosions.
3. Kilauea’s steam eruptions are not as powerful as the big subduction zone volcanoes. The boulders are only having an impact very near the summit. Think yards not miles.
4. The Ring of Fire is a literary term, not a scientific one. Stress triggers are not carried around the Pacific. Quakes only trigger other quakes nearby. Volcanoes only trigger volcanoes that share magma systems.
5. Big tsunamis require displacing huge amounts of water. The ground motions in Hawaii have not been big enough. Don't add a tsunami worry to the mix. There's enough going on.
@USGSVolcanoes is doing a great job monitoring Kilauea and getting information out. Listen to them, not the rumors. They have the best idea of what is going on.
