Taming a volcano

Thousands of volcanoes along the Midatlantic ridge
are of little concern as long as they stay submerged
~2km below the surface. Primordial substances
rising from Earth's interior react with water to
form basalt exclusively, because there isn't enough
oxygen for the formation of ash or granitic rocks.
The trouble begins when the ridge rises to ~1 km
of the surface. The water column can no longer
hold back the stream of primordial gases, mainly
hydrogen, methane and H2S:
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/chemi...ges/vents2.gif
The gases rise to the surface, where on contact
with atmospheric oxygen, they explode into
steam, CO2, SO2 and ash:
http://geology.com/volcanoes/types-o...ruption-lg.jpg
To tame the eruption, standard fire-fighting
techniques may help: block the stream of
primordial gases with rocks and concrete; block
atmospheric oxygen with explosives or CO2......
John Curtis

On Apr 17, 4:43�pm, John Curtis wrote:
Thousands of volcanoes along the Midatlantic ridge
are of little concern as long as they stay submerged
~2km below the surface. Primordial substances
rising from Earth's interior react with water to
form basalt exclusively, because there isn't enough
oxygen for the formation of ash or granitic rocks.
The trouble begins when the ridge rises to ~1 km
of the surface. The water column can no longer
hold back the stream of primordial gases, mainly
hydrogen, methane and H2S:http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/vents/chemi...ges/vents2.gif
The gases rise to the surface, where on contact
with atmospheric oxygen, they explode into
steam, CO2, SO2 and ash:http://geology.com/volcanoes/types-o...s/surtseyan-er...
To tame the eruption, standard fire-fighting
techniques may help: block the stream of
primordial gases with rocks and concrete; �block
atmospheric oxygen with explosives or CO2......
John Curtis

What if messing with it makes it worse???

John Curtis wrote in
:

Thousands of volcanoes along the Midatlantic ridge
are of little concern as long as they stay submerged
~2km below the surface. Primordial substances
rising from Earth's interior react with water to
form basalt exclusively, because there isn't enough
oxygen for the formation of ash or granitic rocks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_ash

Ash comes from aerosoled magma, not oxidation.

Trying to plug a large volcano, one large enough to cause
near-global disruptions, seems far beyond human intervention.


--Damon

On Apr 17, 2:51*pm, " wrote:

What if messing with it makes it worse???

Nobody will mess with it until conditions
deteriorate, until lives are threatened.
John Curtis

On Apr 17, 4:24*pm, Damon Hill wrote:

Trying to plug a large volcano, one large enough to cause
near-global disruptions, seems far beyond human intervention.

Normally, volcanoes are self-sealing. Enough ash falls back
into caldera to build a mountain or lava flow will resume
and build a lava dome. The difficulty with Surtseyan
eruption is that caldera is under water and the sealing
is prolonged. John Curtis

On Apr 17, 8:12*pm, John Curtis wrote:
On Apr 17, 4:24*pm, Damon Hill wrote:

Trying to plug a large volcano, one large enough to cause
near-global disruptions, seems far beyond human intervention.

Normally, volcanoes are self-sealing. Enough ash falls back
into caldera to build a mountain or lava flow will resume
and build a lava dome.

No.

The difficulty with Surtseyan
eruption is that caldera is under water and the sealing
is prolonged. John Curtis

With greater water pressure your scenario implies less dispersion,
and quicker end to eruption.

New Geology?? Eruptions end when the source chamber is emptied
or depressurized.

Brad

On Apr 17, 4:24*pm, Damon Hill wrote:

Ash comes from aerosoled magma, not oxidation.

Most ash consists of silicon dioxide , the principal
constituent of quartz:
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/images/pglossary/ash.php
Curiously, basalt, formed deep in the ocean,
where oxygen is scarce, has no quartz.
Only rocks extruded above the surface contain
quartz. Andesite, extruded into the rarefied atmosphere
of the Andes has little quartz compared to dacite and
rhyolite formed at lower elevations, where oxygen is
more plentiful:
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/ash/proper...tml#components
John Curtis

On Apr 20, 6:02*am, John Curtis wrote:
On Apr 17, 4:24*pm, Damon Hill wrote:

Ash comes from aerosoled magma, not oxidation.

Most ash consists of silicon dioxide , the principal
constituent of quartz:http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/images/pglossary/ash.php
Curiously, basalt, formed deep in the ocean,
where oxygen is scarce, has no quartz.
Only rocks extruded above the surface contain
quartz. Andesite, extruded into the rarefied atmosphere
of the Andes has little quartz compared to dacite and
rhyolite formed at lower elevations, where oxygen is
more plentiful:http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/ash/proper...tml#components
John Curtis

Andesite is just granite that has cooled more quickly than granite.
It is crazy to think, humans could plug a volcano. If we human
managed to do it with our limited resources it would only lead
to a larger release of pressure later. Hence it is better to stand
aside and let them rip. By the way, any area with red asphaltic
roads has andesite instead the more usual black basalt rock and
asphalt based roads.

As memory serves............................Trig

"Damon Hill" wrote in message
...
John Curtis wrote in
:

Thousands of volcanoes along the Midatlantic ridge
are of little concern as long as they stay submerged
~2km below the surface. Primordial substances
rising from Earth's interior react with water to
form basalt exclusively, because there isn't enough
oxygen for the formation of ash or granitic rocks.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_ash

Ash comes from aerosoled magma, not oxidation.

Trying to plug a large volcano, one large enough to cause
near-global disruptions, seems far beyond human intervention.


--Damon


Unless one happens to be Jean Luc Picard