Basalt Lava Flow
Lava flows are streams of molten rock that pours or oozes from an erupting vent. During non-explosive activity or explosive activity lava fountains erupt during either. Lava flow will destroy anything and everything that is in it's path. The upside to lava flow is that most move slow enough that people can move out of its path. The type of lava erupted, the steepness of the ground where the lava is traveling, whether the lava flow is a broad sheet or a confined channel or tube, and the rate of the lava's production at the vent creates the speed at which the lava will travel.
When basalt lava flows are confined within a channel or tube and on a steep slope, the main body can reach speeds of 30 kilometers per hour. If basalt flows travel down a gentle slope they will typically travel less than 1 kilometer per hour. Viscous andesite flows will move only a few kilometers per hour and will rarely extend more than 8 kilometers from the vent. These type of flows will often create steap-sided mounds that are called lava domes. These domes will form over the erupting vent causing the vent to clog. Lava domes will grow by the eruption of many individual flows over a period of several months or years. When this happens the flows will overlap each other and move slower than a few meters per hour.
During lava flows everything that is in its path will be knocked over, surrounded, or buried by the lava. The lava is extremely hot so some of the things that are in its path will ignite. Water will boil violently and cause an explosion shower of molten spatter over a wide area if lava is to enter a body of water. Methane gas is produced when lava buries vegetation and can migrate to a subsurface and explode if it is heated.
Death is an uncommon factor of lava flows because most of the flows move slow enough for people to get out of the way. Flows do not usually travel far from the vent in which it erupted. Spectators will try to approach a lava flow that is advancing and may get to close or they may get trapped by the flow resulting in death or injury.
Lava flows can bury homes and agricultural land under hardened black rock making it impossible to rebuild or repair. Land that has been buried by lava flows are normally unable to use again which causes land or properties to sell for far less than what it was worth prior to the flow.
When basalt lava flows are confined within a channel or tube and on a steep slope, the main body can reach speeds of 30 kilometers per hour. If basalt flows travel down a gentle slope they will typically travel less than 1 kilometer per hour. Viscous andesite flows will move only a few kilometers per hour and will rarely extend more than 8 kilometers from the vent. These type of flows will often create steap-sided mounds that are called lava domes. These domes will form over the erupting vent causing the vent to clog. Lava domes will grow by the eruption of many individual flows over a period of several months or years. When this happens the flows will overlap each other and move slower than a few meters per hour.
During lava flows everything that is in its path will be knocked over, surrounded, or buried by the lava. The lava is extremely hot so some of the things that are in its path will ignite. Water will boil violently and cause an explosion shower of molten spatter over a wide area if lava is to enter a body of water. Methane gas is produced when lava buries vegetation and can migrate to a subsurface and explode if it is heated.
Death is an uncommon factor of lava flows because most of the flows move slow enough for people to get out of the way. Flows do not usually travel far from the vent in which it erupted. Spectators will try to approach a lava flow that is advancing and may get to close or they may get trapped by the flow resulting in death or injury.
Lava flows can bury homes and agricultural land under hardened black rock making it impossible to rebuild or repair. Land that has been buried by lava flows are normally unable to use again which causes land or properties to sell for far less than what it was worth prior to the flow.
Lava flow that destroyed a home.
Lava will bury or surround anything that is in its path. Lava flows can completely block roads and highways resulting in limited evacutaion routes for people in its path. Communitites that are at any risk for lava flows to take place, develop emergency-response plans that include evacuation plans of different routes.
The intense heat of lava flows will melt or burn anything in its path even if the actual lava flow misses the property. Buildings, homes, and various structures are at risk of catching fire from the intense heat that the advancing lava flow produces. Basalt lava flows have the highest temperatureof any lava. Other lava types such as: andesite, dacite, and rhyolite are cooler forms of flows with temperatures between 1800 and 1500 degrees farenheit. Flows are still able to travel with temperatures as low as 1100 degrees farenheit.
The intense heat of lava flows will melt or burn anything in its path even if the actual lava flow misses the property. Buildings, homes, and various structures are at risk of catching fire from the intense heat that the advancing lava flow produces. Basalt lava flows have the highest temperatureof any lava. Other lava types such as: andesite, dacite, and rhyolite are cooler forms of flows with temperatures between 1800 and 1500 degrees farenheit. Flows are still able to travel with temperatures as low as 1100 degrees farenheit.