Lava pillar rises thousands of feet into air during Chile volcano eruption (VID)

from RT
The Villarica volcano erupted at 3am March 3rd after a month of activity, sparking evacuations and the closure of a national park in southern Chile. At Elevation 2,860 m (9,380 ft), it is the westernmost of three large stratovolcanoes. Currently Villarica covers an area of 400 km2 and has a volume 250 km3 approximately.

I hear some "nervous" laughter in the crowd..WoW what a sight!
Id be out of there quick if it was me!

a reply to: DjembeJedi

How awesome would that be to witness??? (and nerve-wracking, too...all I'd be thinking about is Santorini)

originally posted by: SlapMonkey
a reply to: DjembeJedi

How awesome would that be to witness??? (and nerve-wracking, too...all I'd be thinking about is Santorini)

Id be on the verge of having to change my pants..I believe.

That's amazing!

Mother Earth and her wonderful elemental power .

Thanks for sharing

The Earth never ceases to amaze. Awesome site ... just as soon as you stop running.

Keep running Ket...what goes up must also come down.....

a reply to: DjembeJedi

Some days the news is so full of harrowing events, terrible incidents that scour the mind of all hope and joy, that it leaves the world looking a greyer place than it might otherwise. I am certain that for those living within the danger zone surrounding this volcano, this incident is no less harrowing, and indeed, I can understand the trepidation with which one would face such an event as this.

But for me, thousands of miles away, this video serves as a reminder of the outstanding majesty and power of the natural world, and that there is more to living on this world, than the horrible things we humans do to one another, that despite our barbarity as a species, we are as nothing before the staggering might of nature. The height reached by that lava as it is ejected from the volcano is just incredible, and I do not believe I have seen anything of its like for some considerable time.

FYI:

While I understand that the video title includes the term lava pillar, this is in fact a term which is applied to a phenomenon which occurs when liquid lava cools as it flows over a drop, and forms a column of solid material. What word or phrase might be used to accurately encapsulate the particular awesomeness of the eruption in the video, I do not know.

originally posted by: TrueBrit
. What word or phrase might be used to accurately encapsulate the particular awesomeness of the eruption in the video, I do not know.

I believe (actually, know) that the term you are looking for is 'fire fountain'.

This is a particularly impressive example.

S'mores anyone?

I think it would be awesome to see a volcano in person but of course it would be nerve-rattling. Thanks for the video.

a reply to: aorAki

This certainly is an impressive example!

I would be very surprised if still images of this event are not used by future geology teachers to demonstrate the phenomenon for their students!

a reply to: TrueBrit


Heck, why use stills when there is a great resource right here with this video!

I've sent it to my Volcanology colleagues

I never get to see anything like that. I do get smoke and fire billowing out of the wood cookstove top occasionally when putting in a chunk of wood but it just isn't that impressive.

Someday I want to see a volcano erupting in person so I can experience it. It sure would beat being on a cruise ship catching some bad germs.

a reply to: aorAki

Fair comment.

I keep forgetting that education establishments in this day and age have actually woken up to some elements of the technological advances of the period we are in. It was not that way when I was a nipper!

a reply to: TrueBrit


Yep, we're getting there in creeps and jerks (to employ a Stephen Jay Gould reference)...

though sometimes i think there is a bit too much emphasis on online learning.

Anyway, I'd love to get some ash from that eruption, for my collection.

a reply to: aorAki

Speaking as a person who was only partially educated by teachers, and largely educated by my own interest in things, and on my own time, I cannot stress enough the importance of online resources. However, that said, if I had of had access to a safe place to learn at school (not a safe place at all) then I might have had a very different outlook on that by now!



I always enjoyed Geography lessons at school, particularly where geological matters were concerned. I enjoyed making diagrams of the insides of volcanoes, fault lines, and so on, and ruminating on the mechanism, the cycle of rebirth that our planet goes through by various processes, all of the time. This violent eruption is the sort of thing that used to inspire me to research things for myself in my own time!