Scientists studying volcanoes have long thought that rising magma rich in gas bubbles should quickly zip to the top of a volcano and erupt.
But famous eruptions, like Chile’s Quizapu and Mount St. Helens in Washington state, haven’t fit this mold. Between 1846 and 1847, Quizapu gently unloaded one of South America’s largest lava flows ever documented, leaving behind piles of rock spanning some 20 square miles.
And months before Mount St. Helens erupted for nine hours in 1980, something strange happened: Lava chock-full of gas and seemingly primed to quickly explode instead leisurely flowed i
But famous eruptions, like Chile’s Quizapu and Mount St. Helens in Washington state, haven’t fit this mold. Between 1846 and 1847, Quizapu gently unloaded one of South America’s largest lava flows ever documented, leaving behind piles of rock spanning some 20 square miles.
And months before Mount St. Helens erupted for nine hours in 1980, something strange happened: Lava chock-full of gas and seemingly primed to quickly explode instead leisurely flowed i
25 days ago
