Continue to Site

Eng-Tips is the largest engineering community on the Internet

Intelligent Work Forums for Engineering Professionals

Register Log in
  • Congratulations waross on being selected by the Eng-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!

Potential Disaster in the Making 10

Status
Not open for further replies.
phamENG

phamENG

Structural
Feb 6, 2015
7,272
Cumbre Vieja, a volcano on La Palma in the Canaries, just erupted a couple of hours ago. National Geographic did an episode on it as part of a 'Disaster Earth' series a few years ago. Essentially, there's evidence of a massive landslide on the island a few hundred millennia ago, the likes of which would have formed a tsunami large enough to hit the east coast of the US. A recent earthquake seems to have restarted the process and formed a large fissure along the island.

Here's to hoping it doesn't move any more....
 
Replies continue below

Recommended for you

Sort by date Sort by votes
Yes. That's the same Spanish National Geographic Institute.
I had looked at that a week ago and didn't see all that quake data. Plenty to play with there.

I'll try a 3D plot in GEarth replacing depth with altitude over the Lat,Long.with an icon scaled to magnitude, give it a time stamp and run a playback.


 
Upvote 0 Downvote
This page

Here's the one you posted
PA_SIS_histograma_15D.jpg


And this
PA_SIS_histograma_90D.jpg


RSAM Real Time seismic amplitude chart
PA_SIS_rsam_CENR_07_s.jpg
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Those top two charts, though, looks suspicious. The M<2.0 EQ's seem to be either excluded, or are only partially included. Am I seeing that correctly?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Looks like <2 data was deleted from the first chart entirely.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Once it broke through the surface, that allowed the lower magma to move up from those lower levels 13 to 16km deep. They originate below the SSE area and slant NNW to the vents.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Guide to Lava Collection
1) Carry at all times a 12 ft. extendable pole.
2) If all you have is a 6 ft. pole use any nearby object for support, like fence posts.
3) If objects like fence posts provide inadequate support, trust in your buddy to retain a firm grip on your rear pants pocket while you reach for 1000 C liquid rock.
lava_uwf1dy.jpg
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
07 10 2021 12:13 UTC
EMSR546_AOI01_GRA_MONIT16_r1_RTP02_v1.jpg


The north face of the cone has been falling most of today releasing a vast quantity of lava in a new stream to the north of the existing flows affecting more residences and the industrial area. Huge partially melted rocks are flowing in this new stream

I'm trying to find out exactly where the new stream is flowing. The recent southern stream is now almost at the Atlantic, having gone off the main cliff and flowing onto the previous franja made by the 1949 eruption.

There was at least one quake >4 today.

Winds have shifted to the south again and improved air quality, which was getting pretty severe in the valley. Residents were told to block door and windows with wet towels. We had a light dusting all the way over here, 100km away, last night.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Chunks of material as large as a 3story houses are flowing down in the lava today. It's moving 700m/hr and temperature was measured at 1240°C. Apparently all that was left in Todoque is now gone.

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I saw an edge of the crater melt off and role down the slope yesterday that was probably twice that big.


It's incredible to me that at least three times the lava volume of gas is driving this whole mess. I can't understand where that much gas can come from deep in the earth! How did it get there in the first place? What's generating it?

Keith Cress
kcress -
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Even if I have looked at it a lot it is still difficult to get a feeling for the size of things, on my screen it looks like a small and cozy fire with a bit to much spruce in it. ;-)

“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.“
Albert Einstein
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
This new lava flow that broke open last night is really large compared to others I seen..

0_wjgwvm.jpg


0_juzub9.jpg


“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.“
Albert Einstein
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
All volcanos have different gas signatures, but the 3 largest components are CO2, SO2, H20

The Earth's crust and upper mantle (7-50+/-km typ range of depth) have been mixing it up for 1-2B yrs. It's a regular teapot down there in the geologic time scale. At pressures reaching 100Kpsi, everything behaves like an extremely viscous liquid, complete with convection currents. Of course they may take 50-100M yrs or more to roll over. The gasses have been trapped at the surface, subducted, mixed with water and held for millions of years in the upper mantle. They are connected upwards in the magma when they pass over the lower mantle's hot spots. If there can be any free gas at 20mi depth with pressure of 4-5 X Youngs modulus of steel, (That's out of my know everything golder), it must be some kind of dense phase or at 2000+C plasma), they would expand 100 times by reaching the volcano's throat and another 66x when depressuring to atmos pressure, so there's a lot of potential energy stored up in that gas.

Volcano Gas 101
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Now could be the time for a quick visit.
Checking the ferry schedule for this weekend.
One guy said he had been to each of these points.
Point 2 is 750m away. "The noise is really bad." A mountain trail at night. [ponder]
Point 3 is 1.2 miles. "Camera station and police barricade."
viewpoints_lxofnj.png


Viewpoint 2
point_2_ri8qmn.webp

Viewpoint 3
point_3_tccj8s.webp
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Cone has broken again to the north face with two falls last night. Two vents appear to have joined together. Lava streams have increased with another 800 people evacuated.

Seismic activity continues strong. A number at the 37km depth.

Drones have located some animals isolated on a patch between two streams and they are delivering food and water.

10 10 2021 11:50 UTC
EMSR546_AOI01_GRA_MONIT18_r1_RTP02_v1.jpg
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I guess not so good if you like medium-rare...[pipe]

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Oops409
  • Question
Net Zero Disaster 11
2
Replies
29
Views
315
Oops409
Oops409
JohnRBaker
  • Locked
  • News
The largest peacetime disaster in US Navy history...
Replies
10
Views
115
MechinNC
MechinNC
3DDave
  • Locked
  • Question
Dive boat disaster in California... finally 1
Replies
10
Views
128
zeusfaber
zeusfaber
JohnRBaker
  • Locked
  • Question
Is this another disaster in the making, or at least a poor precedent... 7
2
Replies
23
Views
142
CWB1
CWB1
LittleInch
  • Locked
  • Question
Disaster averted
Replies
3
Views
71
LittleInch
LittleInch

Part and Inventory Search

Sponsor

Back
Top Bottom