Pyroclastic flows

A pyroclastic flow (also known scientifically as a pyroclastic density current) is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra), which reaches speeds moving away from a volcano of up to 700 km/h (450 mph). The gases can reach temperatures of about 1,000 °C (1,830 °F). Pyroclastic flows normally touch the ground and hurtle downhill, or spread laterally under gravity. Their speed depends upon the density of the current, the volcanic output rate, and the gradient of the slope. They are a common and devastating result of certain explosive eruptions.

The word pyroclast is derived from the Greek , meaning "fire", and , meaning "broken in pieces". A name for some pyroclastic flows is nuée ardente (French, "burning cloud"); this was first used to describe the disastrous 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée on Martinique. In the dark, these pyroclastic flows glowed red.

Pyroclastic flows that contain a much higher proportion of gas to rock are known as "fully dilute pyroclastic density currents" or pyroclastic surges. The lower density sometimes allows them to flow over higher topographic features or water such as ridges, hills, rivers and seas. They may also contain steam, water and rock at less than 250 °C (482 °F); these are called "cold" compared with other flows, although the temperature is still lethally high. Cold pyroclastic surges can occur when the eruption is from a vent under a shallow lake or the sea. Fronts of some pyroclastic density currents are fully dilute; for example, during the eruption of Mount Pelée in 1902, a fully dilute current overwhelmed the city of Saint-Pierre and killed nearly 30,000 people.

A pyroclastic flow is a type of gravity current; in scientific literature they are sometimes abbreviated to PDC (pyroclastic density current).

There are several mechanisms that can produce a pyroclastic flow:

The volumes range from a few hundred cubic meters to more than a thousand cubic kilometres. The larger ones can travel for hundreds of kilometres, although none on that scale have occurred for several hundred thousand years. Most pyroclastic flows are around one to ten cubic kilometres and travel for several kilometres. Flows usually consist of two parts: the basal flow hugs the ground and contains larger, coarse boulders and rock fragments, while an extremely hot ash plume lofts above it because of the turbulence between the flow and the overlying air, admixing and heating cold atmospheric air causing expansion and convection.

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