eruption
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S: NatGeo – https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/volcanoes# (last access: 10 January 2024); IFRC – https://www.ifrc.org/our-work/disasters-climate-and-crises/what-disaster/volcanic-eruptions (last access: 28 December 2023).

N: 1. Early 15c., erupcioun, from Old French éruption (14c.) and directly from Latin eruptionem (nominative eruptio) “a breaking out”, noun of action from past-participle stem of erumpere “break out, burst forth,” from assimilated form of ex “out” + rumpere “to break, rupture”.

The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia—the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history—had a tremendous impact on the world’s climate as well as its culture. The following year was called the “year without a summer.” It was during this bleak period that Mary Shelley and her literary circle were confined indoors in Geneva, when she conceived of her masterpiece Frankenstein (1818).

When Krakatoa, also in Indonesia, erupted in 1883, the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, out on a walk, saw the sky turn blood red halfway across the world and later was inspired to paint The Scream in 1893.

2. The ejection of molten rock, steam, volcanic ash, as from a volcano or geyser.

3. Geologists describe and classify eruptions in several different ways that each characterize different aspects of eruptive phenomena.

  • Eruption Type: Eruptions may either be steam-driven (without any fresh magma), consist of emissions of magma as lava or tephra, or result from the interaction between ground or surface waters and hot magma.
  • Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI): The Volcanic Explosivity Index describes the magnitude and intensity of explosive eruptions based on volume of magma erupted and height of the eruption column.
  • Eruption Style or Descriptive Classification: This classification describes the strength of volcanic eruptions based on the characteristics of classic eruptions of well-known volcanoes.

The most fundamental way to characterize a volcanic eruption is whether it is magmatic, phreatic, or phreatomagmatic:

  • Magmatic eruptions. Magmatic eruptions are generally described as being effusive or explosive. The following magmatic eruption styles are listed in the order of increasing explosivity: hawaiian eruptions, strombolian eruptions, vulcanian eruptions, sub-plinian eruptions, plinian eruptions, and ultra-plinian eruptions.
  • Phreatomagmatic (hydrovolcanic) eruptions. Violently-explosive eruptions driven by steam explosions produced by the interaction of hot magma with surface water or shallow groundwater. Hydrovolcanic eruptions include tephra derived from juvenile magma. Phreatomagmatic Eruptions Styles: surtseyan eruptions and phreatoplinian eruptions.
  • Phreatic eruptions. Eruptions that are driven by steam explosions due to the superheating of groundwater by a magmatic source. Phreatic eruptions may include volcanic ash made of shattered rock material, but incorporate no magmatic material (e.g., juvenile).

Volcanic eruptions are not limited to Earth. Jupiter’s moon Io is subject to strong gravitational forces due to Jupiter’s mass as well as interaction with Jupiter’s other moons Europa and Callisto. These forces cause distortions in Io’s shape and make it the most volcanically active body in the solar system. Mars is also known for several volcanoes, with Olympus Mons being the largest known volcano in the solar system. The volcanoes of Mars are shield volcanoes, which have a relatively flat profile, as Mars’s low gravity allows for longer and more widespread lava flows. (According to some estimates, Olympus Mons has been built up by eruptions for more than a billion years, which has resulted in its 700-km [435-mile] diameter.)

4. Collocations:

  • Adjective: big, great, major, violent| minor | volcanic.
  • Verb + eruption: predict.
  • Eruption + verb: happen, occur, take place.
  • Preposition: in, an/the.

5. Cultural interrelation: We can mention the films One Million Years B.C. (1966) by Don Chaffey, You Only Live Twice (1967) by Lewis Gilbert and Volcano (1997) by Mick Jackson.

S: 1. OED – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=eruption (last access: 28 December 2023); ENCBRIT – https://www.britannica.com/science/volcanic-eruption (last access: 28 December 2023). 2. CED – https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/eruption (last access: 28 December 2023). 3. NPS – https://www.nps.gov/subjects/volcanoes/eruption-classifications.htm (last access: 28 December 2023); ENCBRIT – https://www.britannica.com/science/volcanic-eruption (last access: 28 December 2023). 4. OCD – https://www.freecollocation.com/search?word=eruption (last access: 28 December 2023). 5. ENCBRIT – https://www.britannica.com/science/volcanic-eruption (last access: 28 December 2023).

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CR: avalanche, cyclone, deforestation, disaster risk reduction, disasters, earthquake, erosion, flood, natural disaster, hurricane, landslide, lightning, mudslide, thunder, thunderbolt, thunderstorm, tidal wave, tornado, tsunami.