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American scientists analyzed the crystals that formed within a type of porous rock that appeared from the Klauea volcano in Hawaii in 1959, and experts said the crystals are oddly shaped, along with simulation from computer models, that could predict future deadly volcanic eruptions.
Although the crystals were taken from the Kilauea volcano eruption in 1959, the volcano is still active and destroyed more than 500 homes around it when it erupted in 2018.
“I’ve always had doubts that these crystals are more interesting and important than what we give them,” said study author Professor Jenny Sokal, associate professor at the University’s School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences. Stanford. In fact, we can infer the quantitative characteristics of the flow before the eruption from these crystalline data and learn about the processes that led to the eruption without drilling the volcano. This for me is the Holy Grail of volcanology.
Scientists seeking to understand how and when volcanoes might erupt are often hampered by the fact that many responsible volcanic processes occur deep within the Earth.
And after an eruption, any underground sign that can provide clues about what caused the eruption is often destroyed. But the volcanic crystals could help test computer models of the magma flow, which can reveal information about past eruptions and possibly help predict the future.
The Stanford team analyzed the crystals extracted from the interior of the slag, which is an igneous rock, which means that it was formed by cooling and solidification of magma or lava.
Slag is dark in color and consists of round, bubble-shaped cavities known as vesicles.
Vesicles form when gases that dissolve into liquid magmas, known as lava, barely reach the surface, escape during the eruption, creating bubbles as the rocks cool and harden.
These vesicles may be empty, but they sometimes contain naturally small crystals.
The vesicles form so quickly that crystals cannot grow inside them, effectively capturing what happened during the eruption.
The researchers studied millimeter-sized crystals made from a mineral called olivine that was discovered buried after the chaotic explosion of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano in 1959.
Because slag can be detonated several hundred meters from the volcano, these samples were relatively easy to collect.
An analysis of the crystals showed that they were oriented in a “strange but surprisingly stable” pattern, and Professor Sokal said: “Often the crystals are aligned with each other, like a sandwich. These crystals look like a tent with an angle of about 80 degrees that separates them. This is unusual in that it creates a large area for the assembly of the glass and therefore high hydrodynamic resistance.
This strange direction may be caused by a ripple within the subsurface magma that affected the direction of flow of the crystals.
Using computer models, the researchers simulated this physical process for the first time.
The simulations provided a basis for understanding the flow of the Kilauea volcano channel, the tubular corridor through which hot underground magma rises to the surface.
To stay liquid, the material inside a volcano must move continuously.
The team’s analysis suggests that the individual crystal alignments were caused by magma moving in two directions simultaneously, with one flowing directly over the other, rather than flowing through the channel in a constant stream.
Investigators had previously speculated that this could happen, but the lack of direct access to the cast channel prevented the presentation of conclusive evidence, according to Professor Sokal, according to the Daily Mail.
