An investigation of Vulcanian eruption dynamics using laboratory analogue experiments and scaling analysis
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Published:January 01, 2009
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CiteCitation
A. B. Clarke, J. C. Phillips, K. N. Chojnicki, 2009. "An investigation of Vulcanian eruption dynamics using laboratory analogue experiments and scaling analysis", Studies in Volcanology: The Legacy of George Walker, T. Thordarson, S. Self, G. Larsen, S. K. Rowland, Á. Höskuldsson
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Abstract
Vulcanian eruptions are frequent, small-scale, short-lived explosive volcanic eruptions, which are thought to be produced by impulsive sources. The experiments presented here, produced by injections of mixtures of water, alcohol or salt and solid particles into fresh water, created a wide variety of turbulent flows from steady and impulsive sources. We focus on the experimental flows analogous to Vulcanian events – unsteady, finite-volume releases of buoyancy (thermals) and momentum (puffs), and short releases driven by both momentum and buoyancy. Dimensional analysis, based on two controlling source parameters, total injected momentum (M) and total injected buoyancy (B...
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Contents
Studies in Volcanology: The Legacy of George Walker

Professor George Patrick Leonard Walker was one of the fathers of modern quantitative volcanology and arguably the foremost volcanologist of the twentieth century. In his long career, George studied a wide spectrum of volcanological problems and in doing so influenced almost every branch of the field. This volume, which honours his memory and his contributions to the field of volcanology, contains a collection of papers inspired by, and building upon, many of the ideas previously developed by George. Many of the contributors either directly studied under and worked with George, or were profoundly influenced by his ideas. The topics broadly fall under the three themes of lava flows and effusion, explosive volcanism, and volcanoes and their infrastructure.