Augustine

A volcanologist observes a large, 6-m-high block that was carried about 4 km down the north flank of Augustine volcano in Alaska during the 1976 eruption. Blocks of this size and larger are fragments of the summit lava dome that were carried within block-and-ash flows produced by periodic collapse of the growing dome. This photo was taken during a quiet phase of the 1986 eruption and shows the steaming summit lava dome.

Augustine

Volcanologist Jurgen Kienle hoists a light-weight block of pumice at the toe of a 1986 pyroclastic-flow deposit at Alaska's Augustine volcano. A pyroclastic-flow apron was formed by the accumulation of many individual lobes. Thermal measurements more than 100 days after the eruption showed a maximum temperature of 525 degrees Centigrade at a depth of 6 m. Pumiceous pyroclastic flows during the 1986 eruption traveled about 5 km from summit and reached the sea on the north and NE coasts of Augustine Island.

Augustine

A pyroclastic flow sweeps down the north flank of Augustine volcano in Alaska on March 30, 1986, 3 days after the start of a 5-month long eruption. A large convecting ash column rises above the moving pyroclastic flows. As with many Augustine eruptions, early pyroclastic flows were pumice rich; later in the eruption block-and-ash flows were produced by collapse of a growing lava dome.

Colima

A convecting ash column roils above a small, but impressive-looking pyroclastic flow from Colima volcano in Mexico on April 16, 1991. The pyroclastic flow, colored by the late-afternoon sun, was produced by collapse of unstable portions of the summit lava dome. It descended the SW flank but caused no damage to inhabited areas.

Durango Volcanic Field

Pyroclastic-surge deposits from La Breña maar in Mexico's Durango volcanic field show both laminar and dune bedding forms. The thin beds (note the pen in the center for scale) were created by successive explosive eruptions that produced high-velocity, laterally moving pyroclastic surges that swept radially away from the volcano. The direction of movement of the surge clouds was from right to left, as seen from the truncated dune beds on the near-vent side.

Fuego

Pyroclastic flows sweep down the east flank of Fuego volcano, Guatemala, in October 1974, during one of the largest historical eruptions of the volcano. Ash clouds rise off the base of the pyroclastic flows, which traveled up to 7 km from the summit at estimated average velocities of 60 km/hr. The travel direction of pyroclastic flows is influenced by topography. The denser basal portion of the pyroclastic flows follows topographic lows on the flanks of the volcano--note a smaller pyroclastic flow descending a gully at the right.

Komaga-take

A pyroclastic-flow deposit from the 1929 eruption of Komaga-take volcano, on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, overlies a brown, pre-eruption surface. The upper part of the deposit contains large blocks of pumice; layers both depleted and enriched in finer-grained material occur at the base. A geological hammer provides scale.

Mayon

Pyroclastic flows are hot avalanches of rock, ash, and gas that sweep down the flanks of volcanoes at high velocities. This photo shows a relatively small pyroclastic flow at Mayon volcano in the Philippines on September 23, 1984. These hot, ground-hugging flows can travel at velocities to about 100 km/hr and reach areas well beyond the flanks of a volcano. Their high temperatures make them lethal to anything in their path. Billowing ash clouds rise above the denser basal portion, which can consist of vesiculated pumice or dense lava clasts.

Mayon

A pyroclastic flow sweeps down the SE flank of Mayon volcano in the Philippines on September 24, 1984. A thick column of ash rises above the surface of the moving pyroclastic flow, which was the largest of a series of pyroclastic flows that occurred during an eruption that began on September 9. Flow velocities of 50 m/sec were estimated from timed 35-mm photographs. The pyroclastic flow traveled 7 km from the summit vent, which is hidden behind the far left side of the ash column.

Mayon

Ash clouds rise above a pyroclastic flow traveling down the Buang valley on the upper NW flank of Mayon volcano in the Philippines on September 12, 1984. The toe of the advancing pyroclastic flow is visible at the lower right. These pyroclastic flows traveled down to 100 m elevation at rates of about 20 m/sec.

Pinacate

Pyroclastic-surge deposits surround the Cerro Colorado maar of the Pinacate volcanic field in NW Mexico. These thin beds (note the coin for scale next to the the block in the center of the photo) were formed by successive explosions that produced laterally moving pyroclastic surges. The light-colored rock in the center of the photo is a ballistically ejected block that impacted onto the surface of earlier surge deposits, compressing them and forming a small pit.

Pinatubo

Voluminous pyroclastic flows on June 15, 1991, from Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, swept all sides of the volcano. The flat, light-colored areas in the foreground are pyroclastic-flow deposits that filled the Marella River valley on Pinatubo's SW flank to a depth of 200 m, more than the height of the Washington Monument. The dark hill at the center was completely surrounded by pyroclastic flows, which traveled 14 km down this valley.

Redoubt

Pyroclastic-flow deposits from the April 15 (lower 2/3 of section) and April 21 (upper 1/3 of section), 1990 eruptions of Redoubt Volcano in Alaska are exposed in a gully along the western margin of the piedmont lobe of Drift glacier. The shovel at the base of the section provides scale. The somewhat larger April 15 pyroclastic flow carried large blocky fragments of a lava dome that had been growing in the summit crater.

Santorini

This spectacular outcrop shows light-colored deposits from the 3500-year-old Minoan eruption of Santorini volcano filling a valley cut in darker, bedded ashfall layers of Pleistocene age. The lower, beige-colored unit filling the ancient valley is a pumice-fall deposit from vertical explosions early in the eruption. It is overlain by laminated pyroclastic-surge deposits produced when water gained access to the magma reservoir as the volcano collapsed into the sea. The upper whitish layer truncating both these deposits is a pyroclastic-flow deposit.

Soufriere Hills

A devastating pyroclastic flow on June 25, 1997 sweeps across the lower NE flank of Soufriere Hills volcano on Montserrat. More than two dozen persons within the officially evacuated zone were killed by this pyroclastic flow. The June 25 eruption sent a plume to ~10-km altitude and produced pyroclastic flows and surges that overran both vacated and partly inhabited NE-flank settlements, destroying 100-150 houses in eight villages within the restricted zone. The pyroclastic flow traveled 4.5 km and reached almost to the sea.

Soufriere Hills

Cauliflower-like clouds of ash roil above the surface of a pyroclastic flow sweeping down the eastern flank of the summit lava dome on January 16, 1997. This was the largest single pyroclastic flow of the eruption to date. The pyroclastic flow descended the Tar River valley to the sea, covering the new delta with new material that included blocks 1-2 m in diameter (up to 5-m diameter at the head of the fan).

St. Helens

The powerful lateral blast from Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 swept 30 km away from the volcano, blowing down giant trees like matchsticks. The blast, traveling at velocities up to 1100 km per hour, devastated 600 sq km over a broad area nearly 180 degrees wide north of the volcano.

St. Helens

The powerful lateral blast of May 18, 1980 at Mount St. Helens totally removed large standing trees near the volcano, leaving jagged stumps with splinters facing away from the volcano parallel to the direction of movement of the blast cloud. Warbonnet stumps, such as this one (about 2 m high) on Harry's Ridge 9 km north of the crater, are a common feature near the volcano; farther away trees were felled and left in place.

St. Helens

The gray layer behind the ruler was produced by the May 18, 1980 lateral blast of Mount St. Helens. The deposit is about 50 cm thick at this location 13 km NE of the volcano. The blast deposit is overlain by airfall pumice produced later on May 18, and underlain by a pumice deposit from an eruption in 1482 AD.

St. Helens

Pumice fragments from the May 18, 1980 eruption form a broad plain below Mount St. Helens in this May 23 photo. Pumiceous pyroclastic flows on May 18 traveled 8 km from the crater of Mount St. Helens to as far as Spirit Lake. A geologist can be seen holding a large, light-weight block of pumice. In addition to May 18, pumiceous pyroclastic flows were erupted on May 25, June 12, July 22, August 7, and October 16-18, 1980.

St. Helens

Pryroclastic surges originating from secondary phreatic explosions at Mount St. Helens in 1980 produced these cross-bedded layers. They were deposited from successive, rapidly moving horizontal clouds of gas, ash, and rock fragments that resulted from the interaction of still-hot pyroclastic-flow deposits from the May 18 eruption with groundwater and fragments of Mount St. Helens glaciers carried down by the collapse of the summit.