Ejecta velocities, magma chamber pressure and kinetic energy associated with the 1968 eruption of arenal volcano

Abstract

During the initial explosive phase of the eruption of Arenal volcano small projectiles were thrown a maximum distance of 5 km. Considering the effect of atmospheric drag these projectiles must have had initial velocities of at least 600 m/sec. For this velocity, the gas pressure in the magma chamber must have reached at least 4700 bars and the kinetic energy of the initial explosion is estimated as 2.4 ± 1.2 × 10^a ergs.

Had the effect of aerodynamic braking been ignored in making these calculations, as has always been done in the past, the calculated initial velocity would have been 220 m/sec; chamber pressure and kinetic energy estimates would thus be substantially lower. Clearly, velocities of ejecta, chamber pressures and kinetic energies for many explosive volcanic events have been seriously underestimated in the recent past, as has been the ability of overlying materials to contain, in certain cases, tremendous overpressures for short periods of time.

A projectile with an initial velocity of 600 m/sec would have a maximum range of more than 200 km on the moon. Thus, the presence of far-reaching secondary crater fields on the moon cannot, at this time, be considered evidence for an impact origin of the parent crater. 600 m/sec is not the upper limit for initial velocities of volcanic ejecta. There is some indication that such velocities could reach values greater than 2 km/sec, suggesting that volcanic as well as impact mechanisms may be able to impart escape velocity to lunar materials.