NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Explosive Volcanic Eruptions from Linear Vents on Earth, Venus and Mars: Comparisons with Circular Vent EruptionsConditions required to support buoyant convective plumes are investigated for explosive volcanic eruptions from circular and linear vents on Earth, Venus, and Mars. Vent geometry (linear versus circular) plays a significant role in the ability of an explosive eruption to sustain a buoyant plume. On Earth, linear and circular vent eruptions are both capable of driving buoyant plumes to equivalent maximum rise heights, however, linear vent plumes are more sensitive to vent size. For analogous mass eruption rates, linear vent plumes surpass circular vent plumes in entrainment efficiency approximately when L(sub o) > 3r(sub o) owing to the larger entrainment area relative to the control volume. Relative to circular vents, linear vents on Venus favor column collapse and the formation of pyroclastic flows because the range of conditions required to establish and sustain buoyancy is narrow. When buoyancy can be sustained, however, maximum plume heights exceed those from circular vents. For current atmospheric conditions on Mars, linear vent eruptions are capable of injecting volcanic material slightly higher than analogous circular vent eruptions. However, both geometries are more likely to produce pyroclastic fountains, as opposed to convective plumes, owing to the low density atmosphere. Due to the atmospheric density profile and water content on Earth, explosive eruptions enjoy favorable conditions for producing sustained buoyant columns, while pyroclastic flows would be relatively more prevalent on Venus and Mars. These results have implications for the injection and dispersal of particulates into the planetary atmosphere and the ability to interpret the geologic record of planetary volcanism.
Document ID
20110007767
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Glaze, Lori S.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Baloga, Stephen M.
(Proxemy Research, Inc. Gaithersburg, MD, United States)
Wimert, Jesse
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2010
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX08AF16
WBS: WBS 811073.02.01.04.44
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
No Preview Available