Today I exploded a volcano. That's right, there was an explosion. My volcanoes class simulated an explosive eruption. Before you question that, yes, it is a real class and it is so much fun! Let me reiterate the fact that this is why I am a geology major (more to come on that at a later date, but I did officially declare).
Liquid nitrogen provided the actual explosion. As budding volcanologists, we measured the amount of 'magma' pre and post eruption, measured the spread of volcanic pumice and debris by putting things into out volcano, for example, packing peanuts, pumice and tennis balls. This is essentially what it looked like right before we dropped the bottle of liquid nitrogen into it:
If your observations are anything like mine, you would notice that packing peanuts, tennis balls and pumice, which you most likely cannot see, float on water.
The eruption was an eruption. Fast and loud, it entirely caught me off guard as it threw packing peanuts spiraling all over the field where we were experimenting. For your entertainment:
You can kind of tell I jumped a bit when the boom occurred.
and enjoyment number two:
Being the west coaster that I am now, I live near a subduction zone, which happens to generate volcanoes, meaning this entire coast is filled with great volcanoes to study. Take for example, the late, great Mt. St. Helens. I asked if I could paper mache the trash can to look like a volcano, but the teacher denied me and class swiftly reminded me this was college. To that I say:
It's okay, I'm a geo major!
No comments:
Post a Comment