[Margaret] Anyone every play the floor is lava? Always a fun time. But, when a real volcano explodes, it turns out there's a lot more to be afraid of than just the lava on the ground.
Let's start at, well, the start. There's hot molten beneath the Earth's surface called magma. It can range in temperature from about 570 degrees Fahrenheit, which is actually how hot you might cook a pizza, all the way up to 1600 degrees, which would basically incinerate your pizza.
So, when enough magma builds up, it will push through the volcano's conduit, or main passageway, and break through the vent, or opening, in the top, or crater, of a volcano.
Did you catch all those terms? Conduit, vent, crater? Good, 'cause this is where it gets interesting.
As soon as the magma reaches the earth's surface its name changes to lava. As if that weren't confusing enough there are different types of lava, named based on how they flow from a volcano.
Pahoehoe lava flows moves slowly and result in smooth surfaced with rope like ridges.
Then there is aa lava, that is kind of chunky and flows quickly, leaving a jagged surface behind.
Now, even though aa flows quicker than pahoehoe, in most cases it can still be outrun and sometimes just out walked by humans. What's harder to escape is the lava that flies instead of flows.
Lava that gets tossed into the sky is called a pyroclast. And of course, pyroclasts have their own categories too. Tiny bits of lava make up volcanic ash. This is what you see billowing from the top of a volcano.
Ash is often mixed with poisonous gases to form volcanic smog or vog. It can be dangerous to breathe and can irritate your eyes. Plus, depending on the wind, it’s difficult to escape. This is not to be confused with laze. The toxic haze that's released when lava hits the ocean. This steamy mixture contains poisonous hydrochloric acid.
Bigger pyroclasts, called volcanic bombs or lava bombs, are also super dangerous. I'm sure you can figure out where the name comes from. These sometimes boulder-sized pieces of lava can cause serious damage.
There are still even more types of lava and pyroclasts, but to keep your brain from spinning, we'll stick with those. So yep lots of confusing terms, but we are talking about volcanoes and I'm okay with that.