Pyroclastic flows: The secret of their deadly speed

When a volcano erupts, pyroclastic flows are often the biggest danger to anyone nearby. These fast-flowing currents of rock, ash and extremely hot gas are extremely difficult to study, so researchers in New Zealand created their own. By closely studying pyroclastic flows in their specially-made lab, they identified a very thin layer of gas that helps explain how this volcanic phenomenon moves so fast and can travel so far.

Read the research paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-019-0338-2

8th April 2019


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New Zealand is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island and the South Island —and around 600 smaller islands, covering a total area of 268,021 square kilometres.

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