WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Could Humans Control Volcanic Eruptions?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Vogue Bomb and this this is

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<v Speaker 1>a classic brain Stuff episode. Volcanic eruptions can be one

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<v Speaker 1>of Earth's mightiest disasters, but we humans are pretty mighty too,

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<v Speaker 1>So we got to wondering could we one day control volcanoes?

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<v Speaker 1>Hi brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here. When Alaska's Pavlof volcano

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<v Speaker 1>erupted in March of it ejected a cloud of ash

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<v Speaker 1>four hundred miles or sixty high. The stream of sharp,

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<v Speaker 1>powdered rocks shut down air travel and major highways. Then

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<v Speaker 1>twice in May and July, the U S Geological Survey

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<v Speaker 1>raised the alert level for Pavlov which seems ready to

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<v Speaker 1>do it again, but then they downgraded it in August.

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<v Speaker 1>Volcanic eruptions are notoriously unpredictable. Hans Lechner, a doctorial candidate

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<v Speaker 1>in geology and engineering sciences at Michigan Technological University, says

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<v Speaker 1>volcanologists have figured out the timing yet, He wrote via email,

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<v Speaker 1>a volcano may show all the signs of an impending eruption,

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<v Speaker 1>increased seismicity, high gas flux, surface deformation, but then never

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<v Speaker 1>actually erupt and over time return back to baseline levels,

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<v Speaker 1>or he says, it can show none of the signs

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<v Speaker 1>of an impending eruption and then erupt. There are those

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<v Speaker 1>in the field who muse about going on the offensive,

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<v Speaker 1>the volcanic preemptive strike, if you will. The idea is

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<v Speaker 1>humans somehow modify the eruption process, either by initiating an

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<v Speaker 1>eruption under controlled conditions, or by downgrading the energy of

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<v Speaker 1>an impending eruption to limit the resulting damage. The energy

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<v Speaker 1>involved in a volcanic eruption defies the imagination. Italy's infamous

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<v Speaker 1>Mount Etnas spewed about three cubic feet that's ten cubic

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<v Speaker 1>meters of lava per second during its four month eruption

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<v Speaker 1>in three lets Know reports that in nine, Mount Pinatubo's

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<v Speaker 1>initial blast ejected about two point four cubic miles or

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<v Speaker 1>ten cubic kilometers of material to an altitude of about

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<v Speaker 1>twenty five miles or forty kilometers. He says that magma

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<v Speaker 1>represents massive amounts of energy. It originates deep inside the Earth,

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<v Speaker 1>where extreme temperatures and pressures can melt rock. Molten rock,

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<v Speaker 1>or magma is lighter than solid rock, so it rises,

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<v Speaker 1>forming a magma chamber that moves upward through Earth's crust.

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<v Speaker 1>As the volume of magma grows, the pressure in the

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<v Speaker 1>chamber increases, forcing magma through the volcanoes vents tubes formed

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<v Speaker 1>by prior eruptions sealed at the surface by a lid

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<v Speaker 1>of rock. If the pressure gets high enough and Event

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<v Speaker 1>suddenly opens to the atmosphere, the rapid depressurization causes gases

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<v Speaker 1>to come out of solution, which causes the magma to explode.

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<v Speaker 1>It spews through the open vents, along with pulverized rock, steam,

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<v Speaker 1>and various gases. In the case of Mount Saint Helen's

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<v Speaker 1>in Lechener says that extreme pressure had forced Event lid

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<v Speaker 1>to bulge outward, a classic sign of impending eruption, and

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<v Speaker 1>a landslide took it off to modify that eruption. Lechner theorizes,

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<v Speaker 1>I suppose humans could have triggered the landslide or removed

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<v Speaker 1>the overburden lid through say excavation or even donating a

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<v Speaker 1>nuclear device. Of course, Newton, a volcano should not be

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<v Speaker 1>anyone's first plan, and drilling into the magma chamber to

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<v Speaker 1>release the pressures out too. Volcanologist Eric Cleametti, writing on

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<v Speaker 1>Wired in, likened that theory to trying to bleed to

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<v Speaker 1>death with a needle prick. But we couldn't avert an

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<v Speaker 1>eruption by slowly depressurizing the chamber either. Lechner wrote, we

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<v Speaker 1>have to get past the misconception that a magma chamber

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<v Speaker 1>is like a fluid filled balloon or soda bottle that

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<v Speaker 1>we can gently insert a straw and suck out the

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<v Speaker 1>lava and gas. We're talking about pressures and volumes of

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<v Speaker 1>material that are beyond the capacity of man made equipment.

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<v Speaker 1>He says, would have to drill down several kilometers with

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<v Speaker 1>massive pipes hundreds of meters in diameter to handle the

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<v Speaker 1>volcanic output that would rush from the chamber. The pipes

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<v Speaker 1>would have to withstand temperatures above three thousand, six hundred

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<v Speaker 1>degrees fahrenheit that's two thousand degrees celsius, and pressures quote

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<v Speaker 1>beyond our capabilities to manage and even comprehend. And then

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<v Speaker 1>he adds there would still be the gases held in

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<v Speaker 1>solution and by the pressure of the chamber that escape

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<v Speaker 1>violently when the chamber depressurized. Generally speaking, it seems the

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<v Speaker 1>main problem facing human modication of volcanic eruptions is that

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<v Speaker 1>it's laughably impossible. Volcanoes are too big and volcanic eruptions

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<v Speaker 1>are too powerful. Yet, says Janet Bab, geologist with the

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<v Speaker 1>U s GS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, humanity is not completely

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<v Speaker 1>without modification options. Bab rope via email. Humans cannot stop

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<v Speaker 1>or control an eruption, but we have taken some actions

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<v Speaker 1>to control products erupted from a volcano. Diverting lava flows.

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<v Speaker 1>For instance, Bab points to Mount Etna and that three

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<v Speaker 1>eruption mentioned earlier, which sent lava flowing into populated areas.

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<v Speaker 1>With the lava flow threatening to overrun three towns, hundreds

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<v Speaker 1>of workers desperately constructed a system of massive rebel barriers

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<v Speaker 1>to redirect it, and it worked. They successfully diverted the lava.

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<v Speaker 1>Attempts to guide lava flows by bombing them have generally failed.

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<v Speaker 1>Cooling them has shown promise, though. In Vree, the lava

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<v Speaker 1>from a volcano on the Icelandic island of Haymi was

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<v Speaker 1>flowing into towns. Officials built barriers to stop its progress

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<v Speaker 1>and dumped seawater on the lava to cool it. Down,

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<v Speaker 1>slow the flow, and help it harden the barriers held

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<v Speaker 1>against the lower energy lava flow. As for exerting control

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<v Speaker 1>before the lava starts flowing, Lechner says it's mostly science

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<v Speaker 1>fiction daydreaming. Volcanology research instead focuses on advancing methods of

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<v Speaker 1>monitoring and prediction. However, he writes, it's not absurd to

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<v Speaker 1>think that our own hubrists might encourage us to attempt

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<v Speaker 1>to modify a volcanic eruption. Humans have a history of

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<v Speaker 1>large scale engineering feats that have forever modified the service

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<v Speaker 1>of the Earth. Today's episode was written by Julia Layton

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Playing. For more

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<v Speaker 1>on this and lots of other explosive topics, visit how

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<v Speaker 1>stuffworks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart

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