This is a report about volcano splatter and explosivity. In this report the subjects will be Volcanic Explosivity , eruptions, and spatter. The first thing I am going to talk about is the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI). The second thing I will talk about is general categories of examples of the VEI. The third thing I will talk about is the definition of spatter. The fourth thing I will talk about is Kilauea. Now I will tell you about the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI).(1)

VEI

Every year there are about sixty volcano eruptions. The way volcanologists measure this is with the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI). They rate each eruption on a scale from zero to eight, zero being the lowest and eight being the highest. Each number on the the description is what they name it. A "zero" is non-explosive, "one" is gentle, "two" is explosive, "three" is severe, "four" is cataclysmic, "five" is paroxysmic, "six" is colossal, "seven" is super colossal and an "eight" is mega-colossal. Next is plume height, which is how far it shoots the magma into the air. A "one" is 100-1000 meters, "two" is 1-5 kilometers, "three" is 3-15 kilometers, "four" is 10-25 kilometers, "five" is greater than 25 kilometers, so is six, seven, and eight. Next is volume. Volume is the measurement of how much comes out of the volcano. A "zero" is thousands of cubic meters, "one" is tens of thousands of cubic meters, a "two" is millions of cubic meters, "three" is tens of millions of cubic meters, "four" is hundreds of millions of cubic meters, a "five" is one cubic kilometer, "six" is 10 cubic kilometers, Seven is hundreds of cubic kilometers, and an eight is 1,000 cubic kilometers.

ERUPTIONS

There are five different types of eruptions. There are Hawaiian, Strombolian, Volcanian, Plinian, and Ultra-Plinian. The smallest is Hawaiian and the largest is Ultra-Plinian. Mauna Loa is an example of a Hawaiian eruption and Hawaiian is zero on the VEI as compared to Yellow Stone which is an eight on the VEI. Hawaiian type lava is kind of soft, flowing and small and it sometimes has lava fountains. Strombolian is a little bigger than Hawaiian and it also hurls volcanic bombs and cinder into the air. Plinian is almost the biggest type of eruption and it is very active. Solid fragments are violently ejected from vents to. Ultra-Plinian is the most powerful and violent. Plinian and Ultra-Plinian are almost the same except Ultra-Plinian is more violent and powerful.

SPATTER

Spatter is just little bits of lava flung a little ways into the air. They are often made by expanding gases. Spatter vents have very steep sides. The reason for that is spatter is sticky so it can build a steep, well structured cone. Another thing is that it is still lava when it hits the ground. When salt water gets into volcanoes it usually starts to fountain. It can also start to fountain by being under a lot of pressure.

KILAUEA

The Pacific volcano I am going to talk about is Kilauea. It is located in Hawaii on Hawaii (we have gotten around to calling it The Big Island). Its VEI is zero. Its plume height is 100 meters and below. Its classification is Hawaiian. It erupts daily. Its volume is 1,000 cubic meters. It is the lowest on the VEI (if you don't remember, it means Volcanic Explosivity Index and it measures how strong and how often it happens). O.K. I got this information on the Internet and the last update on Kilauea was October 29, 1997. On October 19, 1997, lava began to start to flow out of a vent in Puu Oo. In January 1983 Kilauea started and since then to now it has added on to the island sixty acres. That is one billion cubic yards!