A fast-moving, extremely hot avalanche of volcanic gas, ash and rock fragments that rushes down a volcano's slopes at speeds that can exceed 100 kilometres per hour, generated when an eruption column or lava dome collapses. Pyroclastic flows are among the deadliest volcanic hazards, capable of destroying everything in their path, as at Mount Pelee in 1902 and Pompeii in 79 CE.
Facts
Process Type First Proposed Year Connections
Sources
1. Volcano - Wikipedia
Introduction sectionQuote, Introduction section
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging
2. Pyroclastic flow - Wikipedia
Etymology section
the coining of the term nuée ardente in 1904 is attributed to the French geologist Antoine Lacroix
Introduction section
A pyroclastic flow, more broadly known as a pyroclastic density current, is a fast-moving current of hot gas and volcanic matter (collectively known as tephra) that flows along the ground away from a volcano.
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