Close-up of a lava lobe moving down onto snowpack during the 2012–13 eruption at Tolbachik volcano in
Kamchatka, Russia. (Photo credit: Benjamin R. Edwards)
Mixing lava with snow might seem to raise the risk of flooding for nearby settlements, but in fact it appears lava does not interact much with snow. Researchers in Eastern Russia, at the Tolbachik volcano, studied how snow and lava interact to determine the effects on lava advance and snow pack melting rates.
Sheets of lava moving at a relatively rapid pace show few immediate signs of interacting with the snow as it acts like an insulator. The slower the lava flow was moving, more visible steam was produced, however limited amounts of melting were observed at even the slowest lava flows.
The slowest moving flows of lava created recognizable textures that could be used in paleoclimate studies.
Original research paper published in Nature Communications on December 16, 2014.
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