Vulkaan in Nicaragua barst na 110 jaar weer uit

Nicaragua's Momotombo volcano has just erupted for the first time in 110 years

Nicaragua's largest volcano, Momotombo, has started erupting for the first time since 1905, and it's putting on one hell of a show. Schools in the region have been evacuated, but fortunately for now the hot rock and ash "are heading toward very sparsely populated areas," says government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo.

Locals had reported feeling tremors in the region the past few weeks, and on Monday night the volcano blasted a plume of ash about 1,000 metres high. It was a strombolian eruption – volcanic activity that produces a range of continuous small explosions – and it produced a beautiful lava fountain, complete with glowing rocks tumbling down the slopes.

Since then, the volcano has continued to belch out gas and ash. Scientists still don't understand what makes volcanoes go silent for hundreds or thousands of years before waking up again, but there's evidence that this current eruption has been building since around 2003. As volcanologist Erik Klemetti from Denison University writes for Wired:

"As recently as 2003-2011, the volcano experienced a series of small seismic swarms that suggested magma moving in the system beneath the volcano. In 2007, the hydrothermal system in the summit crater began to heat as well, so this eruption may be the culmination of over a decade’s worth of priming in the magmatic system."

It's not the only active volcano in South America right now, with Fuego and Santiaguito in Guatemala both experiencing moderate eruptions. Nicaragua's Telica volcano has also had a restless 2015, with minor eruptive activity.

Frutsel	donderdag 3 december 2015 @ 14:20
	quote: Nicaragua's Momotombo volcano has just erupted for the first time in 110 years Nicaragua's largest volcano, Momotombo, has started erupting for the first time since 1905, and it's putting on one hell of a show. Schools in the region have been evacuated, but fortunately for now the hot rock and ash "are heading toward very sparsely populated areas," says government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo. Locals had reported feeling tremors in the region the past few weeks, and on Monday night the volcano blasted a plume of ash about 1,000 metres high. It was a strombolian eruption – volcanic activity that produces a range of continuous small explosions – and it produced a beautiful lava fountain, complete with glowing rocks tumbling down the slopes. Since then, the volcano has continued to belch out gas and ash. Scientists still don't understand what makes volcanoes go silent for hundreds or thousands of years before waking up again, but there's evidence that this current eruption has been building since around 2003. As volcanologist Erik Klemetti from Denison University writes for Wired: "As recently as 2003-2011, the volcano experienced a series of small seismic swarms that suggested magma moving in the system beneath the volcano. In 2007, the hydrothermal system in the summit crater began to heat as well, so this eruption may be the culmination of over a decade’s worth of priming in the magmatic system." It's not the only active volcano in South America right now, with Fuego and Santiaguito in Guatemala both experiencing moderate eruptions. Nicaragua's Telica volcano has also had a restless 2015, with minor eruptive activity. Zie ook WKN / [Vulkanen] The ring of fire #7: Gaia's hete inborst Video's VolcÃ¡n Momotombo en erupciÃ³n VolcÃ¡n momotombo expulsa lava Explosion Volcan Momotombo 1 de diciembre 2015 Zulke erupties leveren mooie plaatjes op. De Fuego in buurland Guatemala is ook al een tijdje bezig met dit soort kiekjes. Gelukkig voor de mensen daar hebben ze er vooralsnog niet al te veel last van.
rubbereend	donderdag 3 december 2015 @ 14:23
	wow
TheRipper	donderdag 3 december 2015 @ 16:35
	De hoofstad Managua City ligt lekker dichtbij. Toch 2.2 Miljoen inwoners die hopen dat ie vulkaan niet full yolo gaat. Hier een stukje met achtergrond info: vulcanocafe quote: There are two facts to keep in mind concerning Momotombo. First, volcanism seems to be migrating in the direction of Managua; from Monte Galán via Momotombo and into Lago Xolotlán, which is a cause for grave concern in the case of a large-ish, submarine eruption. Second, the copious amounts of juvenile magma fed into and mixing with the crust to form the andesitic lavas. At the very minimum, the rate is in excess of a cubic km per thousand years.