Undersea explosive eruptions named ‘neptunian’ 5 July 2009
Posted by admin in current research, geoscience, volcanology.Tags: neptunian, submarine volcanism, undersea volcanism, volcanological research
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Two researchers from the School of Earth Sciences and Centre of Excellence in Ore Deposits (CODES) at the University of Tasmania have come up with the name ‘neptunian’ to describe undersea explosive volcanic eruptions, says a report at ScienceDaily.
These eruptions are sustained and driven by gas exsolved from magma … Neptunian eruptions differ dramatically from magmatic-gas-driven explosive eruptions on land, reflecting the important influence of confining pressure and the higher heat capacity, density, and viscosity of water compared to air.
The original article (abstract here) by Sharon R. Allen and Jocelyn McPhie of CODES can be found in Geology: Sharon R. Allen and Jocelyn McPhie, ‘Products of neptunian eruptions’, Geology, July 2009, pp. 639-642 [DOI 10.1130/G30007A.1].
N.B. Not to be confused with Neptunism.
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[...] could be what undersea volcanic explosive eruptions will be called. “…These eruptions are sustained and driven by gas exsolved from magma … Neptunian eruptions differ dramatically [...]
I thought they were just submarine eruptions, as in submarine volcanoes? Or how about Neptunus (latin) Eruptions?
I think the distinction they are trying to make with the term ‘neptunian’ is to do with the style of eruption rather than the fact it is occurring underwater (depending on the nature of the magma you could have an undersea eruption that wasn’t neptunian, but you could not have a neptunian eruption that wasn’t an undersea eruption). But I haven’t seen the original article, so I may be missing something.