Measuring 12 feet by 12 feet, a test-bed was filled with gravel,
limestone and asphalt and post-holes surrounding the bed were filled with
explosives. Greg Valentine, the geology professor working on this project
stated that the eruption was “exactly what we wanted” which blew the test-beds
contents 50 feet into the air. PhD volcanologist Jacopo Taddeucci, from Rome,
Italy, using high-speed cameras, recorded the experiment.
The project aims to provide an insight into what occurs during and
after an eruption. Obviously these experiments are not accurate to naturally
occurring eruptions, but researchers can control the strength of the blast
making the test-bed an accurate barometer.
Results from this experiment need to be analysed by Valentine with
hopes of a journal publication in the future.
A video of the experimental blast is
available from the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeN7R_H5N8w
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