Methods Used to Make Estimates of the Probability of Mt. Pinatubo
Volcanologists predict if an eruption is going to occur and when!
General Info about Mt. Pinatubo:
- Spring 1991 - Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines
- 400 earthquakes under Pinatubo
- Magma rising from the earth's crust, mountain letting off excess steam, earthquakes from tectonic plates.
- Mountain has only erupted 4 or 5 times in the last 2000 years.
- There are 4 levels of alert to warn the people.
- June 12 was the first big blast. Explosion that sends ash 1000 ft. into the air. Eruption is 10 miles wide.
Methods volcanologists used to estimate the probability of Mt. Pinatubo:
- A correlation spectrometer measures sulfur coming from out of the mountain. If magma is rising, sulfur and other gases should be escaping into the atmosphere. Increasing amounts of sulfur in Mt. Pinatubo
- A Seismometer is an instrument which measures the earthquakes that occurs around the location.
- Bird's eye view to see if the volcano changed
- Amount of steam
- Historical records such as the shape of the land, eroded canyons, carbon dated trees
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