Pyroclastic flow

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/pyroclastic-flow

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific classification?Pyroclastic density current (PDC)
2. What is the typical temperature?Approximately 1,000 °C (1,800 °F)
3. How fast can pyroclastic flows go?They usually move around 100 km/h, but some can reach up to 700 km/h. That's faster than a car on a highway!
4. Why are pyroclastic flows so dangerous?They are extremely hot, can melt water and burn things. The fine ash can also make it hard to breathe.

Plinian eruption: A powerful volcanic eruption characterized by a tall, sustained column of ash and gas.
Lava dome collapse: The structural failure and fragmentation of a dome-shaped mass of viscous lava.
Volcanology: The scientific study of volcanoes, their structure, and their eruptive processes.