How Do You Collect Samples From an Active Volcano?

How do you collect a sweet , unpolluted lava sampling spicy from the vent , then get it to the lab without it get pesky crystallization ? correspond out how researchers with the United States Geological Survey collect sample to monitor volcanoes in Hawaii !

Fresh lava smoothing out a pile of older volcanic rubble known as ʻaʻā .

Hawaii is a chain of volcanic islands , each producing gentle bam . While burps and gurgles from the volcanic crater can still produce foul surprise , the low silica content mean the basaltic lava flow are by and large slow - moving and secure to approach with the right preparation and precautions .

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory researcher garner a sample from a fresh lava lake .

The proficiency is bare at warmheartedness : Dip a metallic element rock-and-roll hammer into the flow , hooking a sampling into a bucket of body of water to squelch it . Quickly cooling the sampling prevents the growth of any quartz , preserve the make-up of the pāhoehoe lava . The sample is then sent to a local lab for nimble analysis , then out to the mainland for a more in - depth analysis of the full chemical physical composition .

Volcanologist gather lava sampling by transfer it to a bucketful of water with a rock hammer .

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See for yourself in this research worker - optic - opinion video from a U.S. Geological Survey investigator in Hawaii :

Collecting sample is necessary for investigator at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory to perform a chemic depth psychology of the lava . Basaltic lava are low in silica , which make them less viscous and less explosive than the high silica content rhyolitic lavas . Regularly analyze the lava grant the research worker to supervise any change in the magma plumbing organization .

Never dribble lava on your toe when collecting sampling from a molten flow .

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approach this secretive to an active volcano and its lava flows require protective gear , but astonishingly less than you ’d intend . The central components are sturdy boots and drawers , insulated mitt , long sleeves , a full - brain heating plant - filter , and usually a sun - shading chapeau . The liquified lava in the flow field usually has a temperature around 1,140 ºC ( just under 2,100 ºF ) , which is live enough to blister exposed skin .

chop-chop quenching a lava sample in a bucketful of water .

Once upon a prison term when I was a proto - scientist nudging into enquiry , I contemplate volcanoes . But I only lasted three months in part due to a suddenly - incubate concern of death - by - lava when hoard some apparently - crucial chip of data . If I survive near prissy , happy volcanoes like Hawaii alternatively of the expiry - spewing hate - behemoth that is Mount Saint Helens , I , too , might be out in some tropic paradise jabbing a claw into a goopey pool of rock .

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