HW_Volcano and the River of Lava
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Dec 6, 2023
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EES 0836
Volcano and the River of Lava Disasters: Geology vs. Hollywood
Introduction
In the movie Volcano (1997), a raging volcano has formed, raining a storm of deadly fire bombs and an endless river of white-hot lava upon the stunned city! As lava threatens the city, geologists need to work quickly in order to control the flow of lava on a downtown road. In the video clip, you can see they decide
to trap the lava by creating a cul-de-sac of concrete and fire trucks, and then dousing the lava with several
helicopters-full of water. We know that in Hollywood, everything works out in the end, but what if this was real life? Would it have worked? Learning Objectives
●
Quantify the process of hydraulically cooling lava. (4, 5, b, c)
●
Critically assess the portrayal of science in the movie Volcano (1997). (4, 5, b)
Part 1: Watch the clip
You can see the river of lava moving slowly down Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles in the movie clip. Helicopters and firefighters work to cool the lava. 1.
Do you think it’s plausible to cool a river of lava like this? Explain your reasoning.
I do not think it is plausible to cool a river of lava like this. It would be extremely risky and unrealistic to cool a river of lava as it is shown in the film. The best ways to handle lava flows are
typically preventive measures, like constructing barriers to redirect or compromise the flow. Even
then, these types of actions are taken ahead of eruptions rather than during them.
2.
How many helicopters were used to help cool the lava? Do you think this would be enough? Explain your reasoning.
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There were many helicopters and although there were also firetrucks helping to stop the flow using water I do not believe that this would be enough effort to cool the lava.
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Part 2
: A look at the numbers
In this section, the thermodynamics to quantify how much water it takes to cool lava enough to slow its flow has been done for you. Some information used to calculate this is known, but since this is all happening in a movie, there are several factors that are assumed or estimated. Most notably, the length, width, and depth of the lava flow are estimated using Google Earth’s measurement tools.
Note: What we know based on the movie is that they are only trying to slow the movement of lava, not completely solidify it. All math is relative to this. In order to cool lava, emergency responders will need:
1 kg of water per
7.72 kg of lava
Using rough road estimates and an average density of lava, the mass of magma in this scene is: 130,000,000 kg
Questions
1.
How much water is needed to slow the flow of lava? 16,839,379 kg
2.
If a helicopter can carry about 900 kg of water, how many helicopters are needed? 18711 helicopters
3.
How many days would it take if they were dumping one helicopter's worth of water per minute?
13 days
As we can see in the movie, it’s not just helicopters. There are also several fire trucks helping to cool the lava. Again, with some assumptions being made, let’s factor that into the equation.
1 fire hose equals approximately 9.5 helicopters per hour
1.
Let’s say there were ~20 fire hoses used per hour. How many helicopters would this account for? 190 helicopters
2.
How many days would it take if they were using this many hoses?
About 4 days
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3.
Based on what you saw in the film, and the results of your calculation, would the lava chilling, as it is shown in the film, be successful? During a volcanic eruption, safety precautions like evacuations, containment, and lava flow redirection would be the main priorities. It is neither practical or efficient to attempt to directly cool lava with water from helicopters when dealing with volcanic emergencies. Part 3
: The real world
There is often some grain of truth behind Hollywood exaggeration. In this case, stopping a lava flow by using water chilling was a method successfully used in Iceland in the early 1970’s. Read this: The Little Icelandic Town that Survived an Epic Lava Flow
Watch this: 1973 Iceland Volcanic Eruption
1.
Based on what you saw in the Iceland film, identify 2 significant differences between the scenario
in the movie “Volcano” and in the real-life scenario in Iceland on which it was based. Explain your reasoning for both of these differences. (1 paragraph)
The first difference is that the film is set in Los Angeles, whereas the 1973 eruption took place on an island with volcanic activity close to Iceland’s coast. Due to this geographic comparison, there are differences in the regional infrastructure, the volcanic environment, and the emergency response. Second, during the actual Icelandic eruption, authorities, locals, and scientists joined forces to prevent a catastrophe, evacuate residents, and control the lava flow. In contrast, the film puts more of an emphasis on an exciting, action-packed story that uses fabricated techniques like using helicopters to cool the lava.