When Lava Meets Water

Lava-water interactions, though common in nature, have long puzzled scientists. Sometimes the combination is violently explosive. Other times, the water simply cools the lava into interesting shapes. To better understand what’s driving these different reactions, a University at Buffalo research team took a novel approach: brewing its own lava and blowing it up.

Previous lava-water experiments have been conducted, but never quite like this. Working at a remote field station south of Buffalo, a team led by Ingo Sonder, research scientist in the Center for Geohazards Studies at UB, is cooking up 10-gallon batches of molten rock. Clad in full protective gear, they dump basaltic rock into a high-powered induction furnace, heat it up to 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit, pour it into an insulated steel box, inject it with water, and then, if an explosion hasn’t already occurred spontaneously, drive a plunger into the mix to induce one.

Varying the size of the steel box and the speed at which water hits the molten rock allows the researchers to simulate all kinds of conditions. Thus far, they’ve determined that a taller box and more rapid water injection both result in more violent explosions.

Researchers caution that these are just preliminary results; many more experiments will need to be conducted to draw firm conclusions. But eventually, findings from the project should improve scientists’ ability to predict explosions in nature.

“We have several years of work ahead of us before we’ll be able to look at the whole range and combination of factors that influence what happens when lava encounters water,” says Greg Valentine, study co-author and director of the Center for Geohazards Studies. “However, everything we do is with the intention of making a difference in the real world. Understanding basic processes having to do with volcanoes will ultimately help us make better forecasting calls.”