• Question: If a volcano has a lid on it, how much pressure would it take to burst out?

    Asked by isyoumadbroseph to Jon on 11 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Jonathan Stone

      Jonathan Stone answered on 11 Mar 2013:

      he pressure that the volcano (or the magma coming up inside it) is using to pull the lid apart needs to be greater than the strength of the lid or the pressure it makes to push the magma back down. SO it depends on the type of lid, it’s size and how much downwards pressure it can make. In reality it also depends on how quickly (or the rate) at which the magma is doing the pushing.

      All of this partly explains why it is so tricky to predict when a volcano will erupt! but some scientists are trying to work out ways to predict just when that ‘lid’ will fail by looking at the earthquakes generated as it starts to fracture and strain.

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