Rivers of liquified rock are n’t the only thing residents near Hawaii ’s Kilauea vent have to concern about . Lava from late volcanic bodily function has reach the Pacific Ocean and is generating toxic , glass - tied " laze , " agree to Honolulu - basedKITV . Just what is this unsafe substance ?
liquified lava has a temperature of about 2000 ° atomic number 9 , while the surrounding saltwater in Hawaii is close to 80 ° F . When this super - red-hot lava hits the inhuman ocean , the heat makes the water boil , creating knock-down burst of steam , scalding raging water , and projectile sway fragments cognize as tephra . These plumes are calledlava haze , or laze .
Though it looks like unconstipated steam , laze is much more severe . When the urine and lavacombine , and hot lava vaporizes seawater , a series ofreactionscauses the formation of toxic gas . Chloride from the sea common salt mixes with hydrogen in the steam to make a dense , erosive mixture of hydrochloric dose . The vapor forms clouds that then rick into acid rainwater .
That ’s not the only danger . The lava cools down rapidly , forming volcanic ice — diminutive fragment of which set off into the air along with the throttle .
Even the slightest skirmish with a wisp of laze can be problematical . The hot , acidic potpourri can nettle the tegument , eyes , and respiratory organisation . It ’s particularly hazardous to those with breathing job , like people with asthma .
In 2000 , two peoplediedin Hawaii Volcanoes National Park from inhale laze come from an fighting lava flow .
The problem spread far beyond where the lava itself is flux , push the job windward . Due to the amount of lava flow into the ocean and the effectiveness of the malarkey , laze currently being mother by the Kilauea eruptions could spread up to 15 nautical mile away , a USGS geologist toldReuters .
[ h / tForbes ]
