What if we poured concrete into a volcano?

The concrete plug would burst out too. The dust from concrete would lead to fatal lung diseases and cancer. The lava flow from a natural eruption is usually slow and predictable. Maybe a better plan would be to use the concrete to divert the flow away from towns and cities.

Can concrete survive lava?

Less dense things rise above more dense things, so if you attempt to replicate the actions of the authorities in a particularly egregious 1997 Hollywood movie and build a wall of concrete around a massive lava flow, it won't stop it – the blocks will float on top of it, heat up and begin to melt.

What happens if you drill into a volcano?

Drilling at the surface isn't likely to create any measurable seismic activity, but the risk is that it could cause a string of explosions if the drillers were unlucky and happened to hit a hypothermal pocket. The gases released could, in turn, cause more explosions and even an earthquake or eruption [source: Starr].

What would happen if you put an iceberg in a volcano?

The ice might turn into steam faster than it can escape, creating a massive steam explosion. This steam would create even more pressure inside the volcano, causing it to explode. Hardened magma, called tephra, would fly through the air. Some of the pieces could be as large as a house.

Can anything withstand a volcano?

Lava temperature is 700-1,200°C, so it melts or ignites most things. A house on stilts of titanium or tungsten might survive, if the stilts were strong enough to withstand the lava pushing against them.

What If We Poured Concrete Into a Volcano?

Can lava melt diamonds?

To put it simply, a diamond cannot melt in lava, because the melting point of a diamond is around 4500 °C (at a pressure of 100 kilobars) and lava can only be as hot as about 1200 °C.

Can you touch Magma?

Lava won't kill you if it briefly touches you. You would get a nasty burn, but unless you fell in and couldn't get out, you wouldn't die. With prolonged contact, the amount of lava "coverage" and the length of time it was in contact with your skin would be important factors in how severe your injuries would be!

Do volcanoes get snow?

The peaks of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea are high enough that it can stay cold up there, and if moist air gets pushed up the slopes, it'll condense and fall as snow.

What happens when lava meets snow and ice?

In cold regions, hot lava from erupting volcanoes meets snow and ice. This potentially dangerous mixture can lead to rapid flooding. Indeed, in Iceland, an island rich in both volcanoes and frozen water, glacial outburst floods are the most frequently occurring volcano-related hazard.

What if we drilled into Yellowstone?

Even if there were significant “eruptable” magma beneath Yellowstone, drilling into it in an attempt to release pressure would have a devastating effect. Scientific research has proven again and again that depressurization is one of the factors that drives magma toward the surface to erupt.

Can we stop Yellowstone?

YVO gets a lot of questions about whether Yellowstone, or another caldera system, will end all life on Earth. The answer is—NO, a large explosive eruption at Yellowstone will not lead to the end of the human race.

Can we stop a supervolcano?

Probably not. For one thing, you'd have to extract 20 gigawatts of energy to cool the volcano down to a safe temperature, which would take an estimated 16,000 years from start to finish.

Will concrete melt in lava?

Not exactly. Concrete has a melting point at about 1,500 °C (2,700 °F). Even the hottest orange lava only reaches 871°C (1,600 °F). But just because it wouldn't melt doesn't mean it could work.

What can lava not melt?

The short answer is that while lava is hot, it's not hot enough to melt the rocks on the side of or surrounding the volcano. Most rocks have melting points higher than 700℃. Lava is between 700℃ and 1200℃ when it erupts but starts to cool as it slides down the side of the volcano.

Can water cool lava?

Water has been found to be the most practical means to achieve lava cooling. Water absorbs heat from the lava; even more so, if it heats up to the boiling point and changes to steam.

Does it snow in Africa?

Snow is an almost annual occurrence on some of the mountains of South Africa, including those of the Cedarberg and around Ceres in the South-Western Cape, and on the Drakensberg in Natal and Lesotho.

Has Australia ever snowed?

Australia's alpine region experiences significant snowfall, and this area reaches from Victoria through the New South Wales regions. The aptly named “Snowy Mountains” region has substantial snowfall each winter, as does Victoria's “High Country” region, which is only a few hours drive from Melbourne.

Did Hawaii really snow?

The answer is "yes". It snows here every year, but only at the very summits of our 3 tallest volcanoes (Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and Haleakala).

Is obsidian real?

Obsidian is an "extrusive” rock, which means it is made from magma that erupted out of a volcano. If it was an igneous rock that formed from magma underground and did not erupt, it would have been called an "intrusive" rock.

Does obsidian exist?

obsidian, igneous rock occurring as a natural glass formed by the rapid cooling of viscous lava from volcanoes. Obsidian is extremely rich in silica (about 65 to 80 percent), is low in water, and has a chemical composition similar to rhyolite. Obsidian has a glassy lustre and is slightly harder than window glass.

Who would win lava or water?

First, lava is more than three times denser than water; because humans are made mostly of water, it's three times denser than us, too. The laws of physics therefore dictate that we will float on its surface, not sink.

Can we drink lava once?

If you tried to eat it, you would suffer burns before you ever got it in your mouth. If it was poured into your open mouth by someone else, it would cause third degree burns. You wouldn't be able to swallow it — lava is molten rock, and as such, is extraordinarily dense and viscous.

What happens if you pee in lava?

While exploring an active volcano, Dante Lopardo decided to urinate on some molten rock, which has a temperature of about 700°C. As seen in the video Lopardo took, the pee instantly vaporizes as it hits the liquid rock and the lava sizzles. It also leaves something of a charred black mark after sizzling off.

How painful is death by lava?

Dipping your hand into molten rock won't kill you instantly, but it will give you severe, painful burns — “the kind that destroy nerve endings and boil subcutaneous fat,” says David Damby, a research chemist at the USGS Volcano Science Center, in an email to The Verge. Now, falling into lava is another story.