A Surtseyan eruption on 8 May 1971 at Crater Lake at the summit of Ruapehu volcano in New Zealand ejects a dark cock’s tail jet of volcanic ash, mud, and steam. Individual ejected blocks can be seen at the margins of the plume. This type of eruption column is typical of explosions that involve water-magma interactions.

Photo by Peter Otway, 1971 (New Zealand Geological Survey).

This image is made available under the Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 license terms.

Galleries: Magma / Water

Keywords: eruption | lava water interaction | Surtseyan | pyroclastic surge | explosive eruption | phreatomagmatic | crater lake | cock’s-tail plume

Ruapehu