Search the Kids Internet
Encyclopedia > Volcanic Explosivity Index
Article Content
Volcanic Explosivity Index
The Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) was devised by Chris Newhall[?] of the U.S. Geological Survey and Steve Self[?] at the University of Hawaii[?] in 1982 to provide a relative measure of the explosiveness of volcanic eruptions.
Volume of products, eruption cloud height, and qualitative observations (from Gentle to Cataclysmic) are used to determine the explosivity value. The scale is open-ended and ranges from 0, for non-explosive eruptions (less than 104 cubic metres of tephra[?] ejected), to 8, for explosive eruptions larger than any in history (1012 cubic metres of tephra and a cloud column height of over 25 km). Values higher than 8 can be determined if needed.
| VEI | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Historic Eruptions | 487 | 623 | 3176 | 733 | 119 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License
|
Search Encyclopedia
|
Featured Article
|