La Palma volcano update: Volcanic lightning becoming more frequent

Sun, 31 Oct 2021

Volcanic lightning at the eruption on La Palma 

(image: INVOLCAN)

Scientists from INVOLCAN documented several volcanic lightnings seen in the eruption column.

Over the past days, these have become more frequent. This goes along with the observed increase in explosive behaviour at the vents - more material is being fragmented into ash (as opposed to liquid lava fountains) and the resulting particles are probably finer as well.

Such volcanic "thunderstorms" are often seen during explosive eruptions producing large quantities of ash, although the details are still poorly understood. In a simplified model, the lightnings are the result of electric charges accumulating in different parts of the eruption cloud, where friction between the ash grains rip of electric charges (electrons) from each other. The more quantity of ash emitted, the faster and more turbulent it is moving and the finer the ash grains, the more likely this process occurs.
Video of the explosive activity yesterday:

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