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Science 29 August 1986:
Vol. 233. no. 4767, pp. 961 - 963
DOI: 10.1126/science.233.4767.961
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Articles

Eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz Volcano, Colombia, On 13 November 1985: Tephra Fall and Lahars

J. L. NARANJO 1, H. SIGURDSSON 2, S. N. CAREY 2, and W. FRITZ 3

1 Facultad de Geologia y Minas, Universidad de Caldas, Manizales, Caldas, Colombia.
2 Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881.
3 Department of Geology, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303.

A small Plinian eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia ejected 3.5 x 1010 kilograms of mixed dacite and andesite tephra on 13 November 1985, with a maximum column height of 31 kilometers above sea level. Small pyroclastic flows and surges, generated during the initial stage of the eruption, caused surface melting of approximately 10% of the volcano's ice cap, leading to meltwater floods. The erosive floods incorporated soils and loose sediments from the volcano's flanks and developed into lahars, which claimed at least 25,000 lives.

Submitted on December 10, 1985
Accepted on June 11, 1986


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Mechanisms of degassing at Nevado del Ruiz volcano, Colombia.
J. Stix, J. Stix, G.D. Layne, and S.N. Williams (2003)
Journal of the Geological Society 160, 507-521
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