A Volcanic Event essay

Introduction

Tambora volcanic eruption in Indonesia took place in 10^th April 1815. This volcano was recorded as the largest eruption in the world. Before the main eruption, a series of large explosions had taken place releasing huge volcanic columns in the air.

Research on the volcano

Tambora volcano lasted for several days blowing a chunk off the mountain in almost a mile away killing more than ten thousand. The eruption resulted in pyroclastic flow of ash with debris reaching as far as to the ocean. This debris displaced the waters causing tsunamis as high as 5meters originating from the island. Other issues that followed were flooding,devastation and loss of lives even in other islands in Indonesia. Tambora volcanic eruption was caused by a long time accumulation of magma in Sumatra Island. There was an accumulation of large amount of magma beneath the Tambora Mountain until it reached a climax in the super colossal climax thus the eruption (Furgang, 2006).

According to geological history of the volcano, there was a drastic change in temperatures in the entire earth especially in the Northern hemisphere. The year 1816 was therefore without summer. There were disturbances in the weather in areas such as the Western Europe, United States and other parts of Asia. This also affected the Monsoon season and resulted to a phenomenon known as the global cooling (Bemmelen, 1999).

Thee Tambora volcanic eruption resulted in various environmental impacts.  One of its main impacts was the anomaly of the global climate. A large mass of sulfur was released which as estimated as 120 million tons. This was estimated using the petrological method, an optical depth measurement that is based on anatomical observations. The other methods used were the polar ice concentration method and the sulfate concentration method. All these methods gave results ranging from 10 to 120 million tones.

Conclusion

The Tambora volcanic eruption was the largest recorded in history. It was caused by a phenomenon known as global cooling. It resulted in dearth of people and other environmental impacts.