Krakatoa: The Last Days, Clip 6 - Pyroclastic Surge (HD)

Full Screen Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPpkWEN1J_Y

From the BBC docu-drama, "Krakatoa: The Last Days." The movie is also known as "Krakatoa: Volcano of Destruction" and aired on Discovery Channel. The movie brings to life the journals and recollections of four witnesses who survived the cataclysmic eruption of Krakatoa in August of 1883.

The Beijerinck (Beyerinck) family, along with 3,000 Ketimbang survivors, had settled further inland. They survived a tsunami and the destructive ear-shattering force of Krakatoa's explosions. They thought the worst had past, but one more is about to strike.

A pyroclastic surge is a fluid mass of turbulent gas and rock fragments which is ejected during volcanic eruptions and are similar to pyroclastic flows except that it has a higher proportion of gas to rock particles. Pyroclastic flows can generate pyroclastic surges. Because a pyroclastic surge is "lighter" than a pyroclastic flow, it can travel much faster at speeds of 350 mph carrying massive destructive kinetic energy and can actually climb higher ground.

Pyroclastic surges can be "hot" containing gas and steam at temperatures above 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit) to as much as 800 degrees Celsius(1472 degrees Fahrenheit). They can also be "cold" with temperatures below 100 degrees Celsius. Aside the temperature factor, both hot and cold pyroclastic surges can still be lethal, depending on the type of gases they carry.

Hot pyroclastic surges can cross significant bodies of water on a cushion of superheated steam just as it occurred in the Ketimbang area of Sumatra.

If you would like to read Johanna Beijerinck's in-depth account of her family's survival through this volcanic catastrophe, please visit:

Survivor Diary -- Johanna Beyerinck
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/krakatoa/diaries/johanna.html

If you want to see the full docudrama, you can catch it on Discovery Channel, rent it, or buy the DVD at Amazon.co.uk:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Krakatoa-Last-Days-Rupert-Penry-Jones/dp/B000FTJ79G/r...

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Category:

Education

Tags:

• Krakatoa
• The
• Last
• Days
• Volcano
• Of
• Destruction
• 1883
• Pyroclastic
• Surge
• Flows
• BBC
• Discovery
• Channel
• Johanna
• Beijerinck
• yt:quality=high

[rainer250]

What number was Krakatoa ranked as on the Volcanic Explosivity Index?

[MelodyOfVision]

@rainer250 - Krakatoa's VEI rating is 6 - highest rating is 8. Mount Tambora's VEI rating is 7 and was far worse - it just wasn't as well recorded as Krakatoa was. All eruptions with a VEI rating of 8 occurred thousands to hundreds of millions of years ago. The most recent VEI 8-rated volcanic eruption, for example, was the Oruanui eruption of New Zealand's Taupo Volcano which occured around 65,000 - 70,000 years ago.

[davenz737]

@MelodyOfVision The Oruanui eruption actually occurred about 26,500 years ago, with a VEI of 8. It erupted again around 1800 years ago (VEI 7).

[MelodyOfVision]

@davenz737 - Oh, okay! Good to know!

[Emperorofthedaleks]

How in god's name did they survive the Pyroclastic flow? Its should have roasted them to death.

[MelodyOfVision]

Hi Emperor,

The survivors were 30 to 35 miles away from Krakatoa. By the time the flow reached them it had cooled down so that about 2/3 of the group had survived. Please read Johanna Beyerinck's diary - the link is provided at the bottom of the information box. They may have survived, but barely!

[Cheella2000]

It's one of the bests film about Krakatoa and events happened then....I like it sooo much! It's sooo dramatic, it's a masterpiece! It helps me understand what happened and shows me how enormous is the Nature...So, good movie, it worths to watch it!

[Stalkie1986]

@MelodyOfVision The Volcanic Explosivity is actually open-ended, which means that, in theory, it has no limit. Relatively new data concerning the Fish Cayon Tuff producing eruption from the La Garita caldera (27.8 million years ago), Colorado, suggests the total amount of ejecta erupted back then might have been some 11.000 km3 instead of the initially estimated 5.000 km3, making that eruption a VEI 9. I currently can't find any sources that can confirm the 11.000 km3, however

[rainer250]

How many times more powerful was this eruption to that of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980?

[rainer250]

It's chilling to think of the damage Anak Krakatoa can do if it erupts in a similiar matter that Krakatoa did during a future eruption and generated tsunamis. The death toll could be higher than in 1883 because Java and Sumatra are heavily populated today. The rate that Anak Krakatoa is growing, it's terrifying to see a repeat of the1883 eruption that destroyed much of Krakatoa.

[SovereignBeing]

is this goes off, there will be an instant ice age.. snap frozen/..!

[MaLgUsTo1997]

baby............. *_*

[rainer250]

@MelodyOfVision, so the description would be colossal. It's amazing how powerful volcanoes can be. Those four massive explosions destroyed virtually the entire island of Krakatoa. It's scary to imagine Anak Krakatoa erupting in a similiar way during a future eruption.