1⟩ Tell me who is a volcanologist?
Volcanologists are professionals who study volcanoes, whether dormant, active or extinct. They study these volcanoes to determine when volcanoes erupt, how it happens and why eruption occurs
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“Volcanologist related Frequently Asked Questions by expert members with professional career as Volcanologist. These list of interview questions and answers will help you strengthen your technical skills, prepare for the new job interview and quickly revise your concepts”
63 Volcanologist Questions And Answers
2⟩ Explain me what is a volcano?
The word "volcano" comes from the Roman God of Fire, Vulcanus. Also the small volcanic island of Vulcano in the Eolian Islands off Sicily, was called after that god. Apparently, this island was highly active in Ancient times and people believed its crater was the chimney of the Vulcanus' forge, where the hot lava and ash coming out from the crater were the visible evidence of his activity to forge weapons for the other gods.
On Hawai'i, the people attributed volcanic activity to the beautiful, but capricious and at times destructive goddess Pele, who loved fire and hated water.
3⟩ Do you know why are volcanoes called active even when there is no eruption?
An active volcano is a volcano that has had at least one eruption during the past 10,000 years. An active volcano might be erupting or dormant.
An erupting volcano is an active volcano that is having an eruption...
A dormant volcano is an active volcano that is not erupting, but supposed to erupt again.
An extinct volcano has not had an eruption for at least 10,000 years and is not expected to erupt again in a comparable time scale of the future.
4⟩ Tell me how dangerous are volcanoes?
Volcanoes are usually less dangerous than other natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes.
But there is no good answer if you don't limit it into a specific context: which volcano? dangerous to what - people, property, etc.? during which type of activity? at which location?
Volcanoes have a serious of hazards (e.g. lava flows, ash fall, pyroclastic flows, climate changes on a global scale) that relate into different dangers or risks. The risks when visiting an active volcano depend on which risk zones of the volcano are visited and for how long.
5⟩ Where you studied volcanoes in the field?
In the United States I have worked mostly on the Cascades volcanoes, such as Rainier, St. Helens, Medicine Lake caldera, Newberry Caldera, and South Sister. Also, I have worked at Long Valley caldera in California and a little bit on Kilauea in Hawaii. In other parts of the world, I have worked on Mount Erebus in Antarctica and Misti volcano in Peru.
6⟩ Tell me what was the most dangerous volcano you’ve ever studied?
Probably the most dangerous for me personally would have to have been Erebus or St. Helens. I have worked on both volcanoes when there was a high possibility for eruptions occurring. The most dangerous volcano for the surrounding population is easily Misti volcano.
7⟩ Tell me where did you get your first job?
My first volcanology job was with the US Geological Survey.
8⟩ Explain me what was it about studying volcanoes that drew you to the field? Was there something specific that attracted you to it?
Seeing the area that had been devastated by Mount St. Helens and watching the lava dome grow in the crater over the next couple years was an amazing experience. I think any earth scientist who had the opportunity to be there was instantly converted to volcanology.
9⟩ Tell me what would you rate as the best experience you’ve had while working on a volcano?
The best part is working in some really beautiful areas that are constantly changing. Usually geologists are studying landscapes that took thousands or millions of years to form, and out here in Hawaii we can see drastic changes from day to day. So volcanoes are very powerful places to work. An active volcano almost feels like a living entity.
10⟩ Tell me what do you like best about your chosen profession? What’s the most difficult thing about being a volcanologist?
I like the unpredictability of events and the challenge of setting up experiments to study those events. You have to be flexible to take advantage of whatever is going on at the moment. If there is an a`a flow, then you are studying `a`a flows – if there is a large skylight into an active lava tube, then you are studying lava tubes, etc. Working at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has been a real highlight, especially the people I have gotten to know through working in the field on common problems.
11⟩ Tell me what was the strangest experience you ever had on a volcano?
The weird one that I remember was working in Hawaii. We were working on an older lava flow that had lava tubes. We went in to explore one lava tube, a beautiful lava tube that was nice and tall, so I didn't get claustrophobic.
12⟩ Tell me what do you like best about being a volcanologist?
I really love traveling and working on volcanoes, I have to admit.
13⟩ Which are the world's most dangerous volcanoes?
Classification of the world's most dangerous volcanoes is subject to debate. Below are listed some of the most dangerous volcanoes due to their explosive history and proximity to large population centres.
14⟩ Tell me which is the world's most beautiful volcano?
The classic symmetrical volcano cone shape is one of the most impressive sights in nature. Of the world's 1500 active volcanoes a few stand out as being exceptionally beautiful.
Mt Fuji is Japan is renowned for its beauty. There are several other volcanoes which have an even more beautiful shape.
Kronotsky volcano in Kamchatka is even more beautiful than Fuji, and Mayon volcano in Philippines is one of the most spectacular in its shape.
15⟩ Tell me can volcanic eruptions affect climate?
Large volcanic eruptions can cause global climate change and even be responsible for mass extinctions.
Major eruptions in Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia have a disproportional effect on global climate, due to the low troposphere elevation at these latitudes, and the ease of dispersal of ash, aerosol, and gas.
Most mass extinctions during the last 500 million years coincide with eruptions of large igneous provinces. The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction was synchronous with the Deccan flood volcanism.
There is a positive feedback between glacial variability and atmospheric CO2 concentrations: deglaciation increases volcanic eruptions, raises atmospheric
CO2, and causes more deglaciation. Conversely, waning volcanic activity during an interglacial could lead to a reduction in CO2 and the onset of an ice age.
16⟩ Tell me how would you find out if a volcano was going to explode?
The answer to this complex topic is the heart of the science of volcanology and its ultimate challenge.
While there is no easy and short answer, this is the essence: you combine knowledge of the volcano's specific past behaviour with all available observation of its present state, and this allows you to make a long-term and a short term prediction:
1) You study the volcano's eruptive behaviour in the past and ideally, you also try to find out wether there were any signs of change before its eruptions. Such changes might be: unusual seismic activity (i.e. earthquakes at the volcano), visible or otherwise detectable deformation of the ground (i.e. opening of cracks, swelling of the whole mountain etc.), changes in composition and temperature of fumarolic gases and so on.
2) Then you monitor the volcano's behaviour in the present, looking for such changes.
Based on the knowledge of the volcano's past, you can make a long-term prediction (example: sooner or later, Mount Rainier is going to erupt again, although nobody knows exactly when, but chances are almost certain high that this might happen within the next few centuries). The short-term prediction is possible when there are signs of change, and the more is known about the volcano and the more data are available about its present state, the more precise such predictions.
17⟩ Tell me what is some of the information you have to collect from a volcano (in the field)?
In the work that I have done I collect many types of information. I take samples of the deposits to understand the past eruptions of the volcano and also I have been involved in many projects to monitor volcanoes. Typically monitoring includes installing instruments for detecting earthquakes and also very subtle uplift or sagging of the ground surface.
18⟩ How long have you been studying volcanoes?
Around 3 years.
19⟩ Tell me how did you get started in volcanology? What interested you in volcanology?
Well, I was working for the U.S.G.S. in Tacoma, Washington at an office devoted to studying glaciers when Mt. St. Helens erupted in May 1980. Up until then, I had absolutely no idea that I ever wanted to be a volcanologist, but the eruption of Mt. St. Helens changed the course of a lot of people's lives, and I was one of them. I went down to St. Helens the weekend after the big eruption and volunteered to help. There was chaos after the eruption, and they needed people to answer phones in this makeshift office. Eventually, I moved down there and worked for the newly created Cascades Volcano Observatory part-time while I went to graduate school. Then I was transferred to the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, and I've been here ever since.
20⟩ Tell me what's the funniest thing that happened to you while working on a volcano? I know we've had a lot of funny times but there must be one that stands out!?
A lot of things seem funnier in retrospect than they did when they were happening. I remember being caught in a cloud of steam and sulfur dioxide on the rim of Pu`u `O`o crater with another geologist. We couldn't see more than a few feet in front of us, and the fume was terrible, even wearing gas masks. We were stumbling around and arguing about which way we should go which is hard to do wearing a gas mask because it’s like trying to talk with someone’s hand across your mouth. Then I heard this muffled shriek from my partner, who had almost stepped off the rim into the crater. We finally found our way out of the whiteout, but if anyone could have seen us in our identical flight suits and gas masks feeling our way through a cloud of gas you would have thought it was a scene from The Three Stooges--except that there were only two of us, because you were somewhere else that day.
