What Is Hydrothermal Ablation?

Geothermal water in a hydrothermal explosion in a saturated or superheated state is a phenomenon in which sudden vaporization (flash) occurs due to changes in confining pressure, and the volume expands sharply and bursts overlying loose ground.

Hydrothermal explosion

Hydrothermal explosions occur in shallows, with water temperatures as high as 250 ° C. Water usually boils at 100 ° C, but under pressure, the boiling point of water increases with pressure, causing the water to become superheated. Suddenly reduced pressure causes water to quickly change from liquid to steam, leading to an explosion carrying water and rock fragments. In the last glacial period, many hydrothermal explosions were caused by the release of pressure caused by the melting of glaciers. Other factors of hydrothermal explosion are seismic activity, erosion or hydraulic fracturing.

Hydrothermal explosion is an extremely violent

The cause of hydrothermal explosion and diving water vapor eruption, which belongs to volcanic activity, is the same as that caused by the rapid expansion of geothermal water into steam. The difference between the two is that submerged water vapor eruption only occurs in volcanic areas. It is a magma that suddenly invades and evaporates underground water at any temperature. It occurs in a deeper place, and the ejection is generally unaltered and mixed There is a jet material from a magma source; if it occurs shallowly, it is often accompanied by a magma jet. Hydrothermal explosions are not directly related to volcanic activity or magmatic activity. The energy comes directly from shallow superheated water or overpressure water vapor, the ejection material does not have high-pressure minerals, and it is prone to alter rock fragments.