Writing Homework Help

Discussion Goal

Learn about historical eruptions and the devastation they caused, and then give some thought to possible mitigation techniques. 

Prompt

Chose a historically significant volcanic eruption and describe it.  Your textbook includes some events of note, but there have been many more throughout the course of history. What happened before during and after the eruption? Was the eruption a surprise? Why or why not?  What was the VEI? How did the geologic setting affect the VEI? What type of volcano was responsible?  (Don’t forget these parts – I need to see you tie things back into tectonic concepts).  What causes the most damage or deaths (lahars, ash, landslides, pyroclastic flows) during and after the eruption? Why? What was the eruption history of that area? What would you have done as a policy maker to save lives and or property before the eruption? NOTE:  I’m looking for something that’s actually feasible here!  Your suggestion here actually needs to make sense and be something that could be implemented.   If you use any outside sources – which I encourage – please make sure to cite your sources so we all know where the information is from!

In your response posts, please look for similarities and differences between the eruption you chose, and the others picked by your peers.  Do you agree with their analysis?  Why/why not?  For example, would you have done the same thing as their hypothetical policy maker?