A Tall Plume on the La Palma Volcano

With two live cameras directed towards the La Palma volcano, anyone can be an observer.

There's a close up camera, situated across from the volcano, that details the changes on the ground. A whole little mountain has been created in the space of a few weeks. The morphology of the terrain changes by the day, with lava flows and new fissures replacing old ones. Enormous forces are in play, sometimes constructive in building up the terrain, and sometimes destructive in tearing down what had recently been created.

A camera at a distance shows nothing more than a plume of volcanic ash. The volcano itself is hidden behind a tall ridge. However, it provides for some interesting information when it comes to the fundamental nature of volcanos. For one, the plume of volcanic ash settles into the same thin strata of the atmosphere regardless of the intensity of the eruption. A sudden burst of activity at the ground doesn't translate into a higher plume.

This indicate stability beyond the state of the volcano itself. The volcanic ash is destined for a particular atmospheric strata regardless of momentary intensity. The electric explanation for this would be that the atmospheric strata matches the electric charge of the ejected dust, which in turn matches the electric charge inside the volcano itself.

This means that the potential energy inside the volcano can be derived from how high the plume is. If the plume is relatively low, there's little remaining energy in the volcano. If it's tall, there's a potential for major eruptions, even if the plume appears thin and lackluster at the ground.

Seen in this respect, it's interesting to note that the plume on the La Palma volcano has become taller over time. Energy appears to be building up inside the volcano, and we can therefore expect eruptions to become stronger in the days ahead.

Volcanic ash cloud

By NASA - https://archive.org/details/STS067-721A-052, Public Domain, Link