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Lahars

  • Chapter
Pyroclastic Rocks

Abstract

The name lahar is Indonesian for volcanic breccia transported by water (van Bemmelen, 1949, p. 191) but has come to be synonymous in geological literature with volcanic debris flow, a mass of flowing volcanic debris intimately mixed with water. The term lahar refers both to the flowing debris-water mixture, and also to the deposit thus formed. A classic review of the various origins of lahars is that of Anderson (1933). A more recent discussion of lahar deposits by Parsons (1969) is included in a review of volcanic breccias. Crandell (1971) gives an account of the origin and characteristics of post-glacial lahars from the slopes of Mount Rainier volcano (Washington), and Neall (1976) has prepared a bibliography of their global occurrences. The recent eruptive phases of Mount St. Helens (Washington) produced lahars in a variety of ways (Christiansen, 1980; Janda et al., 1980; Janda et al., 1981; Harrison and Fritz, 1982) but investigations of these have not been completed to date.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geological Sciences, University of California, 93106, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Professor Richard V. Fisher

  2. Institut für Mineralogie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, 4630, Bochum, Germany

    Professor Hans-Ulrich Schmincke

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  1. Professor Richard V. Fisher
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  2. Professor Hans-Ulrich Schmincke
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© 1984 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Fisher, R.V., Schmincke, HU. (1984). Lahars. In: Pyroclastic Rocks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74864-6_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-74864-6_11

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