Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hey,
Just wanted to know how much energy do dormant volcanoes radiate on average. I tried looking for numbers online but I couldn't find anything. Also, if you could give me like a diagram of the heights from the lava, and how much temperature changes. Is it possible to safely put something to capture the energy inside the volcano? Thanks in advance.

Hi,

I searched on "energy radiated by dormant volcano" and found at the top this NASA document -- http://history.nasa.gov/SP-401/ch11.htm
It describes a student experiment during Skylab that might be useful.

I work for NASA and know that we have a satellite that can automatically detect eruptions. So I searched on "detecting volcanoes by satellites" and found this reference -- http://geology.com/nasa/monitoring-volcanoes.shtml Perhaps if you investigate that work you will learn about the technical measurements involved (e.g., the sensitivity of the instruments).

Regarding how temperature changes inside a volcano, I searched on "temperature change inside a volcano" and found a number of references. This technical paper might be useful: http://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl ... /43122.pdf If that's not sufficient, check out the other references when you do a search. I am sure there is information in encyclopedias, too.

As for capturing energy, one method you might read about is "using thermocouples to generate electricity." Check out what they are doing in Iceland or in the Geysers in California.

Good and relevant questions!

Bill