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pyroclastic

pyroclastic

5 9.0
Made of hot rock and ash from a volcanic eruption
  • adjective
  • /ˌpaɪroʊˈklæstɪk/
  • Specialized
translation icon : piroclástico
  • Excessive dental wear is caused by the fine, abrasive ash that blankets everything after a pyroclastic eruption.
  • pyroclastic flow

Examples

  • Hot ash and noxious gas billow out in a wave known as a pyroclastic surge.

  • Scientists study pyroclastic deposits to understand past volcanic activity and its impacts on the environment.

  • That is a pyroclastic cloud.

  • There won't be much of a video of the shock from a pyroclastic flow...

    Blog text (34)
  • The ensuing pyroclastic flow is thought to have been 1.5 km high and traveling close to the speed of sound

    Blog text (34)
  • Ashfall, pyroclastic flows, lahars, and incandescent material affected roughly 650,000 people in Tungurahua and Chimborazo provinces.

    Academic text (2017)
  • Vegetation recovery on the pyroclastic flows is still minimal and consists of isolated individuals or groups of plants in favorable microsites (Del Moral and Bliss 1993).

    Academic text (1997)
  • Seismic activity in the Soufriere Hills volcano, beginning in 1992, resulted in an explosive eruption in July 1995, followed by a series of pyroclastic mudflows that destroyed and buried most of Plymouth, the island's capital, by 1998.

    Academic text (2003)
  • The devastating pyroclastic flow destroyed everything in its path during the volcanic eruption.

  • During the eruption, a thick pyroclastic cloud rose high into the atmosphere, carrying ash and rock fragments.

Synonyms

volcanic
vspyroclastic
  • Specialized
79 3.9

Relating to volcanoes or the lava and ash they produce

focuses specifically on fragments of rock and ash produced during eruptions
eruptive
vspyroclastic
  • Specialized
1 7.3

Actively sending out lava, ash, or gas

refers instead to the solid fragments and ash left by that activity
eruptional
vspyroclastic
  • Specialized
7.7

Relating to a sudden violent outburst like a volcano or geyser

highlights the solid fragments and ash that result from that outburst
cindery
vspyroclastic
6.5

Covered with small black pieces of burnt stone and ash, like the ground near a volcano

is limited to fragments produced specifically by volcanic eruption processes

Surface Forms

pyroclastic positive

Morphology

pyroclastic = clastic (opaque) = pyro + clast + ic

The word is built on the technical adjective 'clastic' with the prefix 'pyro-', but the volcanic geological meaning is specialized and not directly inferable for most learners.

Etymology

Pyroclastic comes from Greek parts pyro- meaning 'fire' and -clastic from klastos meaning 'broken'. So pyroclastic describes rock and ash 'broken by fire', which fits the hot fragments a volcano throws out during an eruption.