pyroclastic
- adjective
- /ˌpaɪroʊˈklæstɪk/
- Specialized
- Excessive dental wear is caused by the fine, abrasive ash that blankets everything after a pyroclastic eruption.
- pyroclastic flow
Examples
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Hot ash and noxious gas billow out in a wave known as a pyroclastic surge.
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Scientists study pyroclastic deposits to understand past volcanic activity and its impacts on the environment.
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That is a pyroclastic cloud.
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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.
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During the eruption, a thick pyroclastic cloud rose high into the atmosphere, carrying ash and rock fragments.
Synonyms
Relating to volcanoes or the lava and ash they produce
Actively sending out lava, ash, or gas
Relating to a sudden violent outburst like a volcano or geyser
Covered with small black pieces of burnt stone and ash, like the ground near a volcano
Surface Forms
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.