Here’s What’s Happening in This Volcanic Explosion at Guatemala’s Santiaguito

Over the weekend, Santa Maria’s Santiaguito dome complex had a few impressive explosions caused by the collapse of the domes that have been growing on the volcano. One of these explosions was captured in great detail by INSIVUMEH, the volcano monitoring agency of Guatemala. I’ve annotated the image to show all the pieces of such a vulcanian eruption. The plume of the explosion is formed by an explosion from the dome as it collapses, releasing pressure on the magma underneath it. This drop in pressure causes bubbles to form and bam! An explosion happens.