Generation and dispersal of fine ash and dust by volcanic eruptions

The volcanic eruptions which generate the greatest quantities of fine ash and dust are those of ignimbrite-forming, plinian, vulcanian and phreatomagmatic types; these are also the eruptions which produce the widest dispersal of this material, attributed to the superior height attained by their eruptive columns. However, much of the fine ash and dust may be rapidly flushed out of the eruptive plume by water, particularly in phreatomagmatic eruptions. Recent studies made on the dispersal and grain-size of pyroclastic deposits produced by examples of plinian and phreatomagmatic types, have yielded estimates of the quantities of material generated in each grain-size class, besides the extent of their dispersal. Not all of the fine volcanic particles are produced by fragmentation at the eruptive vent; in ignimbrite eruptions, there is good evidence for their large-scale generation in and loss from the moving ash flows.