Hydrothermal Explosion

Hydrothermal Explosion

Hydrothermal explosions occur when superheated water trapped below the surface of the earth rapidly converts from liquid to steam, violently disrupting the confining rock. Boiling water, steam, mud, and rock fragments called breccia are ejected over an area of a few meters up to several kilometers in diameter. Although the energy inherently comes from a deep igneous source, this energy is transferred to the surface by circulating meteoric water rather than by magma, as occurs in volcanic eruptions. The energy is stored as heat in hot water and rock within a few hundred feet of the surface.

Hydrothermal explosions are due to the same instability and chain reaction mechanism as geysers but are so violent that rocks and mud are expelled along with water and steam.