Mount Ontake's Eruption Paper

On September 27, 2014 Japan’s Mount Ontake erupted catching everyone by surprise, including over 250 hikers at the resorts and shrines on the peak. In contrast recently everyone around the globe was able to track the eruption by Iceland’s Bardarbunga due to a web of advanced technology, allowing them to even track where the magma was underground. Japan has a very similar array but was unable to predict Ontake’s eruption. This is due to the fact that it was what is called a phreatic eruption, or a shallow steam explosion, which is near impossible to predict (Oskin, 2014). Eruptions like these are caused by hot air escaping through cracks in the rock surrounding the volcano. Basically the heat escapes from the rock, superheating the surrounding …show more content…
She has two degrees; a master’s degree in geology from Caltech, a prestigious school, and graduated from the Science Communication Program at the University of California. According to her resume her career has all been in reporting but she also has links and short bits of information related to scientific research she has done. While not an expert in this field, I believe she is a credible enough author for an article like this. I liked how clearly this article was worded, and how well it explained everything. It could be easily understood by someone without any knowledge on volcanos. Every time the author used a word even remotely scientific, she took the time to explain it in clear terms. It gave the sense it was actually trying to purvey an understanding of the events as the main point of the article. An uneducated reader could leave with a good understanding of the topic. The article did not provide a substantial amount of data on the eruption, but it was due to the fact that the article wasn’t on the research of it, it was more of an informative viewpoint on the topic. It did not have a source linked, but quoted many knowledgeable and reputable people on the