Mount Tambora Research Paper

Located on the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, Mount Tambora is in the province of West Nusa Tenggara. The eruption of Mount Tambora on April 10, 1815 marked the most powerful eruption of a volcano in the past 500 years thats has struck Indonesia. The creation and eruption of Mount Tambora can be contributed to the interaction between the Indo-Australian and Eurasian plate. The plate with higher density subducts under the plate with lower density. As the plate goes under, it melts and forms a magma plume and composite cone volcano. The eruption of Mount Tambora sent molten rock more than 40 kilometres high and blew out a cloud of ash that covered a million square kilometres. Mixed in with the 30 cubic kilometres of rock was 50 million tonnes …show more content…
In Indonesia, the pyroclastic flows hit the surrounding sea at such great speed that it created a powerful tsunami; its wave was still two metres high when it hit Java, an eastern island of Indonesia located 500 km away. In the years following the eruption, many still saw the floating islands of pumice in the surrounding seas. The ash flows, the tsunamis, and the starvation that followed the eruption put the death count at around 60,000-120,000, making it the deadliest eruption on record. Other parts of Asia were affected by the eruption; the sulphate ions that were a product of the eruption caused global cooling. . As the cooling planet dried out, Yunan and Bengal were hit particularly hard by the cold temperatures and failed monsoon rains. The people of Yunnan faced starvation as the rice harvest was compromised for three years. However, the aftermath of this famine acted as a catalyst for the farmers of Yunnan to start planting opium poppies. This cash crop provided insurance from future failures and relieved their dependence on grain harvests. Bengal also suffered greatly from the failure of the monsoon rains in 1816. The lack of fresh water was responsible for the unsanitary conditions and the cholera epidemic that spread throughout Bengal the following year. Across Europe, it was clear that the eruption and global cooldown had …show more content…
The release of sulfur dioxide from the eruption of Mount Tambora caused a little ice age and the year of 1816 was left without a summer. The global cooling caused by major eruptions also threatens monsoons, the seasonal prevailing wind that brings rain. Monsoons occur from a temperature difference in hot land and cool sea. However, because of the excessive cooling of land masses as previously explained, monsoon rains become very prone to failure. The failure of the 1816 monsoon rains left Yunan and Bengal with very little fresh water. As a result, Yunan had a poor rice harvest and cholera raged through Bengal. Another climatic change that can result from a major volcanic eruption is an increase in greenhouse gases, specifically carbon dioxide. Since the eruption of Mount Tambora, there has been a 40% increase in the atmosphere’s carbon-dioxide levels. Though many human activities such as deforestation attribute the increase in carbon-dioxide levels, the eruption of Mount Tambora and many other volcanic eruptions released lots of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Along with many other greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide traps the sunlight and heat from the sun. The release of carbon dioxide contributes furthers the warming effect of greenhouse gases and global warming. As a result from trapped infrared radiation, global average temperatures are