What is Plinian eruption?
[[Image:Vesuvius1822scrope.jpg|right|thumb|250px|A painting done in 1822 depicting what the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius may have looked like.]] A '''Plinian eruption''' is a kind of [[volcano|volcanic eruption]] which is similar to that of [[Mount Vesuvius]] in the year 79 AD. It is named after [[Pliny the Younger]] who wrote the only surviving eyewitness account of the eruption.<ref>{{cite web|format=pdf|url=http://museumvictoria.com.au/pdf/eruption-of-mount-vesuvius-timeline.pdf|title=The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius - timeline and eyewitness account|publisher=Melburne Museum|year=2009|accessdate=20 September 2009|archive-date=2013-08-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810080344/http://museumvictoria.com.au/pdf/eruption-of-mount-vesuvius-timeline.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> That eruption of Vesuvius killed [[Pliny the Elder]], the uncle of Pliny the Younger. Plinian eruptions have [[column]]s of [[volcanic gas|gas]] and [[Tuff|volcanic ash]] high into the [[stratosphere]]. There is a large amount of [[pumice]] [[wikt:eject|ejected]] into the [[atmosphere]] and very powerful gas blast eruptions. Short eruptions can end in less than a day. Longer ones can take several days to months. These eruptions begin with [[ash cloud|clouds]] of volcanic ash and occasionally [[pyroclastic flow]]s. Sometimes the amount of [[magma]] erupted is so large that the top of the volcano collapses. This leaves a [[caldera]] behind. Fine ash can deposit over large areas. Plinian eruptions often happen with loud noises, such as those [[create]]d by [[Krakatoa]]. ==Large Plinian eruptions== Some examples of large Plinian eruptions that formed [[caldera]]s include the following: *the 2022 [[Hunga Tonga]] eruption in [[Tonga]]; *the 1991 [[Mount Pinatubo]] eruption in [[Luzon]] in the [[Philippines]]; *the [[1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens]] in [[Washington (state)|Washington]], [[United States]]; *the [[1883 eruption of Krakatoa]] in [[Indonesia]]; *the 1815 eruption of [[Mount Tambora]], also in Indonesia; *the 1667