pyroclastic flow
noun
- a mass of ash or other loose, solid material which travels down the flanks of a volcano and along the ground during an eruption
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /paɪ.ɹə(ʊ)ˌklæ.stɪk ˈfləʊ/ / /ˈpaɪ.ɹoʊ.klæ.stɪk floʊ/ / /ˈpaɪ.ɹə.klæ.stɪk floʊ/
noun
Etymology: From pyroclastic + flow.
- A dense flow of volcanic ash, dust, rocks and debris that cascades at high speed down the slope of a volcano during an eruption.
“Most of the material was erupted in the most dangerous way as ‘pyroclastic flows’: incredibly hot volcanic fragments all buoyed up with gas that can travel fasted than a speeding car in pulse after pulse.”
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see pyroclastic, flow: flow (uncountable) of pyroclastic particles.
“Viscous debris flow is different not only from inertial debris flow but also from granular flow, pyroclastic flow and snow avalanche, because the effect of inelastic collision of particles does not play an important role in viscous debris flow.”