Question: I have seen photos with blue magma.How can this event happen?

Asked by hatsuneirina to Alice, Andi, Bas, Daniel, Rhian on 16 Mar 2015.

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  1. Photo: Daniel Pastor-GalánDaniel Pastor-Galán
    answered on 16 Mar 2015:

    Well,

    Colour in magma depends on temperature. As in the stars. Magma is red because it is hot, otherwise it would be a nice dark-grey volcanic rock. To get blue it should be way hotter (the sun is 6000°C and it is, technically green). So I do not think it is possible.

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  2. Photo: Andreas RudersdorfAndreas Rudersdorf
    answered on 16 Mar 2015:

    Hi hatsuneirina,

    I have also seen the photos, which were in the internet in the last days and weeks. The blue color comes from burning sulphuric gas. So what you see is not the hot gleaming lava itself, but the colourful flames.

    Flames can have different colours, depending on the material which is burnt. You know these colourful fireworks. That’s all different metals and stuff inside the little rockets.

    All the best,
    Andi

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  3. Photo: Alice MarzocchiAlice Marzocchi
    answered on 16 Mar 2015:

    Hi!
    I’ve also seen some incredible images, both from a volcano in Indonesia and one in Ethiopia and in both cases the blue glow was caused by the sulphuric gas burning away, as Andy pointed out.
    Apparently something similar has also been seen in the Yellowstone National Park. The area is full of geysers and hydrothermal vents (there is lots of magma beneath the ground) and when forest fires happened, the flames melted some of the sulfur around the hydrothermal vents and created similar blue streams (the traces can still be seen in the forest, where there are some black lines left behind).

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  4. Photo: Rhian MearaRhian Meara
    answered on 17 Mar 2015:

    wow! i haven’t seen these pictures! I must go and find them!

    The explanations from Andi and Alice sound good though! 🙂

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