Eruption of Krakatoa

This is a very popular ELI but it can make a watery mess! 'The balloon goes up at Krakatoa' The activity uses a tank and a balloon to simulate the huge tsunamis caused by the eruption of this volcano.

 The eruption of Krakatoa (or Krakatau to use its Indonesian name) was the first major volcanic eruption that was investigated and recorded scientifically. It is described as ‘colossal’ on the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), having ejected more than 10 cubic km of material. (The eruption of Tambora in 1815, also in Indonesia, is described as ‘super-colossal’ on the VEI, having ejected more than 100 cubic km of material, whilst the eruption of Taupo, New Zealand about 28,000 years ago, was ‘mega-colossal’, ejecting more than 1000 cubic km of material – but both of these erupted before scientific records). Thus we have reasonably good scientific evidence for the effects of the Krakatoan eruption, even if we still don’t understand the exact mechanisms of eruption and tsunami-generation.
This is one of many innovative Earthlearningideas on our website