# Putting a volcano on ice **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-volcano-on-ice/536546 "2010-04-18T18:14:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-volcano-on-ice/536546/41 "2010-04-19T13:04:19Z")
The bottom line is this, for reasons already stated: Even if we could do this, it would be a very, very bad thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![slaphead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@slaphead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slaphead)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-volcano-on-ice/536546/42 "2010-04-19T13:04:34Z")
> [@Joe Frickin Friday](#): > > So to take 1 kg of water from 20C to an average of 750C requires 3809 kJ. > > We need 216,000 GJ/3809 kJ = 56.7M kg of water, or 56,700 cubic meters. That’s a cube of water 38 meters on a side. Hmmm. That 750c looks like it would complicate the engineering even though it drastically reduces the amount of water needed. How about if we were to let the water flash into steam and dissipate at, say, 150? ---
**Author:** ![SunSandSuffering](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SunSandSuffering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunSandSuffering)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-volcano-on-ice/536546/43 "2010-04-19T13:24:20Z")
I don’t think it’s worth trying to stop volcanoes erupting what with it being [vitally](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_Ridge) [important](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_drift) to life on the planet and the continuance of the [carbon cycle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_cycle) and all. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-volcano-on-ice/536546/44 "2010-04-19T13:29:53Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Are there any live streaming links for this volcano? For a second I thought you said ‘live _steaming_ video’. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-volcano-on-ice/536546/45 "2010-04-19T13:43:30Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The closest thing I’ve seen is the cooling of a small portion of the lava flow from an Icelandic volcano that was going to cut off the port in the town. They did this by pumping sea water onto the lava stream in hopes that it would solidify in one spot, blocking the flow and forcing it elsewhere. The port was saved, but it’s not clear if all the work they did had any impact, or it was just happenstance. You can read about it in John McPhee’s “The Control of Nature”. A basic point the three stories of the book makes that can be applied to the OP is that cwith respect to the power inherent to nature, man’s attempts to control it can be rather pitiful in comparison and, further, may have the potential to lead to unforseen consequences. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-volcano-on-ice/536546/46 "2010-04-19T13:48:06Z")
So, how long will it be before Iceland melts, and how much will the sea go up by? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-volcano-on-ice/536546/47 "2010-04-19T14:02:01Z")
Only around [11% of Iceland](http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs2-00/) is covered by glaciers, mostly ice caps. It’s Greenland and, of course, Antarctica that you need to worry about. Everything else in the world combined would only produce a .45 meter rise. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-volcano-on-ice/536546/48 "2010-04-19T16:58:12Z")
During another Icelandic eruption back in the 60s or 70s, the locals attempted, with some success, to divert a lava flow by pumping fantastic amounts of seawater onto the lava. John McPhee discussed it in _The Control of Nature_. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-volcano-on-ice/536546/49 "2010-04-19T17:21:30Z")
> [@3waygeek](#): > > During another Icelandic eruption back in the 60s or 70s, the locals attempted, with some success, to divert a lava flow by pumping fantastic amounts of seawater onto the lava. John McPhee discussed it in _The Control of Nature_. Yes, this was mentioned in post #11 and discussed in many of the following posts. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-volcano-on-ice/536546/50 "2010-04-20T02:15:59Z")
> [@Joe Frickin Friday](#): > > I’ll assume your claim of 130 short tons of liquid helium is accurate. > > Helium heat of vaporization is 21 kJ/kg. > vapor specific heat is 5.1926 kJ/(kg\*K). > Assume the liquid helium is already at its boiling point (~4K). > > To take boiling helium up to an average temp of 750C (1023K) requires 5333 kJ/kg. > > with 130 short tons (118,000 kg) of liquid helium, we could remove a total of 629,000 MJ of energy from the lava. This falls short of the requirement in my previous post (216,000 GJ) by a factor of ~340,000. So 4.5 million tons of liquid helium. Where did the heat go when bottling all that stuff? ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-volcano-on-ice/536546/51 "2010-04-20T02:23:25Z")
> [@Joe Frickin Friday](#): > > I’ll assume your claim of 130 short tons of liquid helium is accurate. > > Helium heat of vaporization is 21 kJ/kg. > vapor specific heat is 5.1926 kJ/(kg\*K). > Assume the liquid helium is already at its boiling point (~4K). > > To take boiling helium up to an average temp of 750C (1023K) requires 5333 kJ/kg. > > with 130 short tons (118,000 kg) of liquid helium, we could remove a total of 629,000 MJ of energy from the lava. This falls short of the requirement in my previous post (216,000 GJ) by a factor of ~340,000. Right Frickin On. Thanks for these calculations 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/putting-a-volcano-on-ice/536546.md?page=2)