Lahar

A small lahar triggered by rainfall rushes down the Nima II River near the town of El Palmar in Guatemala.

Lahar is an Indonesian word for a rapidly flowing mixture of rock, debris, and water that originates on the slopes of a volcano. Lahars are also referred to as volcanic mudflows or debris flows. They form in a variety of ways, chiefly by the rapid melting of snow and ice by pyroclastic flows, intense rainfall on loose volcanic rock deposits, breakout of a lake dammed by volcanic deposits, and as a consequence of debris avalanches.[1]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/Products/Pglossary/lahar.html