Relating to or denoting a type of volcanic eruption in which a narrow stream of gas and ash is violently ejected from a vent to a height of several miles.
‘Plinian eruptions are those that are dominated by a plume of hot gas and ash.’
‘The June 1991 Mount Pinatubo eruption produced voluminous pyroclastic flows and a major Plinian umbrella cloud during its paroxysmal phase.’
‘Plinian eruptions are marked by columns of smoke and ash extending high into the stratosphere.’
‘Large plinian eruptions sometimes result in the withdrawal of so much magma from below a volcano that part of it collapses to form a large depression called a caldera.’
Origen
Mid 17th century from Italian pliniano, with reference to the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, in which Pliny the Elder died.
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