Geological Movie Review of Dante's Peak - Questions

Dante's Peak Overview

Here are some questions I designed to be asked in a class while reviewing Dante's Peak. You can also find a PDF of this information at my website (linked through the overview page).

Dante’s Peak (1997)
Geological review questions based on the movie

This is a list of geological questions based on the movie Dante’s Peak. Some of the questions can be answered while watching the movie, while others will need extra research on the internet. Some will be both. This is to help broaden your understanding of the geological world and how Hollywood can distort basic scientific principles to make a hit movie.

1. Assuming that the latest the main story of the movie takes place is 1997, what is the most likely eruption that the opening sequence depicts? (Some help – The country they are in is Columbia and the events take place 4 years before the main movie)

2. Is there any other eruption that could be depicted during the opening sequence?

3. Why is it raining mud in the opening sequence?

4. What is the thing that kills Harry’s girlfriend from the volcano in the opening sequence called?

5. What are some signs of a possible volcanic eruption that Harry uses to convince the town of Dante’s Peak to evacuate the first time?

6. How did Pierce know when the last eruption of Dante’s Peak was when he picked up a rock? Did the rock imbue its wisdom on him or is this knowledge he would have gained elsewhere?

7. What type of volcano is Dante’s Peak considered? (Active, extinct, or dormant)

8. There are several possibilities for an eruption and evacuation of a nearby town. What are all the possibilities and what are the two worst case scenarios and why?

9. Why does Harry stamp on the ground near the seismograph?

10. There are two main types of earthquakes associated with volcanoes, what are they? Which earthquake is first and which one is the result of the first one? Why?

11. Why do they call the F.A.A.?

12. Dante’s Peak produces what type of eruption? (Fissure, Hawaiian, Strombolian, Vulcanian, or Plinian)

13. Oh yea, why do you think that?

14. On the second day of the eruption it looked like muddy water flowed down Dante’s Peak, what is the scientific term for these “flows?” And is this the correct time period for them to occur in the eruption cycle? Why or Why not?