I'm working my way through the series now that all episodes have been screened.
At the end of Episode 6 of 'The Rings of Power' there is a volcanic eruption.
This is a pthreatomagmatic eruption it appears, when large amounts of steam are generated when water comes into contact with magma.
This is an eruption which has been 'confirmed by volcano specalists' as being possible.
Galadriel and others are caught up in a pyroclastic flow, but survive - although that would not be possible.
Violent volcanic eruptions occur in large part because water is involved. The water is dissolved in the magma. The magma rises to the surfaces, the water makes bubbles that can turn to steam and the steam and water expand so rapidly that they basically blow the magma apart. That stuff piles up near a central vent and that’s what makes big volcanoes. If that water is in a confined area, like a bottleneck, there’s going to be a steam eruption — we call it a phreatomagmatic eruption. We see that happening in Hawaii all the time where lava flows into the ocean, and some of the lava can get blown around if the water gets trapped under it.”
Professor Jeffrey Carson
This links with the creation of Mordor, and provides the shadow that the Orcs need, while removing the former beauty. There is a strong link here with the environmental themes in Tolkien's writing.
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