Says that such a comparison is not useful to the military, because the blast of the eruption was mostly subsonic gas, dust, and mud, rather than the supersonic

Says that such a comparison is not useful to the military, because the blast of the eruption was mostly subsonic gas, dust, and mud, rather than the supersonic plasma of a nuclear weapon. However, I wonder if there is any use in estimating the power - thermodynamic work - required to equal this cataclysm in terms of nuclear weapons. Perhaps not, because the number criticized in the abstract - 10 to 20 megatons - could be meaningless. A 20-megaton bomb might alter the shape of a mountain, if strategically placed where it could do the most work. But maybe you would need multiple such devices to move the same amount of mass as this volcanic eruption. It might not be possible to do with bombs -- more devices could result in just a higher temperature of rock that refuses to cooperate with you. Mechanically coupling all of the energy of the bombs might require an unrealistic amount of vibranium. Which is yet another reason not to mess with Wakanda.