Ejecta

Ejecta (from the Latin: "things thrown", singular "ejectum") can mean:

  • In volcanology, particles that came out of a volcanic vent, traveled through the air or under water, and fell back on the ground surface or on the ocean floor. Ejecta can consist of:
    1. Juvenile particles - (fragmented magma and free crystals)
    2. Cognate or accessory particles - older volcanic rocks from the same volcano
    3. Accidental particles - derived from the rocks under the volcano.
  • In planetary geology, the debris that is ejected during the formation of an impact crater.
  • In astrophysics, material expelled in a stellar explosion like in supernova or in coronal mass ejection.
  • In pathology, excretion.
  • In firearms, the projectile(s), wad, sabot, propellant gases, etc. that leave the barrel when the firearm is discharged, taken as a whole for the purpose of considering internal ballistics, transitional ballistics and recoil.