Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) represent one of the most dangerous natural hazards on Earth, and stratovolcanoes like Unzen in Japan, Mt. St. Helens in USA, and Popocatépetl in Mexico give examples of devastating events in the last millennia (e.g., Christiansen & Peterson, 1981;Siebe et al., 1996;Yamamoto et al., 1993). They originate from volcanic eruptions when mixtures of hot gases and fragmental particles (ash, lapilli, blocks, and boulders) become buoyant and move laterally (Cole et al., 2015;Lube et al., 2020). PDCs are density-stratified flows composed of a basal dense granular flow and an over-riding dilute ash cloud. The term block-and-ash flow is often used for the basal dense granular flow (e.g., Pensa et al., 2019). Given the great destructiveness posed by PDCs, the understanding of their formation mechanism and behavior is important for hazard prediction. PDCs can be characterized by multiphase flow transport regimes and gas-particle interactions, spanning from fast and high-energy surges to slow and dense flows, which produce a wide variety of deposit characteristics (e.g., Lerner et al., 2022). The Plinian eruption, for example, occurs in pulses that mostly start with minor ash falls and ash flows and reach their peak with the deposition of pumice falls, the emplacement of hot ash flows, and finally extensive mudflows (e.g., Siebe et al., 1996). Since 1994, the observed reawakening of the Popocatépetl volcano causes a threat to nearby populations as huge emissions of ash and fumarolic gases (Love et al., 1998) together with subsequent episodes of rapid dome growth at the summit crater were reported (e.g.,