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Essay On The Volcano – 10 Lines, Short & Long Essay For Kids

Key Points To Remember When Writing An Essay On The Volcano For Lower Primary Classes

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A volcano is a mountain formed through an opening on the Earth’s surface and pushes out lava and rock fragments through that. It is a conical mass that grows large and is found in different sizes. Volcanoes in Hawaiian islands are more than 4000 meters above sea level, and sometimes the total height of a volcano may exceed 9000 meters, depending on the region it is found. Here you will know and learn how to write an essay on a volcano for classes 1, 2 & 3 kids. We will cover writing tips for your essay on a volcano in English and some fun facts about volcanoes in general.

Volcanoes are formed as a result of natural phenomena on the Earth’s surface. There are several types of volcanoes, and each may emit multiple gases. Below are some key points to remember when writing an essay on a volcano:

Start with an introduction about how volcanoes are formed. How they impact the Earth, what they produce, and things to watch out for.
Discuss the different types of volcanoes and talk about the differences between them.
Cover the consequences when volcanoes erupt and the extent of the damage on Earth.
Write a conclusion paragraph for your essay and summarise it.

When writing a few lines on a volcano, it’s crucial to state interesting facts that children will remember. Below are 10 lines on volcanoes for an essay for classes 1 & 2 kids.

Some volcanoes erupt in explosions, and then some release magma quietly.
Lava is hot and molten red in colour and cools down to become black in colour.
Hot gases trapped inside the Earth are released when a volcano erupts.
A circle of volcanoes is referred to as the ‘Ring of Fire.’
Volcano formations are known as seismic activities.
Active volcanoes are spread all across the earth.
Volcanoes can remain inactive for thousands of years and suddenly erupt.
Most volcanic eruptions occur underwater and result from plates diverging from the margins.
Volcanic hazards happen in the form of ashes, lava flows, ballistics, etc.
Volcanic regions have turned into tourist attractions such as the ones in Hawaii.

Volcanoes can be spotted at the meeting points of tectonic plates. Like this, there are tons of interesting facts your kids can learn about volcanoes. Here is a short paragraph on a volcano for children:

A volcano can be defined as an opening in a planet through which lava, gases, and molten rock come out. Earthquake activity around a volcano can give plenty of insight into when it will erupt. The liquid inside a volcano is called magma (lava), which can harden. The Roman word for the volcano is ‘vulcan,’ which means God of Fire. Earth is not the only planet in the solar system with volcanoes; there is one on Mars called the Olympus Mons. There are mainly three types of volcanoes: active, dormant, and extinct. Some eruptions are explosive, and some happen as slow-flowing lava.

Small changes occur in volcanoes, determining if the magma is rising or not flowing enough. One of the common ways to forecast eruptions is by analysing the summit and slopes of these formations. Below is a short essay for classes 1, 2, & 3:

As a student, I have always been curious about volcanoes, and I recently studied a lot about them. Do you know? Krakatoa is a volcano that made an enormous sound when it exploded. Maleo birds seek refuge in the soil found near volcanoes, and they also bury their eggs in these lands as it keeps the eggs warm. Lava salt is a popular condiment used for cooking and extracted from volcanic rocks. And it is famous for its health benefits and is considered superior to other forms of rock or sea salts. Changes in natural gas composition in volcanoes can predict how explosive an eruption can be. A volcano is labelled active if it constantly generates seismic activity and releases magma, and it is considered dormant if it has not exploded for a long time. Gas bubbles can form inside volcanoes and blow up to 1000 times their original size!

Volcanic eruptions can happen through small cracks on the Earth’s surface, fissures, and new landforms. Poisonous gases and debris get mixed with the lava released during these explosions. Here is a long essay for class 3 kids on volcanoes:

Lava can come in different forms, and this is what makes volcanoes unique. Volcanic eruptions can be dangerous and may lead to loss of life, damaging the environment. Lava ejected from a volcano can be fluid, viscous, and may take up different shapes.

When pressure builds up below the Earth’s crust due to natural gases accumulating, that’s when a volcanic explosion happens. Lava and rocks are shot out from the surface to make room on the seafloor. Volcanic eruptions can lead to landslides, ash formations, and lava flows, called natural disasters. Active volcanoes frequently erupt, while the dormant ones are unpredictable. Thousands of years can pass until dormant volcanoes erupt, making their eruption unpredictable. Extinct volcanoes are those that have never erupted in history.

The Earth is not the only planet in the solar system with volcanoes. Many volcanoes exist on several other planets, such as Mars, Venus, etc. Venus is the one planet with the most volcanoes in our solar system. Extremely high temperatures and pressure cause rocks in the volcano to melt and become liquid. This is referred to as magma, and when magma reaches the Earth’s surface, it gets called lava. On Earth, seafloors and common mountains were born from volcanic eruptions in the past.

What Is A Volcano And How Is It Formed?

A volcano is an opening on the Earth’s crust from where molten lava, rocks, and natural gases come out. It is formed when tectonic plates shift or when the ocean plate sinks. Volcano shapes are formed when molten rock, ash, and lava are released from the Earth’s surface and solidify.

Types Of Volcanoes

Given below various types of volcanoes –

1. Shield Volcano

It has gentle sliding slopes and ejects basaltic lava. These are created by the low-viscosity lava eruption that can reach a great distance from a vent.

2. Composite Volcano (Strato)

A composite volcano can stand thousands of meters tall and feature mudflow and pyroclastic deposits.

3. Caldera Volcano

When a volcano explodes and collapses, a large depression is formed, which is called the Caldera.

4. Cinder Cone Volcano

It’s a steep conical hill formed from hardened lava, tephra, and ash deposits.

Causes Of Volcano Eruptions

Following are the most common causes of volcano eruptions:

1. Shifting Of Tectonic Plates

When tectonic plates slide below one another, water is trapped, and pressure builds up by squeezing the plates. This produces enough heat, and gases rise in the chambers, leading to an explosion from underwater to the surface.

2. Environmental Conditions

Sometimes drastic changes in natural environments can lead to volcanoes becoming active again.

3. Natural Phenomena

We all understand that the Earth’s mantle is very hot. So, the rock present in it melts due to high temperature. This thin lava travels to the crust as it can float easily. As the area’s density is compromised, the magma gets to the surface and explodes.

How Does Volcano Affect Human Life?

Active volcanoes threaten human life since they often erupt and affect the environment. It forces people to migrate far away as the amount of heat and poisonous gases it emits cannot be tolerated by humans.

Here are some interesting facts:

The lava is extremely hot!
The liquid inside a volcano is known as magma. The liquid outside is called it is lava.
The largest volcano in the solar system is found on Mars.
Mauna Loa in Hawaii is the largest volcano on Earth.
Volcanoes are found where tectonic plates meet and move.

Your child will learn a lot about how Earth works and why volcanoes are classified as natural disasters, what are their types and how they are formed.

Now that you know enough about volcanoes, you can start writing the essay. For more information on volcanoes, be sure to read and explore more.

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Essays About Volcanoes: Top 5 Examples and 10 Prompts

Do you need to write essays about volcanoes but don’t know where to start? Check out our top essay examples and prompts to help you write a high-quality essay.

Considered the planet’s geologic architects, volcanoes are responsible for more than 80% of the Earth’s surface . The mountains, craters, and fertile soil from these eruptions give way to the very foundation of life itself, making it possible for humans to survive and thrive.

Aside from the numerous ocean floor volcanoes, there are 161 active volcanoes in the US . However, these beautiful and unique landforms can instantly turn into a nightmare, like Mt. Tambora in Indonesia, which killed 92,000 people in 1815 .

Various writings are critical to understanding these openings in the Earth’s crust, especially for students studying volcanoes. It can be tricky to write this topic and will require a lot of research to ensure all the information gathered is accurate.

To help you, read on to see our top essay examples and writing prompts to help you begin writing.

Top 5 Essay Examples

1. short essay on volcanoes by prasad nanda , 2. types of volcanoes by reena a , 3. shield volcano, one of the volcano types by anonymous on gradesfixer.com, 4. benefits and problems caused by volcanoes by anonymous on newyorkessays.com, 5. volcanoes paper by vanessa strickland, 1. volcanoes and their classifications, 2. a dormant volcano’s eruption, 3. volcanic eruptions in the movies, 4. the supervolcano: what is it, 5. the word’s ring of fire, 6. what is a lahar, 7. why does a volcano erupt, 8. my experience with volcanic eruptions, 9. effects of volcanic eruptions, 10. what to do during volcanic disasters.

“The name, “volcano” originates from the name Vulcan, a god of fire in Roman mythology.”

Nanda briefly defines volcanoes, stating they help release hot pressure that builds up deep within the planet. Then, he discusses each volcano classification, including lava and magma’s roles during a volcanic eruption. Besides interesting facts about volcanoes (like the Ojos del Salado as the world’s tallest volcano), Nanda talks about volcanic eruptions’ havoc. However, he also lays down their benefits, such as cooled magma turning to rich soil for crop cultivation.

“The size, style, and frequency of eruptions can differ greatly but all these elements are correlated to the shape of a volcano.”

In this essay, Reena identifies the three main types of volcanoes and compares them by shape, eruption style, and magma type and temperature. A shield volcano is a broad, flat domelike volcano with basaltic magma and gentle eruptions. The strato or composite volcano is the most violent because its explosive eruption results in a lava flow, pyroclastic flows, and lahar. Reena shares that a caldera volcano is rare and has sticky and cool lava, but it’s the most dangerous type. To make it easier for the readers to understand her essay, she adds figures describing the process of volcanic eruptions.

“All in all, shield volcanoes are the nicest of the three but don’t be fooled, it can still do damage.”

As the essay’s title suggests, the author focuses on the most prominent type of volcano with shallow slopes – the shield volcano. Countries like Iceland, New Zealand, and the US have this type of volcano, but it’s usually in the oceans, like the Mauna Loa in the Hawaiian Islands. Also, apart from its shape and magma type, a shield volcano has regular but calmer eruptions until water enters its vents.

“Volcanic eruptions bring both positive and negative impacts to man.”

The essay delves into the different conditions of volcanic eruptions, including their effects on a country and its people. Besides destroying crops, animals, and lives, they damage the economy and environment. However, these misfortunes also leave behind treasures, such as fertile soil from ash, minerals like copper, gold, and silver from magma, and clean and unlimited geothermal energy. After these incidents, a place’s historic eruptions also boost its tourism.

“Beautiful and powerful, awe-inspiring and deadly, they are spectacular reminders of the dynamic forces that shape our planet.”

Strickland’s essay centers on volcanic formations, types, and studies, specifically Krakatoa’s eruption in 1883. She explains that when two plates hit each other, the Earth melts rocks into magma and gases, forming a volcano. Strickland also mentions the pros and cons of living near a volcanic island. For example, even though a tsunami is possible, these islands are rich in marine life, giving fishermen a good living.

Are you looking for more topics like this? Check out our round-up of essay topics about nature .

10 Writing Prompts For Essays About Volcanoes

Do you need more inspiration for your essay? See our best essay prompts about volcanoes below:

Identify and discuss the three classifications of volcanoes according to how often they erupt: active, dormant or inactive, and extinct. Find the similarities and differences of each variety and give examples. At the end of your essay, tell your readers which volcano is the most dangerous and why.

Volcanoes that have not erupted for a very long time are considered inactive or dormant, but they can erupt anytime in the future. For this essay, look for an inactive volcano that suddenly woke up after years of sleeping. Then, find the cause of its sudden eruption and add the extent of its damage. To make your piece more interesting, include an interview with people living near dormant volcanoes and share their thoughts on the possibility of them exploding anytime.

Essays About Volcanoes: Volcanic eruptions in the movies

Choose an on-screen depiction of how volcanoes work, like the documentary “ Krakatoa: Volcano of Destruction .” Next, briefly summarize the movie, then comment on how realistic the film’s effects, scenes, and dialogues are. Finally, conclude your essay by debating the characters’ decisions to save themselves.

The Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) criteria interpret danger based on intensity and magnitude. Explain how this scale recognizes a supervolcano. Talk about the world’s supervolcanoes, which are active, dormant, and extinct. Add the latest report on a supervolcano’s eruption and its destruction.

Identify the 15 countries in the Circum-Pacific belt and explore each territory’s risks to being a part of The Ring of Fire. Explain why it’s called The Ring of Fire and write its importance. You can also discuss the most dangerous volcano within the ring.

If talking about volcanoes as a whole seems too generic, focus on one aspect of it. Lahar is a mixture of water, pyroclastic materials, and rocky debris that rapidly flows down from the slopes of a volcano. First, briefly define a lahar in your essay and focus on how it forms. Then, consider its dangers to living things. You should also add lahar warning signs and the best way to escape it.

Use this prompt to learn and write the entire process of a volcanic eruption. Find out the equipment or operations professionals use to detect magma’s movement inside a volcano to signal that it’s about to blow up. Make your essay informative, and use data from reliable sources and documentaries to ensure you only present correct details.

If you don’t have any personal experience with volcanic eruptions, you can interview someone who does. To ensure you can collect all the critical points you need, create a questionnaire beforehand. Take care to ask about their feelings and thoughts on the situation.

Write about the common effects of volcanic eruptions at the beginning of your essay. Next, focus on discussing its psychological effects on the victims, such as those who have lost loved ones, livelihoods, and properties.

Help your readers prepare for disasters in an informative essay. List what should be done before, during, and after a volcanic eruption. Include relevant tips such as being observant to know where possible emergency shelters are. You can also add any assistance offered by the government to support the victims.Here’s a great tip: Proper grammar is critical for your essays. Grammarly is one of our top grammar checkers. Find out why in this Grammarly review .

Maria Caballero is a freelance writer who has been writing since high school. She believes that to be a writer doesn't only refer to excellent syntax and semantics but also knowing how to weave words together to communicate to any reader effectively.

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Volcanoes, explained

These fiery peaks have belched up molten rock, hot ash, and gas since Earth formed billions of years ago.

Volcanoes are Earth's geologic architects. They've created more than 80 percent of our planet's surface, laying the foundation that has allowed life to thrive. Their explosive force crafts mountains as well as craters. Lava rivers spread into bleak landscapes. But as time ticks by, the elements break down these volcanic rocks, liberating nutrients from their stony prisons and creating remarkably fertile soils that have allowed civilizations to flourish.

There are volcanoes on every continent, even Antarctica. Some 1,500 volcanoes are still considered potentially active around the world today; 161 of those—over 10 percent—sit within the boundaries of the United States .

But each volcano is different. Some burst to life in explosive eruptions, like the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo , and others burp rivers of lava in what's known as an effusive eruption, like the 2018 activity of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano. These differences are all thanks to the chemistry driving the molten activity. Effusive eruptions are more common when the magma is less viscous, or runny, which allows gas to escape and the magma to flow down the volcano's slopes. Explosive eruptions, however, happen when viscous molten rock traps the gasses, building pressure until it violently breaks free.

How do volcanoes form?

The majority of volcanoes in the world form along the boundaries of Earth's tectonic plates—massive expanses of our planet's lithosphere that continually shift, bumping into one another. When tectonic plates collide, one often plunges deep below the other in what's known as a subduction zone .

As the descending landmass sinks deep into the Earth, temperatures and pressures climb, releasing water from the rocks. The water slightly reduces the melting point of the overlying rock, forming magma that can work its way to the surface—the spark of life to reawaken a slumbering volcano.

Not all volcanoes are related to subduction, however. Another way volcanoes can form is what's known as hotspot volcanism. In this situation, a zone of magmatic activity —or a hotspot—in the middle of a tectonic plate can push up through the crust to form a volcano. Although the hotspot itself is thought to be largely stationary, the tectonic plates continue their slow march, building a line of volcanoes or islands on the surface. This mechanism is thought to be behind the Hawaii volcanic chain .

Where are all these volcanoes?

Some 75 percent of the world's active volcanoes are positioned around the ring of fire , a 25,000-mile long, horseshoe-shaped zone that stretches from the southern tip of South America across the West Coast of North America, through the Bering Sea to Japan, and on to New Zealand.

For Hungry Minds

This region is where the edges of the Pacific and Nazca plates butt up against an array of other tectonic plates. Importantly, however, the volcanoes of the ring aren't geologically connected . In other words, a volcanic eruption in Indonesia is not related to one in Alaska, and it could not stir the infamous Yellowstone supervolcano .

What are some of the dangers from a volcano?

Volcanic eruptions pose many dangers aside from lava flows. It's important to heed local authorities' advice during active eruptions and evacuate regions when necessary.

These crystal lava shards are ‘four dimensional videos’ of a volcano’s underworld

Iceland's latest eruption is quieting down—but the explosive upheaval isn't over yet

Scientists found life in a volcano’s ‘lava tubes’—life on other planets could be next

One particular danger is pyroclastic flows, avalanches of hot rocks, ash, and toxic gas that race down slopes at speeds as high as 450 miles an hour . Such an event was responsible for wiping out the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum after Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79 .

Similarly, volcanic mudflows called lahars can be very destructive. These fast-flowing waves of mud and debris can race down a volcano's flanks, burying entire towns.

Ash is another volcanic danger. Unlike the soft, fluffy bits of charred wood left after a campfire, volcanic ash is made of sharp fragments of rocks and volcanic glass each less than two millimeters across. The ash forms as the gasses within rising magma expand, shattering the cooling rocks as they burst from the volcano's mouth. It's not only dangerous to inhale , it's heavy and builds up quickly. Volcanic ash can collapse weak structures, cause power outages, and is a challenge to shovel away post-eruption.

Can we predict volcanic eruptions?

Volcanoes give some warning of pending eruption, making it vital for scientists to closely monitor any volcanoes near large population centers. Warning signs include small earthquakes, swelling or bulging of the volcano's sides, and increased emission of gasses from its vents. None of those signs necessarily mean an eruption is imminent, but they can help scientists evaluate the state of the volcano when magma is building.

However, it's impossible to say exactly when, or even if, any given volcano will erupt. Volcanoes don't run on a timetable like a train. This means it's impossible for one to be “overdue” for eruption —no matter what news headlines say.

What is the largest eruption in history?

The deadliest eruption in recorded history was the 1815 explosion of Mount Tabora in Indonesia. The blast was one of the most powerful ever documented and created a caldera —essentially a crater—4 miles across and more than 3,600 feet deep. A superheated plume of hot ash and gas shot 28 miles into the sky, producing numerous pyroclastic flows when it collapsed.

The eruption and its immediate dangers killed around 10,000 people. But that wasn't its only impact. The volcanic ash and gas injected into the atmosphere obscured the sun and increased the reflectivity of Earth, cooling its surface and causing what's known as the year without a summer. Starvation and disease during this time killed some 82,000 more people, and the gloomy conditions are often credited as the inspiration for gothic horror tales, such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein .

Although there have been several big eruptions in recorded history, volcanic eruptions today are no more frequent than there were a decade or even a century ago. At least a dozen volcanoes erupt on any given day. As monitoring capacity for—and interest in—volcanic eruptions increases, coverage of the activity more frequently appears in the news and on social media. As Erik Klemetti, associate professor of geosciences at Denison University, writes in The Washington Post : “The world is not more volcanically active, we’re just more volcanically aware.”

Volcanoes don’t just erupt on schedule—but they have been in Iceland

Why Iceland's latest eruption may be the most dangerous in recent history

Startling volcanic activity has town in Iceland bracing for crisis

A huge volcano near Naples has been convulsing. What does it mean?

Mysteries lurk below Iceland's restless volcanoes

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Home — Essay Samples — Science — Geology — Different Types of Volcanoes

Different Types of Volcanoes

Categories: Geology

About this sample

Words: 618 |

Published: Mar 20, 2024

Words: 618 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes, cinder cones, submarine volcanoes.

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125 Volcano Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Volcanoes are one of the most fascinating natural phenomena on Earth. From their explosive eruptions to the creation of new land, there is no shortage of topics to explore when it comes to volcanoes. If you are looking for inspiration for your next essay on volcanoes, look no further. Here are 125 volcano essay topic ideas and examples to get you started:

The science behind volcanic eruptions
The different types of volcanoes and how they form
The role of plate tectonics in volcanic activity
The impact of volcanic eruptions on the environment
The history of volcanic eruptions around the world
The cultural significance of volcanoes in different societies
The relationship between volcanoes and climate change
The benefits of living near a volcano
The risks and challenges of living near a volcano
The technology used to monitor and predict volcanic eruptions
The impact of volcanic eruptions on air travel
The economic impact of volcanic eruptions on local communities
The history of volcano research and exploration
The myths and legends surrounding volcanoes
The impact of volcanic eruptions on wildlife and ecosystems
The role of volcanoes in the formation of Earth's landforms
The connection between volcanic activity and earthquakes
The role of volcanic eruptions in shaping human history
The impact of volcanic eruptions on agriculture and food security
The relationship between volcanic eruptions and volcanic gases
The role of volcanoes in the formation of mineral deposits
The impact of volcanic eruptions on water quality
The connection between volcanic eruptions and geothermal energy
The impact of volcanic eruptions on tourism
The history of famous volcanic eruptions, such as Mount Vesuvius and Mount St. Helens
The impact of volcanic eruptions on indigenous communities
The role of volcanoes in the creation of new land
The impact of volcanic eruptions on global climate
The relationship between volcanic eruptions and volcanic lightning
The role of volcanoes in the formation of volcanic islands
The impact of volcanic eruptions on human health
The connection between volcanic activity and volcanic hotspots
The role of volcanic eruptions in the formation of volcanic ash clouds
The impact of volcanic eruptions on marine ecosystems
The relationship between volcanic eruptions and volcanic mudflows
The role of volcanic eruptions in the formation of volcanic craters
The impact of volcanic eruptions on infrastructure and buildings
The connection between volcanic activity and volcanic earthquakes
The role of volcanic eruptions in the formation of volcanic domes
The impact of volcanic eruptions on air quality
The relationship between volcanic eruptions and volcanic gas emissions
The role of volcanoes in the formation of volcanic arcs
The impact of volcanic eruptions on soil fertility
The connection between volcanic activity and volcanic tremors
The role of volcanic eruptions in the formation of volcanic calderas
The impact of volcanic eruptions on water resources
The relationship between volcanic eruptions and volcanic tsunamis
The role of volcanoes in the formation of volcanic rift zones
The impact of volcanic eruptions on wildlife migration patterns
The connection between volcanic activity and volcanic vents
The role of volcanic eruptions in the formation of volcanic cones
The impact of volcanic eruptions on indigenous knowledge and traditions
The relationship between volcanic eruptions and volcanic seamounts
The role of volcanoes in the formation of volcanic craters
The impact of volcanic eruptions on human migration patterns
The connection between volcanic activity and volcanic eruptions
The role of volcanic eruptions in the formation of volcanic plateaus
The impact of volcanic eruptions on geothermal energy production
The relationship between volcanic eruptions and volcanic islands
The role of volcanoes in the formation of volcanic plains
The impact of volcanic eruptions on soil erosion
The connection between volcanic activity and volcanic rocks
The role of volcanic eruptions in the formation of volcanic ridges
The impact of volcanic eruptions on biodiversity
The relationship between volcanic eruptions and volcanic vents
The role of volcanoes in the formation of volcanic ridges
The impact of volcanic eruptions on human settlements
The connection between volcanic activity and volcanic rifts
The role of volcanic eruptions in the formation of volcanic chains
The relationship between volcanic eruptions and volcanic cones
The role of volcanoes in the formation of volcanic fields
The impact of volcanic eruptions on wildlife habitats
The role of volcanic eruptions in the formation of volcanic belts
The impact of volcanic eruptions on cultural heritage sites
The relationship between volcanic eruptions and volcanic ash clouds
The impact of volcanic eruptions on agricultural productivity
The role of volcanic eruptions in the formation of volcanic arches
The relationship between volcanic eruptions and volcanic fissures
The role of volcanoes in the formation of volcanic calderas
The connection between volcanic activity and volcanic domes
The role of volcanic eruptions in the formation of volcanic rift zones
The connection between volcanic activity and volcanic plateaus
The connection between volcanic activity and volcanic islands
The role of volcanic eruptions in the formation of volcanic plains
The relationship between volcanic eruptions and volcanic rocks

With so many interesting topics to choose from, you are sure to find the perfect subject for your volcano essay. Whether you are interested in the science behind volcanic eruptions, the cultural significance of volcanoes, or the impact of volcanic activity on the environment, there is a topic on this list that is sure to inspire you. Happy writing!

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Volcanic Eruptions and Their Repose, Unrest, Precursors, and Timing (2017)

Chapter: summary.

Volcanoes are a key part of the Earth system, and open a window into the inner workings of the planet. More than a dozen volcanoes are usually erupting on Earth at any given time. Some of these eruptions are devastating, killing people, damaging homes and infrastructure, altering landscapes, and even disrupting climate. Fortunately, many eruptions are preceded by signs of unrest (precursors) that can be used to anticipate eruptions and support disaster planning.

Accurate forecasts of the likelihood and magnitude of an eruption in a specified timeframe are rooted in a scientific understanding of the processes that govern the storage, ascent, and eruption of magma. Yet our understanding of volcanic systems is incomplete and biased by the limited number of volcanoes and eruption styles observed with advanced instrumentation. Eruption behaviors are diverse (e.g., violently explosive or gently effusive, intermittent or sustained, last hours or decades) and may change over time at a volcano. More accurate and societally useful forecasts of eruptions and their hazards are possible by using new observations and models of volcanic processes.

At the request of managers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine established a committee to undertake the following tasks:

Summarize current understanding of how magma is stored, ascends, and erupts.
Discuss new disciplinary and interdisciplinary research on volcanic processes and precursors that could lead to forecasts of the type, size, and timing of volcanic eruptions.
Describe new observations or instrument deployment strategies that could improve quantification of volcanic eruption processes and precursors.
Identify priority research and observations needed to improve understanding of volcanic eruptions and to inform monitoring and early warning efforts.

These four tasks are closely related. Improved understanding of volcanic processes guides monitoring efforts and improves forecasts. In turn, improved monitoring provides the insights and constraints to better understand volcanic processes. This report identifies key science questions, research and observation priorities, and approaches for building a volcano science community capable of tackling them. The discussion below first summarizes common themes among these science questions and priorities, and then describes ambitious goals (grand challenges) for making major advances in volcano science.

KEY QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH AND OBSERVATION PRIORITIES

Many fundamental aspects of volcanoes are understood conceptually and often quantitatively. Plate tectonics and mantle convection explain where volcanoes occur. We understand how magma is initially created in Earth’s mantle, how it rises toward the surface, that it can be stored and evolve in magma chambers within the crust, and that a number of processes initiate eruptions. We understand in general terms why some magmas erupt explosively and others do not, and why some volcanoes erupt more often than others. High-resolution observations and models combined provide a detailed and quantitative picture of eruptions once they begin.

Our understanding is incomplete, however, especially those aspects of volcano behavior that define the timing, duration, style, size, and consequences of eruptions. Additional questions relate to our ability to forecast eruptions. What processes produce commonly observed geophysical and geochemical precursors? What factors determine if and when unrest will be followed by eruption? How rapidly do magmas mobilize prior to eruption? Which volcanoes are most likely to erupt in coming years and decades? And we are only beginning to decipher the impacts of large volcanic eruptions on Earth’s climate and biosphere.

Our understanding of the entire life cycle and diversity of volcanoes—from their conception in the mantle to their periods of repose, unrest, and eruption to their eventual demise—is poised for major advances over the next decades. Exciting advances in our ability to observe volcanoes—including satellite measurements of ground deformation and gas emissions, drone observations, advanced seismic monitoring, and real-time, high-speed acquisition of data during eruptions—await broad application to volcanic systems. Parallel advances in analytical capabilities to decipher the history of magmas, and in conceptual, experimental, and numerical models of magmatic and volcanic phenomena, both below and above ground, will provide new insights on the processes that govern the generation and eruption of magma and greatly improve the quality of short-term, months to minutes, forecasts. The time is ripe to test these models with observations from new instrumentation, data collected on fine temporal and spatial scales, and multidisciplinary synthesis.

Four common themes emerged from the research priorities detailed in the following chapters:

Develop multiscale models that capture critical processes, feedbacks, and thresholds to advance understanding of volcanic processes and the consequences of eruptions on Earth systems.

Advances will come from measurements of physical and chemical properties of magmas and erupted materials, deciphering the history of magmas (before and during eruption) recorded in their crystals and bubbles, and developing new models that account for the numerous interacting processes and vast range of scales, from microscopic ash particles and crystals, to eruption columns that extend to the stratosphere.

Collect high-resolution measurements at more volcanoes and throughout their life cycle to overcome observational bias.

Few volcanoes have a long record of monitoring data. New and expanded networks of ground, submarine, airborne, and satellite sensors that characterize deformation, gases, and fluids are needed to document volcanic processes during decade-long periods of repose and unrest. High-rate, near-real-time measurements are needed to capture eruptions as they occur, and efficient dissemination of information is needed to formulate a response. Both rapid response and sustained monitoring are required to document the life cycle of volcanoes. Monitoring and understanding volcanic processes go hand-in-hand: Different types of volcanoes have different life cycles and behaviors, and hence merit different monitoring strategies.

Synthesize a broad range of observations, from the subsurface to space, to interpret unrest and forecast eruption size, style, and duration.

Physics-based models promise to improve forecasts by assimilating monitoring data and observations. Progress in forecasting also requires theoretical and experimental advances in understanding eruption processes, characterization of the thermal and mechanical properties of magmas and their host rocks, and model validation and verification. Critical to eruption forecast-

ing is reproducing with models and documenting with measurements the emergent precursory phenomena in the run-up to eruption.

Obtain better chronologies and rates of volcanic processes.

Long-term forecasts rely on understanding the geologic record of eruptions preserved in volcanic deposits on land, in marine and lake sediments, and in ice cores. Secondary hazards that are not part of the eruption itself, such as mud flows and floods, need to be better studied, as they can have more devastating consequences than the eruption. Understanding the effects of eruptions on other Earth systems, including climate, the oceans, and landscapes, will take coordinated efforts across disciplines. Progress in long-term forecasts, years to decades, requires open-access databases that document the full life cycle of volcanoes.

GRAND CHALLENGES

The key science questions, research and observation priorities, and new approaches highlighted in this report can be summarized by three overarching grand challenges. These challenges are grand because they are large in scope and would substantially advance the field, and they are challenges because great effort will be needed. Figure S.1 illustrates these challenges using the example of the 2016 eruption of Pavlof volcano, Alaska. The volcanic hazards and eruption history of Pavlof are summarized by Waythomas et al. (2006) .

A principal goal of volcano science is to reduce the adverse impacts of volcanism on humanity, which requires accurate forecasts. Most current eruption forecasts use pattern recognition in monitoring and geologic data. Such approaches have led to notable forecasts in some cases, but their use is limited because volcanoes evolve over time, there is a great diversity of volcano behavior, and we have no experience with many of the potentially most dangerous volcanoes. A major challenge is to develop forecasting models based instead on physical and chemical processes, informed by monitoring. This approach is used in weather forecasting. Addressing this challenge requires an understanding of the basic processes of magma storage and ascent as well as thresholds of eruption initiation. This understanding and new discoveries will emerge from new observations, experimental measurements, and modeling approaches. Models are important because they capture our conceptual and quantitative understanding. Experiments test our understanding. Relating models to observations requires multiple types of complementary data collected over an extended period of time.

Determining the life cycle of volcanoes is key for interpreting precursors and unrest, revealing the processes that govern the initiation and duration of eruptions, and understanding how volcanoes evolve between eruptions. Our understanding is biased by an emphasis over the last few decades of observation with modern instruments, and most of these well-studied eruptions have been small events that may not scale to the largest and most devastating eruptions. Strategic deployment of instruments on volcanoes with different characteristics would help build the requisite knowledge and confidence to make useful forecasts. For every volcano in the United States, a realistic goal is to have at least one seismometer to record the small earthquakes that accompany magma movement. Even in the United States, less than half of potentially active volcanoes have a seismometer, and less than 2 percent have continuous gas measurements. Global and daily satellite images of deformation, and the ability to measure passive CO 2 degassing from space would fill critical observational gaps. Geologic and geophysical studies are required to extend understanding of the life cycle of volcanoes to longer periods of time. On shorter time scales, satellite measurements, emerging technologies such as drones, and expansion of ground-based monitoring networks promise to document processes that remain poorly understood.

The volcano science community needs to be prepared to capitalize on the data and insights gained from eruptions as they happen. This will come from effective integration of the complementary research and monitoring roles by universities, the USGS, and other government agencies. Volcano science is fundamentally interdisciplinary and the necessary expertise is spread across these institutions. The science is also international, because every volcano provides insights on processes that drive eruptions. Volcanic eruptions can have global impacts and so demand international collaboration and cooperation. New vehicles are needed to support interdisciplinary research and training, including community collaboration and education at all levels. Examples of similar successful programs in other fields include NSF’s Cooperative Studies of the Earth’s Deep Interior program for interdisciplinary research and National Earthquake Hazards Reduction

Program for federal government agency–academic partnerships.

Results of the above investments in science will be most evident to the public in improved planning and warning and, ideally, a deeper appreciation of this amazing natural phenomenon.

Volcanic eruptions are common, with more than 50 volcanic eruptions in the United States alone in the past 31 years. These eruptions can have devastating economic and social consequences, even at great distances from the volcano. Fortunately many eruptions are preceded by unrest that can be detected using ground, airborne, and spaceborne instruments. Data from these instruments, combined with basic understanding of how volcanoes work, form the basis for forecasting eruptions—where, when, how big, how long, and the consequences.

Accurate forecasts of the likelihood and magnitude of an eruption in a specified timeframe are rooted in a scientific understanding of the processes that govern the storage, ascent, and eruption of magma. Yet our understanding of volcanic systems is incomplete and biased by the limited number of volcanoes and eruption styles observed with advanced instrumentation. Volcanic Eruptions and Their Repose, Unrest, Precursors, and Timing identifies key science questions, research and observation priorities, and approaches for building a volcano science community capable of tackling them. This report presents goals for making major advances in volcano science.

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Volcano Essay for Kids – Volcano Eruption

This volcano essay is for children aged 6 and above. Here students will find some of the interesting facts about volcanoes. They will further learn about volcanic eruptions, their forms, their causes, etc. It guides kids to write an essay on volcanoes for all classes. So, let’s dive in.

Table of Contents

1 Volcano Essay Introduction
2 What is Volcanic Eruption?
3 Interesting Facts About Volcanic Eruption
4 How Are Volcanoes Formed?
5 Causes of Volcanoes Eruption
6 How Do Volcanoes Affect Humans and the Environment?
7 Easy points to learn about Volcanoes
8 Volcano Essay Conclusion

Volcano Essay Introduction

Do you know how gas bubbles form inside the soda bottle? When you shake it hard, it causes a build-up of pressure. Then when you open the bottle, it releases pressure everywhere. In the same way volcanic eruption works, in simple words, a volcano is an opening on the Earth’s surface. When it opens with jolted pressure, it allows the hot magma, ash, and gases to flow. These substances are beneath the Earth’s crust which explodes into the surface.

What is Volcanic Eruption?

A volcano is a mountain created through an opening on the Earth’s surface after its eruption. Volcanoes are openings on the Earth’s surface; the hole at the top of the volcano is known as a volcanic crater.

A volcanic eruption is caused by the pressure which builds up in a gas that forms into magma. Under the surface of the Earth, magma is hot liquid rock. As hot magma in the volcano needs to escape, it erupts with a great force through the opening and reaches Earth’s surface.

Lava is formed when magma reaches the surface of the Earth. The lava then cools and hardens into a mountain after millions of years.

Do you know volcanoes can be found on land as well as on the bottom of the ocean? So, let’s discuss the interesting facts about Volcanic eruptions.

Interesting Facts About Volcanic Eruption

Volcanic eruptions cause hot ash flows, avalanches, and mudslides.

They tend to knock down entire forests.
Most of the volcanic eruptions on Earth are explosive, while few are non-reactive.
Volcanic eruptions have destroyed land and the environment.
Nearly 10 to 20 volcanic eruptions are happening every day somewhere on Earth.
There are three types of volcanoes , Stratovolcano, Shield volcano, and Dome volcano.
Shield volcanoes are one of the largest volcanic eruptions in the world.
A volcano can be active, dormant, or extinct. It is classified based on the activity levels of lava.
Throughout history, many cities have faced threats from volcanic eruptions. Many cities are buried by the eruption.
The Ring of Fire which is situated in the Pacific Ocean, is an active volcanic region. It is a horseshoe-type area that covers 40,000 km. This area is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
The ring of fire has a total of 452 volcanoes present in it.

How Are Volcanoes Formed?

The term “Volcano” comes from the Roman name “Vulcan”. He was the roman God of fire. Volcanoes forms when the magma pushes its way upwards from within the Earth’s mantle to the surface.

Magma is a substance of rock and gases. It lies between the Earth’s crust and the mantle. When the two tectonic plates collide on top of one and beneath the other one. It causes friction near the edges of plates. During this process, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur near the edges of the plates.

Then magma erupts through the surface to form lava. Over time lava flows and ash deposits which later on turn into piles of rock. The shape of a volcano forms when the ash, molten rock, and lava are released from the Earth’s surface and cocoon to solidify. It forms mountains after a few thousand years. Then these mountains are known as volcanoes.

Causes of Volcanoes Eruption

Here are the causes of volcanic eruptions;

A volcano erupts because of the way heat moves beneath the Earth’s surface.
When the tendency of the magma temperature arises.
The magma arises from the Earth’s mantle due to the dissolved gases present in it.
The other cause of the volcano eruptions is the magma’s thickness.

How Do Volcanoes Affect Humans and the Environment?

Volcanoes cause a lot of damage to humans and the Environment. Because it triggers floods , earthquakes, tsunamis, rock falls, and mudslides. When it erupts, it leaves devastating consequences for the people and the regions near it. Do you know in the last 500 years, volcanic eruptions have killed around 200,000 people?

The volcano eruption leaves behind a complete extinction of the landscape. It destroys buildings and flight paths. Moreover, poisonous gases are released, which kill plants and animals, resulting in illness and death. The aftermath of the eruption causes the skies to turn into dark clouds. Then it results in heavy winds and rain, which can occur for months. Anyone who breathes the air can suffer from severe breathing problems.

Though the volcano eruption has adverse effects on the landscape. It also has some positive outcomes as it produces rich, fertile soil for growing crops and a distinctive volcanic rock called a pumice stone. It is the only known rock that can float in water. Volcanoes also help to remove heat from the Earth’s interior, which helps the planet to stay cool.

The Hawaiian Islands were created by the eruption of shield volcanoes. These low-lying volcanoes are almost made up of layers of hardened lava. As ash from volcanoes adds minerals to the soil, volcanoes have played a crucial role in shaping the Earth. Most of the metallic minerals like gold, copper, zinc, and lead are mined from the deep magma found within the roots of extinct volcanoes.

Easy points to learn about Volcanoes

If children want to learn about volcanoes in simple ways, here it is for you.

There are more than 1500 active volcanoes present on Earth.
The largest active volcano is present in Mauna Loa in Hawaii. It is the shield volcano at 13,677 feet above sea level.
Indonesia is the island with the most active volcanoes in the world.
Over 20% of Earth’s active volcanoes are present in the underwater ocean .
Pompeii was an ancient city in Italy that was completely buried in ash and lava.
A volcanic eruption can be sent as high into the air, sometimes over 17 miles above the Earth’s surface.
Volcanoes are found where tectonic plates move and meet.
Lava is a molten liquid found outside the Earth’s surface that is hot.
Mars has the largest volcano in the solar system.
The world’s highest/tallest volcano is present in Ojos del Salado, Chile.

Volcano Essay Conclusion

Volcanoes can be really dangerous, but they’re also really fascinating. Scientists learn a lot about our planet by studying volcanoes. If you live near a volcano, it’s important to know what to do in case it erupts. And if you’re ever visiting a place with volcanoes, make sure you stay safe and don’t go too close to the edge.

Your kids have now learned about Volcanoes, how eruptions happen, and their causes in this essay. We have also covered interesting facts about Volcanoes so that they can easily understand and start writing their volcano essay.

It is amazing how much we can learn about our planet from volcanoes. We hope you have found it interesting to learn about volcano eruptions for kids in all classes. If you like it, please share this with your friends and family.

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70 Volcano Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best volcano topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 most interesting volcano topics to write about, 👍 good research topics about volcano, ❓ essay questions about volcanoes.

The Economic Impact of the Icelandic Volcano Eruptions on the International Economy So, it may be completed that even though the shutdown of the European airspace negatively affected the economics of the whole world and GDP level of the countries, there were the ways for solving the […]
Eruption of Mount Saint Helen Volcano Helens volcano, looking at its history, the explosion, the immediate consequences of the eruption, and the historic impact on the climate and human life.
Sparks Fly Over Theory That Volcano Caused Salmon Boom However, for the theory to be credible the volcanic ashes must be rich in iron and spread ashes to oceanic regions that have a limited concentration of iron.
The Volcano and Aurora in Iceland In other words, the volcano Hekla was erupting from the surface of the earth while the natural light was shining from the sky.
Haleakalā Volcano and Wai’anapanapa State Park Haleakal is a large shield volcano that is situated in the east of the Island of Maui and basically comprises this part of Maui.
Review of Related Literature of Volcano Tourism in the Philippines
The Human Response During a Calamity in A Living God by Lafcadio Hearn and The Volcano Next Door by Michael Finkel
Investigating the Rate of Lava Flows Down the Side of a Volcano
The Dangers of Living Too Close to a Volcano
The Characteristics of Mount Vesuvius, the Only Active Volcano on the European Mainland
Causes and Effect of Volcano Eruption
The Most Famous Mount Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii
The Devastation a Volcano Can Create Shown in In a Volcanoes Path
What Fundamental Parameters Determine the Vigor or Violence with Which a Volcano Erupts
The History and Possible Threats of Nyiragongo in The Volcano Next Door, a Book by Michael Finkel
Volcano Eruptions Types
Understanding How A Volcano Forms and Erupts
Volcano: The Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens Critical
The Mount Saint Helens and the Volcano Area in Washington State
Planet and Live Erupting Volcano
The Mount St. Helen and Mount Pinatubo Volcano Eruptionss
The Most Active Volcano Of The Philippines
An Active Super Volcano Lying Underneath Yellowstone Nation Park
The Vesuvius Volcano Eruption and the Activities of the Cities Pompeii and Herculaneum
Why This Volcano Eruption in the Philippines May Be Especially Deadly
Sitting on a Volcano: Domestic Violence in Indonesia Following Two Volcano Eruptions
Volcanoes: Volcano and Broad Domed Volcano
The Lack of Volcano Physics in the Movies
A Look at the Destructive Power of a Volcano
An Analysis of the Destructive Power of a Volcano as One of the Most Violent and Deadly of All Natural Forces
The Importance and Role of Hydrothermal Vents and Underwater Volcano
Yellowstone: Volcano and Lieutenant Gustavus Doane
The Devastating Effects of Volcano Eruptions in the U.S
An Analysis of the Eruption of the Mount St. Helens Volcano on the 18th of May, 1980
Volcanoes: Volcano and Eruptions Explosive Eruptions
Volcanoes : The Volcano Of Tambora
An Analysis of the Question Whether Germany Was Dancing on a Volcano
The Three Systems to Faults Present in the Nevado del Ruiz Volcano Region
An Analysis of the Soufriere Hills Volcano Eruption on Montserrat Island in 1997
Why Can’t Toxic or Nuclear Waste Be Disposed of in Volcanoes?
What Are the Four Basic Types of Volcanoes?
What Exactly Are Super Volcanoes?
Where Do Volcanoes Exist and How They Have Formed?
Which Is the World’s Largest Volcano?
What Causes Hotspot Volcanoes?
What Are the Most Beautiful Volcanoes in the World?
Which Are the Most Dangerous Volcanoes That Could End the World?
Why Are Some Volcanoes More Hazardous Than Others?
Are Volcanoes the Main Cause of Global Warming?
What Would Be the Side Effects of Dumping Our Trash in Active Volcanoes?
Is It Possible There Are Active Volcanoes on the Moon?
Why Are There So Many Volcanoes in the Philippines?
Is It Possible for Extinct Volcanoes to Ever Become Dormant or Active Again?
Why Do Most Volcanoes and Earthquakes Occur at Plate Boundaries?
What Are the Hazards Caused by Volcanoes?
Why Are Plug Dome Volcanoes Considered Especially?
What Are Most Dangerous Volcanoes in the US and Why?
Why Can’t We Harvest Energy From Volcanoes?
What Is the Most Interesting Thing About the Volcanoes?
What Islands Have Volcanoes on Them?
What Are the 3 Main Types of Volcanoes and Their Characteristics?
Could the Earth Survive Without Volcanoes?
Which Continent Does Not Have Volcanoes?
Why Do Volcanoes Erupt on Mountains and Not on Flat Land?
How Are Underwater Volcanoes Different From Land Volcanoes?
How Often Do “Extinct” Volcanoes Become Active?
Where Are the Most Active Volcanoes Located?
What Is the Distribution of Volcanoes Around the World?
How Do Volcanoes Influence Climate?
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Human and Environmental Impacts of Volcanic Ash

Volcanic ash is made of tiny fragments of jagged rock, minerals, and volcanic glass. Ash is a product of explosive volcanic eruptions.

Earth Science, Geology, Meteorology, Geography, Physical Geography

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Volcanic ash is made of tiny fragments of jagged rock , minerals , and volcanic glass . Unlike the soft ash created by burning wood , volcanic ash is hard, abrasive , and does not dissolve in water. Generally, particles of volcanic ash are two millimeters (0.08 inches) across or smaller. Coarse particles of volcanic ash look and feel like grains of sand , while very fine particles are powdery . Particles are sometimes called tephra —which actually refers to all solid material ejected by volcanoes .

Ash is a product of explosive volcanic eruptions . When gases inside a volcano's magma chamber expand , they violently push molten rock ( magma ) up and out of the volcano. The force of these explosions shatters and propels the liquid rock into the air. In the air, magma cools and solidifies into volcanic rock and glass fragments. Eruptions can also shatter the solid rock of the magma chamber and volcanic mountain itself. These rock fragments can mix with the solidified lava fragments in the air and create an ash cloud.

Wind can carry small volcanic ash particles great distances. Ash has been found thousands of kilometers away from an eruption site. The smaller the particle, the further the wind will carry it. The 2008 eruption of Chaitén in Chile produced an ash cloud that blew 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) across Patagonia to Argentina, reaching both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts .

Volcanic ash deposits tend to be thicker and have larger particles closer to the eruption site. As distance from the volcano increases, the deposit tends to thin out. The 1994 double eruption of Vulcan and Tavurvur in Papua New Guinea covered the nearby city of Rabaul in a layer of ash 75 centimeters (about two feet) deep, while areas closer to the volcanoes were buried under 150-213 centimeters (five to seven feet) of ash.

In addition to shooting volcanic ash into the atmosphere , an explosive eruption can create an avalanche of ash, volcanic gases, and rock, called a pyroclastic flow . These incredibly fast avalanches of volcanic debris can be impossible for humans to outrun. Pyroclastic flows are capable of razing buildings and uprooting trees.

Volcanic Ash Impacts

Plumes of volcanic ash can spread over large areas of sky, turning daylight into complete darkness and drastically reducing visibility . These enormous and menacing clouds are often accompanied by thunder and lightning . Volcanic lightning is a unique phenomenon and scientists continue to debate the way it works. Many scientists think that the sheer energy of a volcanic explosion charges its ash particles with electricity . Positively charged particles meet up with negatively charged particles, either in the cooler atmosphere or in the volcanic debris itself. Lightning bolts then occur as a means of balancing these charge distributions.

Volcanic ash and gases can sometimes reach the stratosphere , the upper layer in Earth’s atmosphere. This volcanic debris can reflect incoming solar radiation and absorb outgoing land radiation, leading to a cooling of the Earth’s temperature . In extreme cases, these “ volcanic winters ” can affect weather patterns across the globe. The 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora, Indonesia, the largest eruption in recorded history, ejected an estimated 150 cubic kilometers (36 cubic miles) of debris into the air. The average global temperature cooled by as much as 3° Celsius (5.4° Fahrenheit), causing extreme weather around the world for a period of three years. As a result of Mount Tambora’s volcanic ash, North America and Europe experienced the “Year Without a Summer” in 1816. This year was characterized by widespread crop failure, deadly famine , and disease .

Airborne volcanic ash is especially dangerous to moving aircraft . The small, abrasive particles of rock and glass can melt inside an airplane engine and solidify on the turbine blades—causing the engine to stall . Air traffic controllers take special precautions when volcanic ash is present. The 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland, produced an ash cloud that forced the cancelation of roughly 100,000 flights and affected seven million passengers, costing the aviation industry an estimated $2.6 billion.

Volcanic ash can impact the infrastructure of entire communities and regions . Ash can enter and disrupt the functioning of machinery found in power supply, water supply, sewage treatment , and communication facilities. Heavy ash fall can also inhibit road and rail traffic and damage vehicles. When mixed with rainfall, volcanic ash turns into a heavy, cement -like sludge that is able to collapse roofs. In 1991, Mount Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines at the same time that a massive tropical storm wreaked havoc in the area. Heavy rains mixed with the ash fall, collapsing the roofs of houses, schools, businesses, and hospitals in three different provinces.

Ash also poses a threat to ecosystems , including people and animals. Carbon dioxide and fluorine, gases that can be toxic to humans, can collect in volcanic ash. The resulting ash fall can lead to crop failure, animal death and deformity , and human illness . Ash’s abrasive particles can scratch the surface of the skin and eyes, causing discomfort and inflammation . If inhaled , volcanic ash can cause breathing problems and damage the lungs . Inhaling large amounts of ash and volcanic gases can cause a person to suffocate . Suffocation is the most common cause of death from a volcano.

Volcanic Ash Clean Up

Volcanic ash is very difficult to clean up. Its tiny, dust -sized particles can enter into practically everything—from car engines, to office building air vents, to personal computers . It can severely erode anything that it contacts, often causing machinery to fail. When dry, ash can be blown by the wind, spreading into and polluting previously unaffected areas. Meanwhile, wet ash binds to surfaces like cement and removing it often means stripping away what is found underneath.

Cleaning up volcanic ash is a costly and time-consuming procedure . Communities must make coordinated efforts to dispose of ash while ensuring the safety of their residents. The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens covered the city of Yakima, Washington, U.S.A., in tons of volcanic ash. Declaring a state of emergency , Yakima received donated maintenance equipment and workers, who were then dispatched throughout the city in a grid pattern. Citizens also helped with a block-by-block cleanup effort. Yakima removed 544,000 metric tons of ash and disposed of it in landfills and local fairgrounds. The city even filled in a wasteland to create a new city park . The process took seven around-the-clock days and cost the city $5.4 million, often cited as an efficient and cost-effective example of ash cleanup.

Organizations such as the International Volcanic Health Hazard Network, the USGS Volcano Hazards Program, and the Cities and Volcanoes Commission create and disseminate information to the public about preparing for and cleaning up volcanic ash fall. Their guidelines are used throughout the world by city and town governments and by the citizens they serve.

Andisol Andisol is a type of soil formed from volcanic ash. Andisols are generally very fertile, support extensive agricultural development, and exist mostly around the Ring of Fire.

Flying High Scientists recently discovered that the eruption of Mount Churchill in the U.S. state of Alaska roughly 1,200 years ago produced an ash fall that reached from Canada to Germany some 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles) away. The discovery was especially surprising given that the volcano ejected a relatively small amount of ash of 50 cubic kilometers (12 cubic miles). As the ash spread, however, it transformed into microscopic shards called cryptotephra that had a unique compositional signature. Scientists were able to identify these distinct shards in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, Greenland, and across Northern Europe, suggesting that the cryptotephra was so light that it travelled easily along the high-altitude winds of the Northern Hemisphere.

Pompeii Preserved One of the most famous explosive volcanic eruptions occurred in 79 C.E., when Mount Vesuvius buried the Roman (now Italian) cities of Pompeii under 18 meters (60 feet) of ash. The ash buried the cities so completely that it preserved entire buildings, paintings, and artifacts. It also created very detailed molds around the bodies of people who were killed. Starting in the 18th century, archaeologists began excavating Pompeii. They discovered the hollow impressions left by bodies in the hardened ash and developed a way to inject them with plaster to create casts of the bodies. Today the excavated city and its gruesome models of dead and dying people and animals are popular tourist attractions.

Smoke Signal When Mount St. Helens, in the U.S. state of Washington, erupted in 1980, a column of ash from the volcano rose 19 kilometers (12 miles) into the air.

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Your burning questions about volcanoes, answered

Asu experts explain these molten mysteries.

Volcano! That little word brings so much to our minds — streams of lava and clouds of ash, rumbling mountains, the might of a planet’s fiery underbelly, and our own nervous anticipation, curiosity and fear.

In fact, if it seems like more and more people have volcanoes on the brain, there’s a good reason.

It’s not necessarily that the number of volcanic eruptions is increasing, though media coverage of dangerous eruptions, such as the one in Indonesia on Aug. 10 or other recent ones in New Zealand and the Philippines, may make it appear that way. Scientists can’t say without more data from Earth’s history.

What is certain is that humans (and our stuff) take up more space on the planet than ever before, putting more people in the paths of volcanoes.

“The impact of volcanic eruptions is increasing,” volcanologist Amanda Clarke said. “As the global population grows, more people are being affected by eruptions, so we care about them more.”

Despite their growing effect on our lives, volcanoes seem to retain their air of mystery, leaving many of us with questions. Where do they come from? What causes eruptions? How do scientists predict them?

Clarke and fellow volcanologist Christy Till — both faculty in the Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration — answer these questions and more to help us understand how to safely live in the shadows of these mighty forces of nature.

graphic of Mount St. Helens showing magma chamber and plates beneath

Click to view larger image. Illustration by Shireen Dooling

How does a volcano form?

There are two sides to the making of a volcano: what happens below ground and what happens above.

Events below ground have to do with plate tectonics. This is the theory that the Earth’s crust — the outer shell on which we live — is broken up into plates that move around on top of Earth’s mantle like ice cubes in a glass of water. Scientists see it as the force behind earthquakes, mountains, continent migration and volcano formation.

“Scientists for a long time have scratched their heads trying to figure out why these volcanoes occur where they do.” — Christy Till

There are three basic types of tectonic environments where volcanoes grow.

The first is a convergent plate boundary, where two plates crash and an oceanic plate slips underneath another plate, bringing water and carbon dioxide into the mantle. This triggers a magma-melting process and creates more explosive volcanoes. This process created the Ring of Fire, an arch of volcanoes that wraps around the Pacific Ocean.

The second, a divergent plate boundary, occurs when a gap opens up between two plates. The gap is filled in by the mantle underneath, causing magma to melt. These volcanoes are common on the ocean floor and erupt continuously as the plates keep going their separate ways.

Volcanoes that form in the middle of a plate are called hot spot volcanoes.

“Scientists for a long time have scratched their heads trying to figure out why these volcanoes occur where they do,” Till said. “Our best guess is that there’s magma or mantle rising up underneath, and for some reason, it’s just hotter than in other places, so we get a volcano.”

Above ground, the part of the volcano we can see is formed by eruptions.

For example, Mount St. Helens, a composite volcano in Washington, grew over time as layers of debris from a mix of effusive eruptions (think gooey lava) and explosive eruptions (think pumice stone and ash) built on top of each other.

Sunset Crater, a cinder cone volcano in Arizona, ejected glowing fountains of lava and ash when it erupted, which then fell around the crater to create its steep slopes.

And Kilauea, a shield volcano in Hawaii, formed its wide but shallow slopes as its lava spread out in all directions and built up in layers over time.

However, the type of eruption, and therefore volcano, circles back to another underground element.

“The composition of the magma, and the process deep in the earth that forms it, controls the eruption style to a large extent,” Till said.

What is magma?

Magma is the molten material that sits under or inside the Earth’s crust. (Lava is magma that has reached the surface through a volcano.) Till’s lab, the Experimental Petrology and Igneous processes Center , looks at how magma forms on Earth and on other planets, as well as the underground processes that lead up to an eruption.

One of the surprises that researchers have learned in the last 10 years, she says, is that the magma below a volcano is not the cauldron of bubbling, liquid goo we might imagine.

“In fact, what’s below a volcano is more like a slushie. In a slushie, you have mostly ice crystals and some liquid, and at first, it’s hard to suck it through a straw because it’s mostly ice. You have to wait until it melts a little to get it through a straw.”

Magma, too, is composed of crystals (the geological kind) with just a little bit of liquid. Something must happen to the magma underground to warm it up, making it liquid enough to erupt. To study those processes, Till gathers samples of those crystals, which she likens to “little black boxes,” from volcanic deposits on the surface and examines them with microscopes.

“These crystals have little zones in them, much like tree rings. They can tell us about the temperature, pressure and composition of the magma chamber, and also how long before an eruption these specific events happened,” she said.

Video by ASU Research

What happens during a volcanic eruption?

First, a fresher, hotter, more liquid magma rises from deeper in the Earth’s mantle and warms the slushie magma in the volcano’s chamber. One way for it to arrive there is via an earthquake, which might push up fresh magma or open new pathways for it to travel upward. However, not every earthquake can warm a magma chamber and cause an eruption, Till notes.

“There’s also a possibility that the seismic waves passing through the crust can kind of jiggle a magma body and cause it to fizz. Just like with a soda, those bubbles can generate overpressure and buoyancy, driving an eruption,” Clarke said.

As the new and old magmas mix, the crystal mush heats up and comes to the surface. It could be an effusive eruption of syrupy, flowing lava, or it could be an explosive eruption of ash, cinders and hunks of molten rock known as lava bombs. The amount of gas in the body of magma determines how violent the eruption is.

For those that are more explosive, the volcano could generate an ash cloud that travels great distances, which could have indirect effects like roof damage, bad air quality or crop devastation. It could also unleash the significantly more destructive pyroclastic flow, which is a searing wave of dense ash and gases that rushes along the ground, killing and burning everything in its path.

“The plume is the big footprint, but only indirectly dangerous,” Clarke said. “The pyroclastic flows are the smaller footprint, but much more dangerous.”

If the volcano is near a body of water, there is another opportunity for additional destruction — pyroclastic flows entering the sea can cause tsunamis.

How do scientists predict eruptions?

“The bread and butter of prediction is seismic data,” Clarke said. Volcanologists take seismic stations, which measure vibrations in the earth, and distribute them all around a volcano to get the best read on what’s happening underneath.

Another important tool is the tiltmeter, which, as its name suggests, measures any miniscule changes in the level of the earth. Typically, before a volcano erupts, the ground around it inflates slightly, which scientists call deformation.

Observatories typically also monitor gas emissions, such as sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide, which may indicate changes happening deeper in the volcano.

“If you want to know what a volcano is capable of doing in the future, the first thing you have to do is look at what it did in the past.” — Amanda Clarke

And finally, cameras — both standard and thermal — help volcanologists keep an eye on activity. Clarke explains that thermal cameras are especially helpful for tall volcanoes whose tops may often be obscured by clouds.

“Using these kinds of data together, you can even predict how much magma there is, and at what depth,” Clarke said.

Having an idea of what a particular volcano can do once it’s ready to erupt is also a critical piece of prediction that allows volcanologists to make safety recommendations.

“If you want to know what a volcano is capable of doing in the future, the first thing you have to do is look at what it did in the past,” Clarke said.

Researchers do this by collecting ash deposits from a wide area and dating them. This gives them an idea of how large a volcano’s eruptions were and how frequently they occurred. However, the method has its limitations. Hardened magma is much harder to date than ash, and supervolcanoes have eruptions so large that the ash travels thousands of miles, making it difficult to determine their true size.

There’s also the trouble of inconsistent eruptions. Volcanoes tend to fluctuate in the size of their eruptions; a big one may be followed by several smaller ones before another large one happens. That’s why it’s crucial, Clarke said, to look over long timespans for an accurate picture of a volcano’s history.

How far in advance scientists can predict an eruption depends on a host of factors, one of which is whether the eruption is large or small. Large eruptions are farther apart, so they might have longer warning times — from weeks away to even decades — while the magma slowly heats up after the last eruption. Small eruptions are closer together, so their warning times are shorter — months to hours. However, an abundance of data means that those predictions are typically more precise than for large eruptions.

graphic of erupting ash cloud with chemical elements highlighted

How can you stay safe in an area with volcanic activity?

Clarke has seen too many volcanic eruptions to count, but she says that her time on the island of Montserrat while getting her PhD was when she learned how to be safe around them.

“I think some people take a bit of a macho attitude about trying to get close to volcanoes,” she said.

Proper precautions, she argues, help people stay alive.

“The main thing is to understand what the local observatories and scientists are doing. They collect data. They know what’s going on,” she said.

Till has not experienced a volcanic eruption and, despite an academic interest in seeing one, is largely happy to keep it that way.

“I’ve been to volcanoes that could erupt at any time, but I was fortunate enough not to be there when they were erupting,” she said. Like Clarke, by checking in with observatories, she’s managed to keep herself safe in dangerous environments.

In the U.S., you can find the latest reports on activity at the U.S. Geological Survey website . Abroad, other nations may have an equivalent database online, or you can visit the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program website , which gathers data from around the world.

These resources can help you find out what the alert level is in the area (and what colored or numbered alert system locals use), and whether there has been any activity recently. Clarke said it’s not a good idea to assume that other groups are communicating with the local observatory and recommends always checking for yourself.

“If you get a permit from the forest service to hike to a crater, that doesn’t mean it’s safe. That doesn’t mean they’ve checked the data.”

What do classifications like active, dormant and extinct mean?

Not much, it turns out.

Clarke explains that people used to classify a volcano as “active” if it had erupted in historic time. The problem with this is that historic time varies from culture to culture, because it refers to the time when written records became available. Volcanoes in Italy have extensive documentation going back thousands of years, but volcanoes in the U.S. don’t have as deep of a written history.

“Having had a historic eruption is a meaningless classification, because there’s no number that goes along with that,” Clarke said.

A dormant volcano is one that is active but not currently erupting, while an extinct volcano has not erupted in historic time and is unlikely to erupt in the future.

A handier — and globally applicable — way to determine if a volcano is active is whether it has erupted during the Holocene, our present epoch which began over 11,000 years ago. However, this marker ultimately has its own flaws. A volcano can have an incredibly long lifespan, sometimes lasting millions of years. Silence in recent millennia doesn’t mean its erupting days are over.

“Whether it erupted in the Holocene is meaningless when it comes to someplace like Yellowstone or the Valles Caldera, whose timescales are way longer than we even have the capacity to document,” Clarke said.

Can a volcanic eruption be stopped?

Ideas for stopping eruptions range from venting gases to relieve volcanic pressure to plugging the top like a cork in a bottle. However, these concepts remain untested, and most volcanologists don’t take such efforts seriously.

What has found some success, though, is using barriers to redirect lava and pyroclastic flows away from towns and important structures. Clarke gives the example of Heimaey, a harbor town in Iceland that experienced a nearby eruption in 1973. The resulting lava flow threatened to close off the bay that was their main economic resource.

“As it started to enter the bay, they got out all the water hoses they had and sprayed it, and it solidified there. They used the lava itself as a barrier,” Clarke said.

Do volcanoes affect the climate?

Volcanic eruptions have both positive and negative effects on the climate. For example, their plumes carry gases like sulfur dioxide, which reach above the clouds into the stratosphere. There, the gas forms into droplets of sulfuric acid.

“The sulfur compounds can be circulated around the globe, and they can filter out the sun’s light and heat to cool global temperatures,” Clarke said.

Researchers speculate that such an event — an 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia — was behind the 1816 “year without a summer” that caused low temperatures and heavy rains in Europe and North America, leading to food shortages.

Whether an eruption can have a worldwide effect may depend on the size and composition of the ash cloud, as well as the volcano’s position on Earth. The cooling effect is always temporary. The longest documented cooling period lasted about three years, though Clarke believes that super eruptions in Earth’s history may have had longer temperature effects.

If you’re thinking that this sounds like a good way to combat today’s warming temperatures, you’re not alone. Some scientists are beginning to research the possibilities of solar engineering — a strategy inspired by volcanoes that would use planes to spray sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere.

Another climate effect of volcanoes is that their ash makes super fertile soil, creating lush environments in the areas surrounding them. The plants and trees that grow in this rich soil capture and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

“What’s in fertilizer? Phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. Those are abundant in volcanic products,” Clarke said. “Basically, they act as a fertilizer just like you might buy at Agway or ACE Hardware.”

Nutrients from falling ash easily leach into the soil, she adds, making it an excellent delivery system as well.

What are volcanoes like on other planets?

graphic of volcanoes on other planetary bodies

Planets, and moons as well, can have volcanoes very different from those on Earth. Jupiter’s moon Io has more volcanic activity than any other object in our solar system; its lava fountains can be many miles high. And the dwarf planet Ceres has ice volcanoes, or cryovolcanoes. They erupt water instead of magma, which freezes on its surface.

“The compositions of planets are different, so the kinds of magma they have are different, which then gives them unique eruptive behavior,” Till said.

Her lab works to understand the magma of other celestial bodies by creating it in a special device called a piston cylinder, which simulates conditions on the interior of a planet.

“In the same way that you’d mix flour and sugar and eggs to make a cake, we mix silica and magnesium and iron and other elements in the proportion we want to study. Then we put them in our equivalent of an oven to make magma at high pressures and temperatures,” Till said. “When we do this, we can discover how magmas on other planets are different.”

Her team has begun work on a new project that will study the types of magma that may exist on planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. Knowing more about their magma will give researchers glimpses into those planets’ volcanic behavior.

“Over 4,000 exoplanets have been confirmed in the last five years or so, and we’re just starting to investigate them,” Till said. “It’s an exciting time.”

Top photo from Shutterstock.

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Your Article Library

Essay on volcanoes | geology.

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After reading this article you will learn about:- 1. Introduction to Volcanoes 2. Volcano Formation 3. Volcanic Landforms 4. Major Gases Emitted by Volcanoes 5. Lightning and Whirlwinds 6. Features Produced by the Escape of Gases from Volcanic Lavas 7. Volcanic Products 8. Source of the Explosive Energy 9. Classification of Pyroclastics 10. Lahars-Mudflows on Active and Inactive Cones and Other Details.

Essay Contents:

Essay on the Volcanoes and Atmospheric Pollution

Essay # 1. Introduction to Volcanoes :

A volcano is a cone shaped hill or mountain which is built-up around an opening in the earth’s surface through which hot gases, rock fragments and lavas are ejected.

Due to the accumulation of the solid fragments around the conduit a conical mass is built which increases in size to become a large volcanic mountain. The conical mass so built-up is called a volcano. However the term volcano is taken to include not only the central vent in the earth but also the mountain or hill built around it.

Volcanoes are in varying sizes, varying from small conical hills to loftiest mountains on the earth’s surface. The volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands are nearly 4300 metres above sea level since they are built over the floor of the Pacific ocean which at the site is 4300 to 5500 metres deep, the total height of the volcano may be about 9000 m or more.

The very high peaks in the Andes, in the Cascade Range of the Western United States, Mt. Baker, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood etc. are all volcanoes which have now become extinct. Over 8000 independent eruptions have been identified from earth’s volcanoes. There are many inaccessible regions and ocean floors where volcanoes have occurred undocumented or unnoticed.

The eruption of a volcano is generally preceded by earthquakes and by loud rumblings like thunder which may continue on a very high scale during the eruption. The loud rumblings are due to explosive movement of gases and molten rock which are held under very high pressure. Before eruption of a volcano fissures are likely to be opened, nearby lakes likely to be drained and hot springs may appear at places.

The eruptive activity of volcanoes is mostly named after the well-known volcanoes, which are known for particular type of behaviour, like Strambolian, Vulcanian, Vesuvian, Hawaiian types of eruption. Volcanoes may erupt in one distinct way or may erupt in many ways, but, the reality is, these eruptions provide a magical view inside the earth’s molten interior.

The nature of a volcanic eruption is determined largely by the type of materials ejected from the vent of the volcano. Volcanic eruptions may be effusive (fluid lavas) or dangerous and explosive with blasts of rock, gas, ash and other pyroclasts.

Some volcanoes erupt for just a few minutes while some volcanoes spew their products for a decade or more. Between these two main types viz. effusive and explosive eruptions, there are many subdivisions like, eruption of gases mixed with gritty pulverised rock forming tall dark ash clouds seen for many kilometres, flank fissure eruptions with lava oozing from long horizontal cracks on the side of a volcano.

There is also the ground hugging lethally hot avalanches of volcanic debris called pyroclastic flows. When magma rises, it may encounter groundwater causing enormous phreatic, i.e., steam eruptions. Eruptions may also release suffocating gases into the atmosphere. Eruptions may produce tsunamis and floods and may trigger earthquakes. They may unleash ravaging rockslides and mudflows.

Volcanoes which have had no eruptions during historic times, but may still show fairly fresh signs of activity and have been active in geologically recent times are said to be dormant. There are also volcanoes which were formerly active but are of declining activity a few of which may be emitting only steam and other gases.

Geysers are hot springs from which water is expelled vigorously at intervals and are characteristics of regions of declining volcanic activity. Geysers are situated in Iceland, the Yellowstone park in USA and in New Zealand.

In contrast to the explosive type of volcanoes, there exist eruptions of great lava flows quietly pouring out of fissures developed on the earth’s surface. These eruptions are not accompanied by explosive outbursts. These are fissure eruptions.

Ex: Deccan Trap formations in India. The lavas in these cases are mostly readily mobile and flow over low slopes. The individual flows are seldom over a few meters in thickness; the average thickness may be less than 15 meters. If the fissure eruptions have taken place in valleys however, the thickness may be much greater.

A noteworthy type of volcano is part of the world encircling mid-ocean ridge (MOR) visible in Iceland. The MOR is really a single, extremely long, active, linear volcano, connecting all spreading plate boundaries through all oceans. Along its length small, separate volcanoes occur. The MOR exudes low-silica, highly fluid basalt producing the entire ocean floor and constituting the largest single structure on the face of the earth.

Essay # 2. Location of Volcanoes:

Volcanoes are widely distributed over the earth, but they are more abundant in certain belts. One such belt encircles the Pacific ocean and includes many of the islands in it. Other volcanic areas are the island of West Indies, those of the West coast of Africa, the Mediterranean region and Iceland.

Most volcanoes occur around or near the margins of the continents and so these areas re regarded as weak zones of the earth’s crust where lavas can readily work their way upward. There are over 400 active volcanoes and many more inactive ones. Numerous submarine volcanoes also exist.

Since it is not possible to examine the magma reservoir which fees a volcano our information must be obtained by studying the material ejected by the volcano. This material consists of three kinds of products, viz. liquid lava, fragmented pyroclasts and gases. There may exist a special problem in studying the gases, both in collecting them under hazardous conditions or impossible conditions.

It may also be difficult to ascertain that the gases collected are true volcanic gases and are not contaminated with atmospheric gases. Investigation of the composition of extruded rock leads to a general, although not very detailed, correlation between composition and intensity of volcanic eruption.

In general, the quite eruptions are characteristic of those volcanoes which emit basic or basaltic lavas, whereas the violent eruptions are characteristic of volcanoes emitting more silicic rocks.

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Essay # 3 . formation of volcanoes :.

The term volcano is used to mean both the opening in the earth’s crust, i.e. the vent through which the eruption of magma occurs as well as the hill built- up by the erupted material. Volcanoes occur where the cracks in the earth’s crust lead to the magma chamber.

The liquid magma which is lighter than the surrounding rocks is under high pressure is pushed up towards the surface through these cracks. In this process the gases dissolved in the magma which expand are released providing an upward push to the magma.

As the magma gets closer to the surface, due to the reducing confining pressure to overcome, the magma and the gases flow faster. The magma, depending on its viscosity may quietly pour to the surface in the form of a flood of molten rock or it may explosively spurt out the molten rock to considerable heights as showers on the surrounding region with solid rock fragments and globs of molten rock. The liquid magma discharged to the surface is called lava.

Essay # 4 . Volcanic Landforms :

Many surface features of volcanic origin are created. These features range from towering peaks and huge lava sheets to small and low craters. The features created by a volcano vary depending on the type of eruption, the material erupted and the effects of erosion.

Four types of volcanic landforms are formed:

i. Ash and Cinder Cones or Explosion Cones:

These appear where explosive eruptions take place. When very hot solid fragments from a central crater (or a subsidiary crater) are ejected. A concave cone of height not exceeding 300 m is formed.

ii. Lava Cones:

These are formed from slowly upwelling lava.

These are of two types:

(a) Steep Sided Volcanoes:

These are formed from sticky acid lava which gets hardened quickly. The highly viscous lava which is squeezed out makes spines like tower.

(b) Shield Volcanoes:

These show gently sloping dome features. These are formed from runny lava which flows long distances, before getting hardened.

iii. Composite Cones or Strato-Volcanoes or Strato Cones:

These volcanoes have concave cone shaped sides of alternating ash and lava layers. These are common in most very high volcanoes. In some cases solid lava may plug the main pipe to the crater. Then pent up gases may blast the top off.

When the magma chamber empties, the summit of the volcano collapses. As a consequence, the feature produced is a vast shallow cavity called a Caldera. Strato volcanoes are the accumulated products of many volcanoes. Chemically most of these products are andesite. Some are dacite and a few are basalt and rhyolite. Due to this chemical mix and characteristic interlayering of lava flows, this volcano is called strato volcano.

iv. Shield Volcanoes:

When a volcano vent produces many successive basaltic lava flows stacked one on top of another in eruptive order, the resulting landform is called a shield volcano. A cinder cone and its associated lava flow can be thought of as the initial building blocks of a shield volcano.

A cinder cone is monogenetic because it forms from a single short-lived eruption (of a few years to a decade or two in duration). In contrast, a shield volcano that is an accumulation of the products of many eruptions over a period of say thousands to hundreds of thousands of years is polygenic.

On land these volcanoes have low angle cones. When they form under water they start with a steeper shape because the lava freezes much faster and does not travel far. The shape fattens to the shield form as the cone builds above the sea level.

v. Plateau Basalts or Lava Plains:

These form the bulk of many volcanic fields. These are features which occur where successive flows of basic lava leaks through fissures, over land surface and then cools and hardens forming a blanket-like feature.

The surface appearance of a flow provides information on the composition and temperature of the magma before it solidified. Very hot low viscosity basalt flows far and fast and produces smooth ropy surfaces. Cooler and less-fluid basalt flows form irregular, jagged surfaces littered with blocks.

The lava flows have blanketed to about 2000 m thickness covering 6,50,000 sq.km. in the Indian Deccan Plateau. Such lava flows have also created the U.S. Columbia River Plateau, the Abyssinian Plateau, the Panama Plateau of South America and the Antrim Plateau of Northern Ireland.

Magmas like dacite and rhyolite that have high silica contents are cooler and more viscous than basalt and hence they do not flow far resulting in the features, lobes, pancakes and domes. Domes often plug up the vent from which they issued, sometimes creating catastrophic explosions and may create a crater.

Eroded volcanoes have their importance. They give us a glimpse of the interior plumbing along which the magma rose to the surface. At the end of an eruption, magma solidifies in the conduits along which it had been rising. The rock so formed is more resistant than the shattered rock forming the walls and hence these lava filled conduits are often left behind when the rest of the volcano has been eroded away.

The filling of the central vertical vent is somewhat circular in section and forms a spire called a neck. The filling of cracks along which lava rose forms nearly vertical tabular bodies called dikes. Sometimes magma works its way along cracks that are nearly horizontal, often along bedding planes of sedimentary rocks. This results in the formation of table-like bodies called sills.

Essay # 5 . Major Gases Emitted by Volcanoes :

Volcanic gases present within the magma are released as they reach the earth’s surface, escaping at the major volcanic opening or from fissures and vents along the side of the volcano. The most prevalent gases emitted are steam, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. Carbon dioxide is an invisible, odourless poisonous gas. The table below shows the gases emitted from volcanoes.

Essay # 6 . Lightning and Whirlwinds :

Lightning flashes accompany most volcanic eruptions, especially those involving dust. The cause of this lightning is believed to be either contact of sea water with magma or generation of static electricity by friction between colliding particles carried in the erupting gases. Lightning is characteristic of vulcanian eruptions and is common during glowing avalanches.

Whirlwinds are seen during many volcanic eruptions. They are seen above hot lavas. Sometimes they form inverted cones extending a little below the eruption cloud. Energy for the whirlwinds might be from the hot gases and lava, high velocity gas jets in the eruption, heat released into the atmosphere during falls of hot tephra or where lava flows into the sea creating steam.

Essay # 7 . Features Produced by the Escape of Gases from Volcanic Lavas :

The gases of volcanic lavas produce several interesting features while they escape. They expand in the lava of the flow and thus cause the formation of Scoriaceous and Pumiceous rocks. By their explosion, they blow the hardened lava above them in the conduit, into bits and thus produce pyroclastic material.

They form clouds above volcanoes, the rain from which assists in the production of mud flows. When the volcano becomes inactive, they escape aiding in the formation of jumaroles, geysers and hot springs. Scoriaceous rocks are extremely porous. They are formed by the expansion of the steam and other gases beneath the hardened crust of a lava. The final escape of the gases from the hardening lava leaves large rounded holes in the rock.

Pumice is a rock also formed by the expansion and escape of gases. In pumice, many of the holes are in the form of long, minute, closed tubes which make the rock so light that it will float on water.

These tubes are formed by the expansive force of large amounts of gases in an extremely viscous lava that cools very rapidly, forming a glassy rock. Pumice is the rock that is usually formed from the lava ejected from explosive volcanoes. It can be blown to kilometres by explosions.

Essay # 8 . Volcanic Products :

Volcanoes give out products in all the states of matter – gases, liquids and solids.

Steam, hydrogen, sulphur and carbon dioxide are discharged as gases by a volcano. The steam let out by a volcano condenses in the air forming clouds which shed heavy rains. Various gases interact and intensify the heat of the erupting lavas. Explosive eruptions cause burning clouds of gas with scraps of glowing lava called nuees ardentes.

The main volcanic product is liquid lava. Sticky acid lava on cooling, solidifies and hardens before flowing long distances. Such lava can also block a vent resulting in pressure build-up which was relieved by an explosion. Basic fluid lava of lesser viscosity flows to great distances before hardening.

Some lava forms are produced by varying conditions as follows. Clinkery block shaped features are produced when gas spurted from sluggish molten rock capped by cooling crust. These are called Aa.

Pahoehoe is a feature which has a wrinkled skin appearance caused by molten lava flowing below it.

Pillow lava is a feature resembling pillows. This feature piles up when fast cooling lava erupts under water.

Products in explosive outbursts are called Pyroclasts. These consist of either fresh material or ejected scraps of old hard lava and other rock. Volcanic bombs include pancake-flat scoria shaped on impacting the ground and spindle bombs which are twisted at ends as they whizzle through the air. Acid lava full of gas formed cavities produces a light volcanic rock.

Pumice which is so light it can float on water. The product Ignimbrite shows welded glassy fragments. Lapilli are hurled out cinder fragments. Vast clouds of dust or very tiny lava particles are called volcanic ash. Volcanic ash mixed with heavy rain creates mudflows.

Sometimes mudflows can bury large areas of land. Powerful explosions can smoother land for many kilometres around with ash and can hurl huge amount of dust into the higher atmosphere. Violent explosions destroy farms and towns, but volcanic ash provides rich soil for crops.

i. Hot springs:

The underground hot rocks heat the spring waters creating hot springs. The hot springs shed minerals dissolved in them resulting in crusts of calcium carbonate and quartz (geyserite).

ii. Smoker:

This is a submarine hot spring at an oceanic spreading ridge. This submarine spring emits sulphides and builds smoky clouds.

iii. Geyser:

Periodically steam and hot water are forced up from a vent by super-heated water in pipe like passage deep down. Famous geysers are present in Iceland and Yellowstone National Park.

iv. Mud volcano:

This is a low mud cone deposited by mud-rich water gushing out of a vent.

v. Solfatara:

This is a volcanic vent which emits steam and sulphurous gas.

vi. Fumarole:

This is a vent which emits steam jets as at Mt. Etna, Sicily and Valley of Ten Thousand smokes in Alaska.

vii. Mofette:

This is a small vent which emits gases including carbon dioxide. These occur in France, Italy and Java.

Various terms used while describing volcanic features are given below:

i. Magma Chamber:

Magma is created below the surface of the earth (at depth of about 60 km) and is held in the magma chamber until sufficient pressure is built-up to push the magma towards the surface.

This is a pipe like passage through which the magma is pushed up from the magma chamber.

This is the outlet end of the pipe. Magma exits out of the vent. If a vent erupts only gases, it is called fumarole.

iv. Crater:

Generally the vent opens out to a depression called crater at the top of the volcano. This is caused due to the collapse of the surface materials.

v. Caldera:

This is a very big crater formed when the top of an entire volcanic hill collapses inward.

When the erupted materials cover the vent, a volcanic dome is created covering the vent. Later as the pressure of gas and magma rises, another eruption occurs shattering the dome.

A mountain-like structure created over thousands of years as the volcanic lava, ash, rock fragments are poured out onto the surface. This feature is called volcanic cone.

viii. Pyroclastic Flow :

A pyroclastic flow (also known as nuee ardentes (French word) is a ground hugging, turbulent avalanche of hot ash. pumice, rock fragments, crystals, glass shards and volcanic gas. These flows can rush down the steep slopes of a volcano at 80 to 160 km/li, burning everything in their path.

Temperatures of these flows can reach over 500°C. A deposit of this mixture is also often referred to as pyroclastic flow. An even more energetic and dilute mixture of searing volcanic gases and rock-fragments is called a pyroclastic surge which can easily ride up and over ridges.

ix. Seamounts :

A spectacular underwater volcanic feature is a huge localized volcano called a seamount. These isolated underwater volcanic mountains rise from 900 m to 3000 m above the ocean floor, but typically are not high enough to poke above the water surface.

Seamounts are present in all the oceans of the world, with the Pacific ocean having the highest concentration. More than 2000 seamounts have been identified in this ocean. The Gulf of Alaska also has many seamounts. The Axial Seamount is an active volcano off the north coast of Oregon (currently rises about 1400 m above the ocean floor, but its peak is still about 1200 m below the water surface.

Essay # 9 . Source of the Explosive Energy :

The energy for the explosive violence comes from the expansion of the volatile constituents present in the magma, the gas content of which determines the degree of commination of the materials and the explosive violence of the eruption.

This energy is expanded in two ways, firstly in the expulsion of the materials into the atmosphere and secondly, due to expansion within the magma leading to the development of vesicles. The most important gas is steam, which may form between 60 to 90 per cent of the total gas content in a lava. Carbon dioxide, nitrogen and sulphur dioxide occur commonly and hydrogen, carbon monoxide, sulphur and chlorine are also present.

Essay # 10 . Classification of Pyroclastics :

Pyroclastics refer to fragmental material erupted by a volcano. The larger fragments consisting of pieces of crystal layers beneath the volcano or of older lavas broken from the walls of the conduit or from the surface of the crater are called blocks.

Volcanic bombs are masses of new lava blown from the crater and solidified during flight, becoming round or spindle shaped as they are hurled through the air. They may range in size from small pellets up to huge masses weighing many kilonewtons.

Sometimes they are still plastic when they strike the surface and are flattened or distorted as they roll down the side of the cone. Another type called bread crust bomb resembles a loaf of bread with large gaping cracks in the crust.

This cracking of the crust results from the continued expansion of the internal gases. Many fragments of lava and scoria solidified in flight drop back into the crater and are intermixed with the fluid lava and are again erupted.

In contrast to bombs, smaller broken fragments are lapilli (from Italian meaning, little stones) about the size of walnuts; then in decreasing size, cinders, ash and dust. The cinders and ash are pulverized lava, broken up by the force of rapidly expanding gases in them or by the grinding together of the fragments in the crater, as they are repeatedly blown out and dropped back into the crater after each explosion.

Pumice is a type of pyroclastic produced by acidic lavas if the gas content is so great as to cause the magma to froth as it rises in the chimney of the volcano. When the expansion occurs the rock from the froth is expelled as pumice. Pumice is of size ranging from the size of a marble to 30 cm or more in diameter. Pumice will float in water due to many air spaces formed by the expanding gases.

Lava fountains in which steam jets blow the lava into the air produce a material known as Pele’s hair which is identical with rock wool which is manufactured by blowing a jet of steam into a stream of molten rock (Rock wool is used for many types of insulation).

Coarse angular fragments become cemented to form a rock called volcanic breccia. The finer material like cinders and ash forms thick deposits which get consolidated through the percolation of ground water and is called tuff. Tuff is a building stone used in the volcanic regions. It is soft and easily quarried and can be shaped and has enough strength to be set into walls with mortar.

i. Agglomerate:

The debris in and around the vent contains the largest ejected masses of lava bombs which are embedded in dust and ash. A deposit of this kind is known as agglomerate. The layers of ash and dust which are formed for some distance around the volcano and which builds its cone, become hardened into rocks which are called tuffs.

Ash includes all materials with size less than 4 mm. It is pulverized lava, in which the fragments are often sharply angular and formed of volcanic glass; these angular and often curved fragments are called shards.

Since the gas content of ash on expulsion is high it has considerable mobility on reaching the surface; it is also hot and plastic, the result of these conditions being that the fragments often become welded together. The finest of ash is so light that wind can transport it for great distances.

The table below sets out a general classification of pyroclastic rocks based on the particle size of the fragments forming the rocks.

The chart in Fig. 15.3 summarizes the names of the common magmas and their associated ranges in silica. A very important property of magma that determines the eruption style and the eventual shape of the volcano it builds, is its resistance to flow, namely its viscosity.

Magma viscosity increases as its silica content increases. Eruptions of highly viscous magmas are violent. The highly viscous rhyolite magma piles up its ticky masses right over its eruptive vent to farm tall steep sided volcanoes.

On the contrary the basaltic magma flows great distances from its eruptive vent to from low, broad volcanic features. Magma in the intermediate viscosity spectrum say the andesite magma tends to form volcanoes of profile shapes between these two extremes.

An additional important ingredient of magma is water. Magmas also contain carbon dioxide and various sulphur-containing gases in solution. These substances are considered volatile since they tend to occur as gases at temperatures and pressures at the surface of the earth.

As basaltic magma changes composition toward rhyolite the volatiles become concentrated in the silica-rich magma. Presence of these volatiles (mainly water) in high concentration produces highly explosive volcanoes. It should be noted that these volatiles are held in magma by confining pressure. Within the earth, the confining pressure is provided by the load of the overlying rocks.

As the magma rises from the mantle to depths about 1.5 km or somewhat less, the rock load is reduced to that extent that the volatiles (mainly water) start to boil. Bubbles rising through highly viscous rhyolitic magma have such difficulty to escape their way, that many carry blobs of magma and fine bits of rock with them and they finally break free and jet violently upward resulting in a violent buoyant eruption column that can rise to kilometres above the earth.

The fine volcanic debris in such a powerful eruption gets dispersed within the upper atmosphere, hide the sunlight affecting the weather. The greater the original gas concentration in a magma and the greater the volume rate of magma leaving the vent, the taller is the eruption column produced.

The gases escaping from magma during eruption mix with the atmosphere and become part of the air humans, animals and plants breath and assimilate. However as magma cools and solidifies to rock during eruption, some of the gas remains trapped in bubbles creating vesicles. Generally all volcanic rocks contain some gas bubbles. A variety of vesicular rhyolite is pumice. Pumice is vesicular to such an extent, it floats in water.

Essay # 15. Classification of Volcanic Activity:

A classification of volcanic activity based on the type of product is shown in Fig. 15.4. The basic subdivision is based on the proportions of the gas, liquid and solid components, which can be represented on a triangular diagram. The four basic triangles represent the domain of four basic kinds of volcanic activity.

Essay # 16. Cone Topped and Flat Topped Volcanoes:

Generally rhyolite volcanoes are flat-topped because rhyolite magma which is extremely viscous, oozes out of the ground, piles up around the vent and then oozes away a bit to form a pancake shape. In contrast basalt volcanoes generally feed lava flows that flow far from the vent, building a cone.

Basaltic tephra (large particles of different size) is a spongy-looking black, rough material of pebble or cobble. Commercially this tephra is known as cinder and is used for gardening and rail-road beds. In some situations basaltic volcanoes develop flat top profile.

Flat topped volcanoes of basalt can form when there is an eruption under a glacier. Instead of getting ejected as tephra to form a cone, it forms a cauldron of lava surrounded by ice and water and eventually solidifying. When the ice melts, a steep-sided, table-shaped mountain known as a tuya remains. Volcanoes of this type are common in Iceland and British Columbia, where volcanoes have repeatedly erupted under glaciers.

Surprisingly, the Pacific ocean is a home to many flat-topped undersea basaltic mountains. These are called seamounts. How these seamounts were formed was a mystery for a long time. Surveying and dredging operations revealed that most seamounts were formerly conical volcanoes projecting above the water.

Geologists found that the conical volcanoes got lowered due to subsidence and the tops of the volcanoes came near the sea water level and the powerful waves mowed them flat. Continued subsidence caused them to drop below the water surface.

Essay # 17. Types of Volcanoes :

There are many types of volcanoes depending on the composition of magma especially on the relative proportion of water and silica contents. If the magma contains little of either of these, it is more liquid and it flows freely forming a shallow rounded hill.

Large water content with little silica permits the vapour to rapidly rise through the molten rock, throwing fountains of fire high into the air. More silica and less water in the magma make the magma more viscous. Such magma flows slowly and builds-up a high dome.

High content of both water and silica create another condition. In such a case the dense silica prevents the water from vaporizing until it is close to the surface and results in a highly explosive way. Such an eruption is called a Vulcan eruption.

Other types of eruption are named after people or regions associated with them. Vesuvian eruption named after Vesuvius is a highly explosive type occurring after a long period of dormancy. This type ejects a huge column of ash and rock to great heights upto 50 km.

A peleean eruption named after the eruption of Mt. Pelee in Martin que in 1902 is a highly violent eruption ejecting a hot cloud of ash mixed with considerable quantity of gas which flows down the sides of the volcano like a liquid. The cloud is termed nuee ardente meaning glowing cloud. Pyroclastic or ash flow refers to a flow of ash, solid rock pieces and gas. Hawaiian eruptions eject fire fountains.

Essay # 18. Violence of Volcanic Eruptions :

Volcanic activity may be classified by its violence, which in turn is generally related to rock type, the course of eruptive activity and the resulting landforms. We may in general distinguish between lava eruptions associated with basic and intermediate magmas and pumice eruptions associated with acid magmas.

The percentage of the fragmentary material in the total volcanic material produced can be used as a measure of explosiveness and if calculated for a volcanic region can be adopted as an Explosion Index (E), useful for comparing one volcanic region with others. Explosion Index for selected volcanic regions by Rittmann (1962) are shown in the table below.

Newhall and Self (1982) proposed a Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) which helps to summarize many aspects of eruption and is shown in the table below.

Essay # 19. Famous Volcanoes around the World :

Many volcanoes are present around the world. Some of the largest and well known volcanoes are listed in the table below.

Essay # 20. Volcanic Hazards :

Volcanic eruptions have caused destruction to life and property. In most cases volcanic hazards cannot be controlled, but their impacts can be mitigated by effective prediction methods.

Flows of lava, pyroclastic activity, emissions of gas and volcanic seismicity are major hazards. These are accompanied with movement of magma and eruptive products of the volcano. There are also other secondary effects of the eruptions which may have long term effects.

In most cases volcanoes let out lava which causes property damage rather than injuries or deaths. For instance, in Hawaii lava flows erupted from Kilauea for over a decade and as a consequence, homes, roads, forests, cars and other vehicles were buried in lavas and in some cases were burned by the resulting fires but no lives were lost. Sometimes it has become possible to control or divert the lava flow by constructing retaining walls or by some provision to chill the front of the lava flow with water.

Lava flows move slowly. But the pyroclastic flows move rapidly and these with lateral blasts may kill lives before they can run away. In 1902, on the island of Martinique the most destructive pyroclastic flow of the century occurred resulting in very large number of deaths.

A glowing avalanche rushed out of the flanks of Mount Pelee, running at a speed of over 160 km/h and killed about 29000 people. In A.D. 79 a large number of people of Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried under the hot pyroclastic material erupted by Mount Vesuvius.

The poisonous gas killed many of the victims and their bodies got later buried by pyroclastic material. In 1986, the eruption of the volcano at Lake Nyos, Cameroon killed over 1700 people and over 3000 cattle.

When magma moves towards the surface of the earth rocks may get fractured and this may result in swarms of earthquakes. The turbulent bubbling and boiling of magma below the earth can produce high frequency seismicity called volcanic tremor.

There are also secondary and tertiary hazards connected with volcanic eruptions. A powerful eruption in a coastal setting can cause a displacement of the seafloor leading to a tsunami. Hazardous effects are caused by pyroclastic material after a volcanic eruption has ceased.

Either melt water from snow or rain at the summit of the volcano can mix with the volcanic ash and start a deadly mud flow (called as lahar). Sometimes a volcanic debris avalanche in which various materials like pyroclastic matter, mud, shattered trees etc. is set out causing damage.

Volcanic eruptions produce other effects too. They can permanently change a landscape. They can block river channels causing flooding and diversion of water flow. Mountain terrains can be severely changed.

Volcanic eruptions can change the chemistry of the atmosphere. The effects of eruption on the atmosphere are precipitation of salty toxic or acidic matter. Spectacular sun set, extended period of darkness and stratospheric ozone depletion are all other effects of eruptions. Blockage of solar radiation by fine pyroclastic material can cause global cooling.

Apart from the above negative effects of volcanisms there are a few positive effects too. Periodic volcanic eruptions replenish the mineral contents of soils making it fertile. Geothermal energy is provided by volcanism. Volcanism is also linked with some type of mineral deposits. Magnificent scenery is provided by some volcanoes.

The study of volcanoes has great scientific as well as social interest. Widespread tephra layers inter-bedded with natural and artificial deposits have been used for deciphering and dating glacial and volcanic sequences, geomorphic features and archeological sites.

For example, ash from Mt. St. Helens Volcano in Washington travelled at least 900 km into Alberta. North American Indians fashioned tools and weapons out of volcanic glass, the origin of which is used to trace migratory and trading routes.

Volcanoes are windows through which the scientists look into the interiors of the earth. From volcanoes we learn the composition of the earth at great depths below the surface. We learn about the history of shifting layers of the earth’s crust. We learn about the processes which transform molten material into solid rock.

From the geological historical view point, volcanic activity was crucial in providing to the earth a unique habitat for life. The degassing of molten materials provided water for the oceans and gases for the atmosphere – indeed, the very ingredients for life and its sustenance.

Essay # 21. Volcanoes and Atmospheric Pollution :

During eruptions volcanoes inject solid particles and gases into the atmosphere. Particles may remain in the atmosphere for months to years and rain back on to the earth. Volcanoes also release chlorine and carbon dioxide.

The main products injected into the atmosphere from volcanic eruptions however are volcanic ash particles and small drops of sulphuric acid in the form of a fine spray known as aerosol. Most chlorine released from volcanoes is in the form of hydrochloric acid which is washed out in the troposphere. Volcanoes also emit carbon dioxide.

During the times of giant volcanic eruptions in the past the amount of carbon dioxide released may have been enough to affect the climate. In general global temperatures are cooler for a year or two after a major eruption.

A large magnitude pyroclastic eruption such as a caldera-forming event can be expected to eject huge volumes of fine ash high into the atmosphere where it may remain for several years, carried around the globe by strong air currents in the upper atmosphere.

The presence of this ash will increase the opacity of the atmosphere, that is, it will reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the earth’s surface. Accordingly, the earth’s surface and climate will become cooler. Various other atmospheric effects may be observed. Particularly noticeable is an increase in the intensity of sunsets.

i. Global Warming :

Besides blocking the rays of the sun, the vast clouds of dust and ash that result from a volcanic eruption can also trap ultraviolet radiation within the atmosphere causing global warming.

Volcanic eruptions usually include emissions of gases such as carbon dioxide which can further enhance this warming. Even if it lasted only for a relatively short time, a sudden increase in temperature could in turn have contributed to extinctions by creating an environment unsuitable for many animals.

ii. Geothermal Energy :

Geothermal energy is the heat energy trapped below the surface of the earth. In all volcanic regions, even thousands of years after activity has ceased the magma continues to cool at a slow rate. The temperature increases with depth below the surface of the earth. The average temperature gradient in the outer crust is about 0.56° C per 30 m of depth.

There are regions however, where the temperature gradient may be as much as 100 times the normal. This high heat flow is often sufficient to affect shallow strata containing water. When the water is so heated such surface manifestations like hot springs, fumaroles, geysers and related phenomena often occur.

It may be noted that over 10 per cent of the earth’s surface manifests very high heat flow and the hot springs and related features which are present in such areas have been used throughout the ages, for bathing, laundry and cooking.

In some places elaborate health spas and recreation areas have been developed around the hot-spring areas. The cooling of magma, even though it is relatively close to the surface is such a slow process that probably in terms of human history, it may be considered to supply a source of heat indefinitely.

Temperatures in the earth rise with increasing depth at about 0.56°C per 30 m depth. Thus if a well is drilled at a place where the average surface temperature is say 15.6°C a temperature of 100°C would be expected at about 4500 m depth. Many wells are drilled in excess of 6000 m and temperatures far above the boiling point of water are encountered.

Thermal energy is stored both in the solid rocks and in water and steam filling the pore spaces and fractures. The water and steam serve to transmit the heat from the rocks to a well and then to the surface.

In a geothermal system water also serves as the medium by which heat is transmitted from a deep igneous source to a geothermal reservoir at a depth shallow enough to be tapped by drilling. Geothermal reservoirs are located in the upward flowing part of a water – convective system. Rainwater percolates underground and reaches a depth where it is heated as it comes into contact with the hot rocks.

On getting heated, the water expands and moves upward in a convective system. If this upward movement is unrestricted the water will be dissipated at the surface as hot springs; but if such upward movement is prevented, trapped by an impervious layer the geothermal energy accumulates, and becomes a geothermal reservoir.

Until recently it was believed that the water in a geothermal system was derived mainly from water given off by the cooling of magma below the surface. Later studies have revealed that most of the water is from surface precipitation, with not more than 5 per cent from the cooling magma.

Production of electric power is the most important application of geothermal energy. A geothermal plant can provide a cheap and reliable supply of electrical energy. Geothermal power is nearly pollution free and there is little resource depletion.

Geothermal power is a significant source of electricity in New Zealand and has been furnishing electricity to parts of Italy. Geothermal installations at the Geysers in northern California have a capacity of 550 megawatts, enough to supply the power needs of the city of San Francisco.

Geothermal energy is versatile. It is being used for domestic heating in Italy, New Zealand and Iceland. Over 70 per cent of Iceland’s population live in houses heated by geothermal energy. Geothermal energy is being used for forced raising of vegetables and flowers in green houses in Iceland where the climate is too harsh to support normal growth. It is used for animal husbandry in Hungary and feeding in Iceland.

Geothermal energy can be used for simple heating processes, drying or distillation in every conceivable fashion, refrigeration, tempering in various mining and metal handling operations, sugar processing, production of boric acid, recovery of salts from seawater, pulp and paper production and wood processing.

Geothermal desalinization of sea water holds promise for abundant supply of fresh water. In some areas it is a real alternative to fossil fuels and hydroelectricity and in future may help meet the crisis of our insatiable appetite for energy.

iii. Phenomena Associated with Volcanism :

In some regions of current or past volcanic activity some phenomena related to volcanism are found. Fumaroles, hot springs and geysers are the widely known belonging to this group. During the process of consolidation of molten magma either at the surface or at some depths beneath the surface gaseous emanations may be given off.

These gas vents constitute the fumaroles. The Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes in Alaska is a well-known fumarole and is maintained as a national monument. This group of fumaroles was formed by the eruption of Mount Katmai in 1912. This valley of area of about 130 square kilometres contains thousands of vents discharging steam and gases.

These gases are of varied temperatures and the temperatures vary from that of ordinary steam to superheated steam coming out as dry gas. Many of the gases escaping from the vents may be poisonous, such as hydrogen sulphide and carbon monoxide which are suffocating and may settle at low places in the topography. For example, the fumaroles at the Poison Valley, Java discharge deadly poisonous gases.

Solfataras are fumaroles emitting sulphur gases. At some places, the hydrogen sulphide gases undergo oxidation on exposure to air to form sulphur. The sulphur accumulates in large amount so that the rocks close to the solfataras may contain commercial quantities of sulphur.

Hot springs are also phenomena associated with volcanic activity. Waters from the surface which penetrate into the ground can get heated either by contact with the rocks which are still hot or by gaseous emanations from the volcanic rocks. The water so heated may re-emerge at the surface giving rise to hot springs. In some situations the hot springs may be intermittently eruptive. Such intermittently hot springs are called geysers.

Lava: Types and Eruptions | Volcanoes
Submarine and Sub Glacial Eruptions | Volcanoes

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A volcano is a landform (usually a mountain) where molten rock erupts through the surface of the planet. There are a huge number of active volcanoes present worldwide. In this article, we will learn about the definition, formation and types of volcanoes.

What Are Volcanoes?

A volcano is a landform, a mountain, where molten rocks erupt through the surface of the planet. The volcano mountain opens downwards to a pool of molten rocks underneath the surface of the earth.

Pressure builds up in the earth’s crust and this is the reason why eruptions occur. Gases and igneous rocks shoot up and splash over or fill the air with lava fragments. The volcano eruption can cause hot ash, lateral blasts and lava flow, mudslides, and more.

Formation of Volcanoes

A volcano mountain is formed by the surface eruption of magma from within the earth’s upper mantle. The magma that erupts to the surface and forms a lava flow that deposits ash. As the volcano continues to erupt, a new layer of lava is added to the surface, accumulating to form a mountain.

Different Stages of Volcanoes

They tend to be conical although there are a variety of forms, depending upon:

The nature of the material erupted
The type of eruption
The amount of change since the eruption

Volcanoes are categorised into three main categories:

Active Volcanoes: A volcano will be classified as an active volcano if at the present time it is expected to erupt or is erupting already.
Dormant Volcanoes: The classification of volcanoes which is called dormant would be a volcano that is not erupting or predicted to erupt in the near future.
Extinct Volcanoes: An extinct volcano is a volcano that no one expects will ever have another eruption.

Reason Behind the Eruption of Volcanoes

The volcano eruption begins with the formation of magma in the lower section of the earth’s crust. The earth’s crust is made up of massive slabs called plates, which fit together like a jigsaw puzzle. The friction during the movement of plates causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

With pressure, it travels upwards with tremendous force hitting solid rocks and other materials and creates a new passage to the earth’s surface. Once the magma reaches the air it is called lava.

Types of Volcanoes

These are grouped into four types:

Cinder cones
Composite volcanoes
Shield volcanoes
Lava volcanoes

Cinder Cones: These are the simplest type of volcano. They occur when particles and blobs of lava are ejected from a volcanic vent. The lava is blown violently into the air, and the pieces rain down around the vent. Over time, this builds up a circular or oval-shaped cone, with a bowl-shaped crater at the top. Cinder cone volcanoes rarely grow larger than about 1,000 feet above their surroundings.

Composite Volcanoes: Composite volcanoes are some of the Earth’s grandest mountains, and they are also called stratovolcanoes. They are typically symmetrical cones of large dimension built of alternating layers of lava flows, steep-sided, volcanic ash, blocks, bombs, and cinders and may rise as much as 8,000 feet above their bases.

Shield Volcanoes: A shield volcano is a type of volcano usually built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. They have very gentle slopes and are developed horizontally. Shield volcanoes are built by effusive eruptions, which flow out in all directions. They almost never have violent eruptions, with basic lava simply flowing out.

Lava Domes: Lava domes are the fourth type of volcano that we are going to discuss. Unlike composite and shield volcanoes, lava domes are of tiny stature. They are formed when the lava is too viscous to flow to a great distance. As the lava dome slowly grows, the outer surface cools and hardens as the lava continues to pile within. Eventually, the internal pressure can shatter the outer surface, causing loose fragments to spill down its sides. Generally, such lava domes are found on the flanks of larger composite volcanoes.

The video about the eruption of volcanoes

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Essay on Volcanoes

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Volcanoes Volcanoes are natural phenomena which are on the Earth’s surface through which molten rock and gases escape from below the surface (Tarbuck, 139). These volcanoes are very interesting to observe and to study because of their amazing occurrences and majestic lava eruptions. Volcanoes have been studied ever since the beginning of mankind and the word “ volcano ” is thought to be derived from Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of Italy whose name in turn originates from Vulcan, the name of a god of fire in Roman mythology. Consisting of several types, volcanoes can extrude several forms of magma and can also release multiple gases. These extruded materials can affect the Earth’s structure and atmosphere. There are …show more content…

Last but not least, composite volcanoes also make up some of the earth’s surface. Composite volcanoes have a conical shape, with a steep summit area and gradually sloping flanks, and are nearly symmetrical in structure (Tarbuck, 141). These volcanoes release silica-rich and gaseous magma that is highly viscous and travels very short distances. These three types of volcanoes that occupy the earth have seemingly different physical characteristics and behavioral changes. A volcanic eruption is one of the most dangerous and eventful natural disasters that can take place. During these eruptions, several factors are taken into account. Each type of volcano discussed above has a different form of lava : one’s might be highly fluid and the other might be very viscous. Lava can take many shapes as it is extruded from a volcano. One such form is that of pahoehoe. Usually common on the Hawaiian volcanoes, pahoehoe is a form of lava which is smooth and ropy and causes by the congealment of lava as it is released from the volcano (Williams, 32). Another form of lava is one that is named aa. This lava consists of jumbles of rough, clinkery, and spinose fragments, ranging from small chips to blocks measuring meters on a side (Williams, 37). Aa flows are cool and thick and can advance at rates between 5 and 50 meters per hour (Tarbuck, 145). Lava can also take a block formation

Plate Tectonics: Geology Of California

There are different types of volcanoes, such as shield volcanoes, composite volcanoes, and cinder cone volcanoes that are mentioned in Chapter 9, page 312 of Earth Science. (Refer to figure 2 for volcano type examples.)

Assess the extent to which primary rather than secondary impacts are the more serious effects arising from volcanic eruptions. (30 marks)

A volcano is an earth hazard that occurs on faults between tectonic plates on a destructive boundary and an eruption is a natural disaster. A primary impact happens immediately after the disaster and before any response like death or collapsing or destruction of buildings. A secondary impact occurs later after the disaster, such less farm produce or a reduction in tourism. The severity of these impacts will differ considerably in a MEDC and LEDC where volcanic eruptions have taken place. These may be seen in the Mount St. Helen volcano eruption as well as in the Iceland volcanic eruption. They may also

analyse the factors that cause differences in the hazards posed by volcanoes around the world (40 marks)

Anpother factor that can have an impact on the level of hazard posed by a volcano is the type of plate margin on which it occurs. Volcanoes occuring at constructive plate boundaries are usually much less violent than those occuring at destructive plate boundaries. This is because the magma produced by plates moving apart is Basic, and therefoe has a low viscosity, allowing it to flow easily. The lava is produced from a central vent or fissure and erupts regularly but not usually violently. Also,constructive plate boundaries are often found under the sea and create submarine volcanoes, such as along the Mid-Atalntic ridge, so pose few threats to humans. As a result, the hazards posed by volcanoes at constructive plat eboundaries is relatively low. However, the subduction of one plate under another at destrctive plat eboundaries can form an acidic magma chamber, due to the build up of intense heat. Acidic magma is very viscous and resisitant to flow, meaning that there is often a huge build up of pressure, which can result in very violent and dangerous eruptions involving ash and pyroclastic flow. This can pose a a serious hazard. Pyroclastic flowsa are extremely dense, containing toxic gases at very high temperatures, and can move at speeds over 100km/h. The consequences of such an unpredictable hazard can be extremely seruous

Volcano Research Paper

The volcanoes are located where there is a divergence or convergence in the tectonic plates and bring their lava from the deepest of the terrestrial mantle. The materials and explosions of these ginates represent a constant risk in the places inhabited by the human being, nevertheless the people ususually live in these areas no matter the risk. On the other hand the volcanos can change the geology of an impressive form, or to cool the temperature of the earth, or to darken the sky. The scientific community increases its efforts to try to understand better what happens in volcanoes, however it is impossible to predict these conditions.

Mount Hood Is Oregon 's Highest Peak

Volcanoes are one of the most destructive, yet, most beautiful things on Earth. They can make a famous city choke in its own ashes in one day, like Pompeii. Or they can turn a once damaging mountain into a graceful and peaceful home for new life, like Mount St. Helen’s. All volcanoes are unique, and no two are the same. Some erupt differently than others, some look different than others, and all are located in different spots all over the world. I learned this while completing the project and the five volcanoes I researched are examples of my discoveries. The five volcanoes I researched were Mount Hood, Mount Mageik, Long Island, Mount Muria, and Las Pilas.

Compare And Contrast Mt. St Helens Vs. Pinatubo

Something beautiful can also be dangerous, as like the darkness can have phenomenal results. Volcanoes are one example of nature’s beauty, they can be fascinating, exciting, magnificent, but they can also be catastrophic. Their hazard eruptions put many lives at risk, destroying properties, places, and can disrupt air quality. The list of volcanoes is huge, there are three groups of them, dormant, extinct and active volcanoes. From the latter group there are about 500 in the entire world. Although both Mt. St Helens and Mt Pinatubo are two of the most significant volcanoes in the world, they have some characteristics that show their differences and similarities between both of them.

Analyse the Factors That Causes Differences in the Hazards Posed by Volcanoes Around the World (40 Marks)

One physical factor which causes differences in a volcanic hazard is the steepness of the volcano. If the volcanoes sides are of a steep gradient then the

Why Is Santa Catalina Island Sinng Or Rising?

There are over one thousand five hundred volcanoes all around the world, and when they erupt, they spew searing hot lava that changes the surface of the earth. Earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes are just three examples of the many geo-processes that are constantly shaping and changing the Earth.

Volcano Is The Most Active Volcano

Volcanoes are in fact important because without volcanoes the atmosphere wouldn’t have its oxygen rich properties. Many of years ago, Earth’s atmosphere was swarm with rock-forming minerals of the earth 's crust. During earlier volcanic eruptions many gasses enters into the earth atmosphere. Carbon dioxide, water vapor and many other gases

Aztec Volcanoes Essay

The mythology of the Aztec peoples, which dominated central Mexico in the 1400’s and early 1500’s, described a universe of greatness and fear. In this Mexica civilization, volcanoes had a deep spiritual as well as strategic military importance. The legend of the volcanoes, Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, is no different. The Aztec mythological explanation for the two volcanoes is a story of love and war. In this paper, I will describe the legend behind these two natural locations and its correlation with the spiritual and social importance of volcanoes to the Mexica people at the time.

Popocatepetl Volcano Research Paper

The active volcano that I chose to research is Popocatepetl volcano. Popocatepetl volcano is an active volcano located in Mexico. The volcano is oftentimes referred to as “El Popo” by many Mexicans. El Popo is a composite cone volcano. Being a composite cone volcano, El Popo is characterized by a steep cone shape, which was created by many composite layers of material pouring out over numerous eruptions. The lava that comes out of El Popo is extremely viscous. The highly viscous lava does not travel very far, and typically cools down rapidly. Scientists believe that El Popo is about 730,000 years old. It has erupted more than 15 times since 1519. In 1994 El Popo produced gas and ash, which caused nearby towns to evacuate. The toxic

Calbuco Volcano Essay

While there was so many different volcanos to choose from I chose the Calbuco volcano because it was erupted very recently. Calbuco is a 6,570 foot high active stratovolcano located in Los Lagos, Chile. Its coordinates are 41°19′48″S 72°37′06″W. The closest populated area to the volcano is Puerto Varas which is located about 23.1 miles southwest of the Calbuco volcano as you can see in the google image below.

Volcano Called Mount Vesuvius Essay

As the eruption wore on, it later produced a phase with red hot pyroclastic surges and flows, along with other volcanic material. This was referred to as the “Peléan” phase. These type of eruptions are known for the mentioned pyroclastic flows, along with hot mud surges. (Universe today) This phase was speculated to have begun during the latter part of the eruption, and is largely regarded as the main killer of most of the surrounding inhabitants. (Museum timeline)

Descriptive Essay Volcano

The word volcano comes from the little island of vulcano in the Mediterranean Sea, these fire fountains can reach hundreds of feet into the sky (Lindop). Early Romans believed this mountain belonged to vulcan, the blacksmith of the gods. Within the last twenty years, a volcanologists have been working hard to learn how to predict eruptions and keep people safe.

Volcanoes and Climate Change Essay

2 Works Cited

In these eruptions, instead of the mixture of gas and ash flowing upwards, it flows outwards and hugs the ground. These eruptions are extremely dangerous.

Tips to answer multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay-type questions in exams

E xams are a stressful affair and they require smart strategies and techniques to excel. While in-depth learning is crucial, different types of questions demand specific strategies and approaches for solving.

Exams may appear in several formats including multiple choice questions, short answers and essays, each requiring different techniques of answering.

Below is a comprehensive guide to solving exams with different types of question patterns:

TIPS TO ANSWER MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

The first and foremost thing to do is to read the questions properly. Often, students miss out on important details due to a lack of focus. Paying attention to each and every piece of information and reading with attention is crucial.
After reading the question, try to predict the answer without referring to the given options. This increases your chances of selecting the correct answer through educated guessing.
Using the process of elimination can do wonders. In this method, you eliminate the options you believe are incorrect. This narrows down your choices and aids in identifying the correct response.
Paying attention to words such as 'always,' 'never,' 'sometimes,' 'most,' 'only,' 'many,' 'but,' and 'often' can help us better understand the sentence. These words tend to alter the meaning of the sentence and hence should be paid attention to and read properly.
Â Understanding concepts thoroughly enables you to grasp the context of questions accurately and answer them correctly.

TIPS TO ANSWER SHORT QUESTIONS

Read the question properly and comprehend it well. Understand whether you need to give a definition, provide examples, write a brief summary or offer comparisons.
Write the answer to the point, avoiding unnecessary explanations and using keywords. This increases your chances of scoring higher.
Use simple language and avoid complex terms, as they can confuse the examiner. The simpler your answer, the higher your score.
Write your answers in a logical and organised manner. Structure your answers with separate paragraphs, bullet points, flowcharts, tables, etc., as this makes it easier for the examiner to read and understand your answer.
During the preparatory phase, use colourful pens, flashcards, charts, and drawings to learn concepts well. This method helps in recollecting the answers during exams.
Indulge in self-testing methods by practicing sample question papers, demo tests, and solving previous year question papers to understand the probable questions and the exam pattern.
Having a time management strategy in place is important. Allocate time for different types of questions and try to solve them within the given time frame.

TIPS TO WRITE ESSAYS

Understand the topic well and follow the instructions.
Brainstorm ideas on the topic and plan the points you intend to include.
Begin with an informative yet concise introduction, followed by a detailed body and a conclusion that summarizes your essay.
Ensure the essay is well-structured and divided into a minimum of 3-4 paragraphs.
Use quotations and examples to support the information you have written.
Adhere to the specified time and word limits.
Ensure your essay is written in simple and clear language.
Always remember to proofread the essay to eliminate grammatical and spelling errors.
Make reading a regular practice to enhance language proficiency and facilitate a smoother flow of thoughts.

By implementing such strategic approaches, you can efficiently answer your questions. It is important to study diligently and practice with sample papers.

During the exam, take the time to read the question paper properly during the allocated reading time and manage your time effectively.

- Article by Nischal Narayanam,Â mathematical child prodigy, winner of the National Child Award (Gold Medal), youngest double Guinness World Record holder in memory power,Â first Indian to win the World Memory Championship title, youngest CA, andÂ Founder and Mentor at Nischals

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Tips to answer multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay-type questions in exams

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Critic’s Notebook

Is the Met Gala Protest-Proof?

Despite a rich, class-based theme and calls to disrupt the fashion extravaganza of the year, politics proved no match for the power of the spectacle.

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By Vanessa Friedman

If ever a Met Gala seemed primed to clash with its political moment, it was the 2024 Met .

On the one hand, there was the event: the most opulent, extravagant, expensive party of the year, where a single ticket cost a whopping $75,000 — 50 percent more than last year’s ticket and more than $15,000 more than the average American salary .

On the other hand, there was a city roiled by student protests over the war in Gaza and rived by the country’s first criminal trial of a former president, and a sponsor (Condé Nast) in a fight with its employees over their union.

Even the evening’s dress code seemed to acknowledge the dichotomy: “The Garden of Time,” the title of a J.G. Ballard short story about an aristocratic couple isolated in their mansion as an unruly mob draws ever closer, brandishing sticks and tools and a threat to their way of life.

“It’s oddly prescient,” Andrew Bolton, the curator in charge of the Met’s Costume Institute and the man who chose the theme, acknowledged the day before the gala — even though he said he had been thinking mostly about the garden idea when he chose it (and it was unclear whether many of the celebrities who attended had read the allegorical tale).

As the party began on Monday night, word came that a crowd was amassing, planning to march on Fifth Avenue in support of Palestine. Police officers were said to be assembling barricades after another large protest at Hunter College. There were calls, online, for everyone to join in a “primal scream” every hour from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., under the hashtag #DisruptTheMet .

Even though a planned Condé Nast union walkout was averted — a last-minute deal was reached in the wee hours before the gala — the gala seemed to be dancing on the edge of the volcano.

And then … bupkis.

Whatever protesters appeared were kept far enough away from the main event that most people focused on the party didn’t even notice. The revolution was not TikTok-ized. There were arrests, but they didn’t change the conversation. This wasn’t like the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner , held only a week before, where guests at the black tie event had to run a gantlet of protesters to get through the front door. No celebrity even showed up in a pin to support Gaza or the unionizers, as they often do at red carpet events like the Oscars. (For this crowd, at least, the possibility of incurring the wrath of Anna Wintour, the evening’s maestro, may be a rare and powerful deterrent.)

Is it possible that the Met Gala has become that rare thing in the contemporary world: a protest-proof zone?

Maybe it was because of the logistics, which prevented the telling image of a marching horde with their flags and fury from confronting swanning celebrities in their fashion and fripperies from being captured, going viral, and serving to crystallize and galvanize a crisis.

Maybe it was because the Met, with its often fantastical, over-the-top clothes — this time around, Cardi B as a Windowsen flower pot, planted in acres of black tulle earth; Mona Patel, as a host of trembling Iris van Herpen butterflies; Tyla as Balmain sand in the hourglass — has become a laugh of an evening when celebrities dress up like animals in a zoo for everyone else’s ogling and enjoyment and the money goes to a cultural institution accessible to all, and trickles down to the city. It’s so removed from everyday life that no one expects it to play by the rules, or outrage, of everyday life.

Or maybe it’s because the Met Gala is one of the rare events in the year that is a politics-free zone, one in which no one complains on the red carpet about being reduced to their clothes. Unlike other red carpets, which at least theoretically celebrate film or music or reporting, the point of the party is to celebrate clothes. Perhaps this is also why no one puts a pin on their finery; that would ruin the effect. And which is also, at least in theory, something everyone can share.

You can label that superficial out-of-touch and tone-deaf, or call it the triumph of late-stage capitalism over perfervid morality. Or you can indulge it as a moment of pure escapism. Either way, it kept the mob at bay. At least this time.

Vanessa Friedman has been the fashion director and chief fashion critic for The Times since 2014. More about Vanessa Friedman

Our Coverage of the 2024 Met Gala

Zendaya Makes Two Arrivals: The actress wore a second John Galliano design to make a late (re)entrance at the Met Gala . The first was a custom Maison Margiela couture dress he created specifically for her.

A Fitting Literary Inspiration: In 1962, J.G. Ballard published “The Garden of Time,” a short story about aristocrats overrun by “an immense rabble.” It was a fitting but ironic choice as this year’s dress-code theme .

The Body Spectacle: The night saw Kim Kardashian engaged in a kind of body modification via extreme corseting. While Tyla, the South African singer and songwriter, appeared coated in sand .

Arrests and Protests: As expected, protesters gathered near the Met Gala to protest the war in Gaza, creating an atmosphere far different from the one inside the event.

The ‘Naked’ Trend: What better way to distinguish oneself from hundreds of well-dressed competitors than to wear almost nothing at all?

A Night of Firsts: Here’s the story behind Rebecca Ferguson’s sequin, bird-covered dress , Da’Vine Joy Randolph’s all-denim look , Pamela Anderson’s new incarnation , Christian Cowan and Sam Smith’s debut as a couple , and Amanda Seyfried’s semi-recycled look .

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Essay On The Volcano
Short Essay On Volcano In 200 Words For Kids. Small changes occur in volcanoes, determining if the magma is rising or not flowing enough. One of the common ways to forecast eruptions is by analysing the summit and slopes of these formations. Below is a short essay for classes 1, 2, & 3:
Essays About Volcanoes: Top 5 Examples And 10 Prompts
Top 5 Essay Examples. 1. Short Essay on Volcanoes by Prasad Nanda. "The name, "volcano" originates from the name Vulcan, a god of fire in Roman mythology.". Nanda briefly defines volcanoes, stating they help release hot pressure that builds up deep within the planet.
Volcanoes
A volcano is an opening in a planet or moon's crust through which molten rock, hot gases, and other materials erupt. Volcanoes often form a hill or mountain as layers of rock and ash build up from repeated eruptions. Volcanoes are classified as active, dormant, or extinct. Active volcanoes have a recent history of eruptions; they are likely ...
Volcano
Strictly speaking, the term volcano means the vent from which magma and other substances erupt to the surface, but it can also refer to the landform created by the accumulation of solidified lava and volcanic debris near the vent. One can say, for example, that large lava flows erupt from Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii, referring here to the vent; but one can also say that Mauna Loa is a gently ...
Volcano facts and information
Volcanoes, explained. These fiery peaks have belched up molten rock, hot ash, and gas since Earth formed billions of years ago. Volcanoes are Earth's geologic architects. They've created more than ...
Different Types of Volcanoes: [Essay Example], 618 words
These volcanoes are often formed from the accumulation of loose, pyroclastic material around a vent and are typically associated with short-lived, explosive eruptions. Paricutin in Mexico is one of the most famous cinder cone volcanoes, having emerged from a cornfield in 1943 and grown to a height of over 1,300 feet in just one year.
1 Introduction
Volcano landforms and eruptive behavior are diverse, reflecting the large number and complexity of interacting processes that govern the generation, storage, ascent, and eruption of magmas. ... An important consideration is that the historical record is short and biased. The instrumented record is even shorter and, for most volcanoes, spans ...
Volcanoes and Their Characteristics
A cone-shaped mountain that is the result of this process is called a cinder cone volcano. These volcanic mountains are the smallest ones of all types and are generally less in their size than 500 meters. An example of such a volcanic mountain is SP Mountain situated in Arizona, and belonging to the Colorado Plato.
125 Volcano Essay Topic Ideas & Examples
Here are 125 volcano essay topic ideas and examples to get you started: The science behind volcanic eruptions. The different types of volcanoes and how they form. The role of plate tectonics in volcanic activity. The impact of volcanic eruptions on the environment. The history of volcanic eruptions around the world.
Summary
Volcanoes are a key part of the Earth system, and open a window into the inner workings of the planet. More than a dozen volcanoes are usually erupting on Earth at any given time. ... new insights on the processes that govern the generation and eruption of magma and greatly improve the quality of short-term, months to minutes, forecasts. The ...
Volcano Essay for Kids
A volcano is a mountain created through an opening on the Earth's surface after its eruption. Volcanoes are openings on the Earth's surface; the hole at the top of the volcano is known as a volcanic crater. A volcanic eruption is caused by the pressure which builds up in a gas that forms into magma. Under the surface of the Earth, magma is ...
Essay on Volcanoes: Top 7 Essays on Volcanoes| Disasters
Essay # 7. World Distribution of Volcanoes: Like earthquakes, the spatial distribution of volcanoes over the globe is well marked and well understood because volcanoes are found in a well-defined belt or zone (fig. 9.3). Thus, the distributional pattern of volcanoes is zonal in character.
Volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. ... These can be relatively short-lived eruptions that produce a cone-shaped hill perhaps 30 to 400 meters (100 to 1,300 ft) high.
70 Volcano Essay Topic Ideas & Examples
Hawaii - A Volcano in the Sea. All the volcanoes in Hawaii are shield volcanoes. They are large and have shallow-sloping sides - almost like a warrior's shield. We will write. a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts. 809 writers online. Learn More. Eruption of Mount Saint Helen Volcano.
Human and Environmental Impacts of Volcanic Ash
If inhaled, volcanic ash can cause breathing problems and damage the lungs. Inhaling large amounts of ash and volcanic gases can cause a person to suffocate. Suffocation is the most common cause of death from a volcano. Volcanic Ash Clean Up. Volcanic ash is very difficult to clean up.
Your burning questions about volcanoes, answered
ASU experts explain these molten mysteries. Volcano! That little word brings so much to our minds — streams of lava and clouds of ash, rumbling mountains, the might of a planet's fiery underbelly, and our own nervous anticipation, curiosity and fear. In fact, if it seems like more and more people have volcanoes on the brain, there's a ...
Volcanoes: Compilation of Essays on Volcanoes
Essay # 1. Meaning of Volcanoes: Sometimes the molten rock, ash, steam and other gases find their way to the surface of the earth through some vents or openings. These ejected materials accumulate around the vent and give rise to a volcanic cone or a hill. The conical hill along with the vent is known as volcano.
Essay on Volcanoes
Essay # 3. Formation of Volcanoes: The term volcano is used to mean both the opening in the earth's crust, i.e. the vent through which the eruption of magma occurs as well as the hill built- up by the erupted material. Volcanoes occur where the cracks in the earth's crust lead to the magma chamber.
Volcano
A volcano is a landform, a mountain, where molten rocks erupt through the surface of the planet. The volcano mountain opens downwards to a pool of molten rocks underneath the surface of the earth. Pressure builds up in the earth's crust and this is the reason why eruptions occur. Gases and igneous rocks shoot up and splash over or fill the ...
Essay on Volcanoes
Volcanoes. Volcanoes are natural phenomena which are on the Earth's surface through which molten rock and gases escape from below the surface (Tarbuck, 139). These volcanoes are very interesting to observe and to study because of their amazing occurrences and majestic lava eruptions. Volcanoes have been studied ever since the beginning of ...
Short Essay On Volcanoes
Short Essay on Volcanoes - Free download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. very good essays
Informative Essay on Volcanoes
Informative Essay on Volcanoes. This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. Papers provided by EduBirdie writers usually outdo students' samples. To start off, I am going to tell you what a volcano is, what they do, what's their purpose, how they have formed what types of volcanoes they are, and their anatomy ...
Short Essay on Volcanoes
Short Essay on Volcanoes. A volcano is an opening, in the planet's surface which allows hot, molten rock, ash and gases to escape from below the surface. The name, "volcano" originates from the name Vulcan, a god of fire in Roman mythology. Volcanoes are like giant safety valves that release the pressure that builds up inside the Earth.
Tips to answer multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay-type ...
Ensure the essay is well-structured and divided into a minimum of 3-4 paragraphs. Use quotations and examples to support the information you have written. Adhere to the specified time and word limits.
Is the Met Gala Protest-Proof?
Even though a planned Condé Nast union walkout was averted — a last-minute deal was reached in the wee hours before the gala — the gala seemed to be dancing on the edge of the volcano. And ...