Volcanoes

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet’s surface or crust, which allows hot magma,
volcanic ash and gases to escape from below the surface.
Erupting volcanoes can pose many hazards, not only in the immediate vicinity of the eruption.
Large eruptions can effect temperature as ash and droplets of sulfuric acid, the sun and cool
the Earth’s lower athmosphere or troposphere; however, they also absort up form the Earth,
thereby warming the stratosphere.

Popular classification of volcanoes

Volcanic features
The structure and behavior of volconoes depends on a number of factor. Some volcanoes have
rugged pekas formed by lava domes rather than a summit crater, whereas others presents
landscape features such as massive plateaus.

Fissure vent Flat, linear crack through which lava emerges

Shiled volcano Low and broad Low-viscoisty lava that can flow a great distance Don’t generality
explode catastrophically
Lava dome Build by slow eruptions of highly viscous lavas Can produce violent, explosive
eruptions
Stratos-volcano Tall conical mountains composed of lava flow and other ejectc Gratest
hazard to civilaztion

Components of a volcanic eruption

Airborne
Ash
Gases and steam
Phroclast
Scoria
Earthbound

Deadliest volcanic eruptions

Volcanic eruption can be hughly explosive, volatile, or neither. Certain volcanoes have
undergone catasrophic eruptions, killing countles number of people.
Rank Event Location Date Death tool Type
Krakatoa Krakatoa,Indonesia August 26-27,1883 36,000 Caldera
Laki Iceland June 8, 1783 9,350 Fissure vents
Mount Kelut East Java, Indonesia 1586 10,000 Starto-volcano
Mount Kelut East Java, Indonesia May 19,1919 5,115 Strato-volcano
Mount Pelee Martinique, Lesser Antilles May 8, 1902 29,000 Strato-volcano
Mount Tambora Sumbawa, Indonesia April 10, 1315 92,000 Starto-volcano
Mount Unzen Kyushu, Japan 1792 15,000 Strato-volcano
Mount Vesuvius Naples, Italy August 24,79 AD 33,000 Somma
Nevado del RuizCaldas/Tolima, Columbia November 13, 1985 23,000 Strato-volcano
Santa Maria Quetzaltenago, Guatemala 1902 6,000 Strato-volcano

Super-volcano : the great devastator

A super-volcano is large volcano that ussually has a large and can potentially produce
devastation on an enormous, sometimes continental, scale. Such eruption would be able to
cause severe cooling of global temperatures for many years afterwards because of the huge
volumes of sulfur and ash erupted. They are the most dangerous type of volcano. Examples
include Yellowstone Caldera in New Zealand, Lake Toba in Sumatra, Indonesia and Ngorogor
Crater in Tanzania, Krakatoa near Java and Sumatra, Indonesia.

Living with volcanoes

There are about 1500 active volcanoes in the world and around 50 of these erupt each year.