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Volcanoes and Climate Change
Introduction: Since the beginning of time, volcanoes have been wreaking havoc on the world, as we know it. Yet in the more recent times, there has been a great amount of debate regarding the effect of volcanic eruptions on world climate change. In this report, the effects of these volcanoes will be explored, particularly in regards to cooling and the depletion of the ozone.
Table of Contents:
Introduction
General Information on Volcanoes
Effect of Volcanoes on Cooling
Effect of Volcanoes on Ozone Depletion
Specific Volcanic Eruptions and their Effects
Debate over Connection between Volcanoes and Global Climate Change
Works Cited
General Information on Volcanoes:
Volcanoes arise when magma, liquid rock within the earth, reaches the surface. Volcanoes then erupt because of their bouyancy and gas pressure. On account of this buoyancy, the hot liquid magma rises toward the surface through the more dense rock. Gas pressure from within the magma also exerts a force on the surrounding rock. This cracks the rock, located above the magma, and then moves into the crack. This process is repeated over and over again until the magma reaches the surface.
There are a few different types of volcanoes, and each erupts a bit differently. Shield volcanoes usually produce a fountain of molten lava that reaches high into the air, anywhere from 10 to 500 meters. In some eruptions, though, there is little fountaining; in these the lava just flows slowly away from the vent. There are also more explosive volcanic eruptions in which the gas pressure builds until it is extremely high and the viscuous lava can no longer stand i...
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...because these volcanoes are located in different areas of the world or because El Nino occured during the year of the eruption of El Chichon. All of these evidences are still being compiled and scrutinized in order to verify the true relation between volcanic eruptions and climate change.
Works Cited:
Angell, James. "Stratospheric Warming Following Volcanic Eruptions." http://capita.wustl.edu
"The Effects of Volcanic Eruptions on Earth's Climate." http://www.geo.mtu.edu
Garrett, Chris. "Global Cooling." http://tiger.chm.bris.ac.uk
Mattox, Steve. "How are volcanoes born and what makes them erupt?" http://volcano.und.nodak.edu
"NASA Facts." http://www.nasa.gov
Rowland, Scott. "What happens when a volcano erupts?" http://volcano.und.nodak.edu
"The Science of Climate Change: The Aerosol Effect." http://www.panda.org/resources/publications
Volcanoes have always been a mysterious wonder of the world. Volcanoes have shaped the landscape and the very ground that we all live on. People have written stories of their disastrous eruptions, and painted their marvelous shapes on canvas. The essay will outline some of the more famous volcanoes and how they have impacted are history. Mount Vesuvius that destroy the great city of Pompeii, Krakatoa they spewed deadly ash on small village town, and Mount St. Helen, the only volcano in my own country to every erupt during my own time period.
The first time I saw Mt. Rainier for myself, was last summer when my boyfriend and I drove to Washington. It was the most beautiful, peaceful looking mountain I have ever seen. However, underneath it's great beauty, it hides a deadly secret. Mt. Rainier is one of the most dangerous volcanoes that we have here in the United States. One of the reasons it is so dangerous is because of it's great beauty. People enjoy looking at it, and the area that surrounds it, so they have made their homes here. Mt Rainier is not the only volcano I am interested in, in fact this last summer I also went to Mt. St. Helens and Crater Lake. But it is the volcano I chose to research for this paper because it does have so much beauty and at the same time so much power. I already know the basics about volcanoes, how they form, the different types, etc., but I wanted to find out more about what would happen if this great volcano were to erupt, what type of eruption would it be, and how would it affect the people that live around it.
Basalt forms due to the partial melting of the layer of the mantle called the asthenosphere. The asthenosphere is the plastic zone of the mantle beneath the rigid lithosphere. Mantle plumes coming from the mesosphere can cause the asthenosphere to melt with heat or even if pressure decreases, which is called decompression melting (Richard 2011). The magma that forms from this melting is mafic magma that solidifies once it reaches the earth’s surface and cools quickly. The above process mainly occurs mainly during intraplate igneous activity which is the main explanation for volcanic activity that occurs a long distance away from a plate boundary. If the tectonic plate above the mantle plume is moving it can create a string of volcanic activity such as in Hawaii. See Fig 2.
Disclaimer: When looking at any data about the effects of Climate Change, it is important to take into consideration that not all of the data could be following the Climate Change “trend” it could be no more than a variable change in activity. This also counts for Volcanic activity. Increased Volcanic Activity could be a random event, and not one connected with Climate Change. Therefore, this paper will be focusing on the idea that increased Volcanic Activity is a result of recent Climate Changes.
Stories about volcanoes are captivating. Myths come in different versions, but all of them are capable of capturing yours, and everybody’s imagination.
When the reservoir has formed, a substance is collected that will trap the volcanic gases. They form depressions in the ground and it is very hard to imagine the eruptions, explosions, car atrophic proportions that they cause. Super volcanoes produce vast amounts of ash and destruction. There are thousands of normal volcanoes around the world and at least 50 erupt every year. Vast clouds of ash are deafening sounds; it affects the climate on earth for many years and affects the agriculture colour.
Magma is a hot liquid made of melted minerals. Minerals can form crystals when they are cool. Igneous rock can form underground, where the magma cools. slowly. Or, igneous rock can form above ground, where the magma cools.
Volcanoes are one of natures most interesting and dangerous phenomenons. The way volcanoes operate can be understood, on a basic level, by just some simple physics and chemistry, this paper will investigate and explain some of the basic physics that govern the behavior of volcanoes.
This causes it to flow for great distances before cooling and solidifying. Because of the great distances that the lava can flow these the height of these volcanoes winds up being only a fraction of what the width is. They range from a few kilometers in diameter to well over 100
Convection currents deep in the mantle of the earth, begin to well up towards the surface. As the pressure increases, it sets the crustal plates in motion. There are different kinds of mountains - Volcanic, Folded, Fault-block, and Dome mountains. Volcanic mountains are formed when magma comes up through cracks in the Earth’s crust and explodes out of lava and ash. The Hawaiian volcanoes, Mt. Hood, Mt. Etna, Vesuvius, and Mt. Saint Helens is an example of volcanic mountains.
Volcanoes can be one of the most destructive forces on Earth. It is estimated that some
Volcanoes can cause damage by spewing lava, but earthquakes before the eruption can also cause damage. These earthquakes open fissures and let magma out to the surface. When the magma exits these fissures, streams of lava up to hundreds of feet can shoot into the air. The picture below shows the lava erupting from the fissures created by the earthquakes in...
From modern examples and records we know that volcanic activity can set of a chai...
The sulfate aerosols cause chemical reactions in addition to chlorine and bromine reactions on stratospheric clouds that destroy the ozone.8 Some ozone depletion is due to volcanic eruptions. Analysis of the El Chichon volcanic eruption in 1983 found ozone destruction in areas of higher aerosol concentration (Hofmann and Solomon, "Ozone Destruction through Heterogeneous Chemistry Following the Eruption of El Chichon"). They deduced that the "aerosol particles act as a base for multiphase reactions leading