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Types of volcanoes
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Past cultures and civilizations have perished due to many environmental factors including natural disasters. Efforts have been put towards finding out what causes one of the worst ones; volcanoes. Key elements such as the worst volcanic eruption in history, can help researchers in the process of studying volcanoes. In addition, looking at the procedure in which volcanoes go through to erupt can lead towards a big discovery that can open new doors and new ideas.
Over millions of years, thousands of eruptions have taken place across the globe; many of which are still active and erupting. Over the past ten years, about 550 eruptions have happened, about one happening every week. The most volcanic activity in the world is located in the Ring of Fire. The Ring of Fire has approximately 452 volcanoes and it surrounds the Pacific Ocean. However, some of those eruptions are very little and don’t cause any harm because of what type they are.
There are many different types of volcanoes but there are three main types, shield, composite and cinder cone which can be in one of four states, dormant, active, extinct and intermittent. Different types of volcanoes produce various eruptions and appear different. A shield volcano has sloped sides and has fast flowing lava. The type of volcano that
Helens, Washington. The eruption researchers believe to be the biggest, was five times as big as the eruption in Yellowstone. Yellowstone produced 1,000 km in magma whereas the eruption of Wah Wah Springs produced 5,000 km, ten million years ago. Although humans were not around, modern day plants and animals can be found in the magma. The largest eruption in US history was in Mount St. Helens in Washington. On May 18th, 1980, this destructive explosion caused the loss of 57 people. Avalanches and thousands of earthquakes shook the mountain and tons of ash were extruded in the
On May 18th, 1980, one of the most prominent volcanic eruptions in US History took place in the state of Washington. Mount St. Helens had been dormant for almost 100 years before March 15th. On this day, two months before the eruption several small earthquakes shook the earth. This indicated a magma buildup below the surface, and the first minor event that would lead to one of the greatest eruptions the US has ever known. Following the first set of earthquakes, “Steam explosions blasted a 60- to 75-m (200- to 250-ft) wide crater through the volcano 's summit ice cap and covered the snow-clad southeast sector with dark ash. Within a week the crater had grown to about 400 m (1,300 ft) in diameter and two giant crack systems crossed the entire summit area. Eruptions occurred on average from
Mount St. Helens is an active stratovalcano in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located 96 miles south of Seattle and 53 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon. The mountain is part of the Cascade Range. It is most famous for a catastrophic eruption on May 18, 1980. That eruption was the most deadly and economically destructive volcanic eruption in the history of the United States. 57 people were killed, and 200 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles (24 km) of railways and 185 miles (300 km) of highway were destroyed. The eruption blew the top of the mountain off, reducing its summit from 9,677 feet to 8,364 feet in elevation and replacing it with a mile-wide horeshoeshaped crater.
Mt. St. Helens is famously for its eruption on May 18, 1980, although the mountain had previous eruptions with four different stages and the stages often had similarities including the devastating one in 1980; in addition, the 1980 eruption presented serious havoc that led to a long road of recovery. The first stage known as the Ape Canyon Stage and according to the U.S. Geological survey it was ignited from series of small eruptions that created the birth of the mountain; during this phase these eruptions possibly formed domes and pyroclastic flows. Mt. St. Helens in the Cougar stage formulated lava domes and flows just like the Ape Canyon stage including eruptions that escalated enormous volumes of ash along with pyroclastic flows; furthermore
Volcanoes are one of the most disastrous yet captivating geological land forms on earth. Many volcanic eruptions are catastrophic, but not all volcanic eruptions are as brutal. The two case studies I have chosen to compare and contrast are the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption with the eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano which is still active today.
The eruption on Mount Saint Helens has a specific cause and comes with many effects. A multifold of people would say that the “mountain looked like the site of an atomic blast” (Bredeson 30). That is a very accurate depiction as it took great power to inflict as much damage as it did. The reason for this impressive amount of force is that when magma is built up with pressure and an earthquake hits, the pressure gets magnified and the volcano explodes (Lewis). This is exactly what happened inside Mount Saint Helens. Furthermore, it has been revealed that “The earthquake that triggered the explosion was a 5.2 on the Richter scale” (Gunn 559). The earthquake to the magma can be compared as a match to gasoline. Even though the earthquake was not huge, the scale of the eruption was much greater than that of the earthquake (Gunn 560). The earthquake was only the trigger that allowed for more devastating things to occur. Thirteen hundred feet of the volcano were lost in the explosion followed by landslides, mudslides, and lava flows...
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.
From modern examples and records we know that volcanic activity can set of a chai...
Volcanoes. The naturally forming landforms that can look remarkably beautiful. Gentle slopes, or high rising heights with snow caps and greenery that seems to attract many tourists and sightseers around the world. These magnificent landforms can also cause major destruction and can produce forces that can explode, burn, and create a great deal of damage. Two of these extravagant wonders of the world is the Mount Saint Helens composite volcano in Washington, US, and the Mauna Loa shield volcano in Hawaii, US. These landforms have a eruption history of many colors. One has a great power in eruption, but another has a eruption that is quiet and gentle. In comparing these two volcanoes there are many likes, and dislikes, to consider. So the following
Stories about volcanoes are captivating. Myths come in different versions, but all of them are capable of capturing yours, and everybody’s imagination.
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...
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.
There are four major types of study that make up a volcanologist or team of volcanologists. These include physical volcanologists, geophysicists, geodesic volcanologists and geochemists (What does a volcanologist do?, n.d.). Physical volcanologists study the actual processes that make up a volcanic eruption. They also study the deposits made during the eruption. Where the rocks from the eruption were distributed and what their makeup is.
There are two types of Igneous rocks. The first is intrusive, which is when the magma slowly cools beneath the earths surface. Because the magma is cooling slowly it allows the rocks end result to form crystal- like pigments. Examples of intrusive igneous rocks are Diorite, Gabbro, Granite, Pegmatite, and Periodotite. All of these rocks are course and grainy. The other type is an extrusive Igneous rock. This lava erupts onto the surface of the earth and cools rapidly also forming crystals, the lava cools so fast that at times it allows the rocks to form as clear-like glass. Examples of these rocks are Andesite, Basalt, Obsidian, Pumice, Rhyolite, Scoria,
Volcanoes are formed when magma is expelled from the Earth’s surface, resulting in volcanic eruptions consisting of ash and lava. Over time, the lava cools and forms into rock on the Earth’s surface. Whenever an eruption occurs, the newly-formed rock from the lava layers continuously until the volcano takes its shape. Volcanic eruptions have taken place for thousands of years, and even today, according to the U.S Geological Survey (2010), there are approximately 1500 active volcanoes located throughout the world.