VOLCANOES

Presented by:
Abinash Acharya
 Whatis a volcano?

where magma
• It is point on the earth’s crust
forcesits wayto the surface due to pressure.

• Ash and gasesmay alsoescape during a

typical volcanic eruption.
Location Of Volcanoes
Layout Of A Volcano
 Types Of Volcanoes
Acid Volcanoes Basaltic Volcanoes
• Highly explosive • Less explosive*

• Magma/lava is viscous • Magma/lava less viscous

(thick) (runny)

• Found where oceanic crust • Found at rift zones

is subducted under (constructive boundaries)
continental crust and hotspots
 Acid Volcanoes
Lava Domes Stratovolcanoes

• Formed of layers of lava • Also called composite

high in silica volcanoes
• Lava is viscous and does not • Formed of layers of lava and
flow very far ashes
• RoundedForm • Lava is viscous
• Composed completely of • Distinct cone shape
lava
LAVA DOMES-EXAMPLE

Mount Chaiten, Chile

STRATOVOLCANO
-EXAMPLE

Mount St. Helen, US (Before and after)

 Basaltic Volcanoes
• Also known as shield volcanoes

• Consists of widespreadlayers of lava and

have low viscosity

• Silica content is low

• Low form spread over a great distance

Basaltic Volcano-Example

Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland
 Calderas Volcanoes
• Collapsed Volcanoes
• Magma chamber has emptied and the ground
has sunk
• Often becomes a lake
• New volcanoes can form, or pressure can build
from below, lifting the ground
• If acidic, this can cause a catastrophic eruption
in the form of a ’Super Volcano’
Calderas-Example

Mount Pinatubo, Phillipines

 Hotspots

• Tectonic plate moves over a magma plume

• Occasionally erupts, creating a volcano
Major Hotspots
 Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)
TYPE DESCRIPTION EXAMPLE
Hawaiian Gentle Kilauea
Strombolian Explosive Stromboli
Vulcanian Severe Nabro
Peléan Cataclysmic Mt.Pelée
Plinian Paroxysmal St.Helens
Plinian/Ultra-Plinian Colossal Krakatoa
Ultra-Plinian Super-Colossal Tambora
Supervolcanic Mega-Colossal Yellow Stone

Number 8 has never been experienced in human history

The list has been simplified. See correct details here:
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/scales/VEI.html
Volcanic Activity Index
 VolcanicHazards

Most hazards during eruptions are caused by

what comes out of a volcano. In the next few
slides, we’ll be seeing the different types of
volcanic hazards.
 Volcanic Hazards – Lava Flows
• Mostly associated with basic volcanos
• Slow moving 1 – 5 km/h
• Low risk to human life
• Cover large areas and destroy large amounts of
infrastructure
 Hazards- Lahars

• Occur on highvolcanos covered in snow and

ice, or wetmud/soil
• Eruption causes snow to
melt, or lava mixes
with mud
• Flows downhill like wet concrete
 Hazards – Ash Clouds

• Slow moving
• Weight of ash can collapse buildings
• Destroys crops, pollutes water
• Affects air traffic
• Can enter high atmosphere and cause cooling– disrupting
climate
 Benefits Of Living Near a
Volcanic Region
• Aesthetic beauty eg. Mount Fuji, Japan
• Mining of minerals and diamonds
• Geothermal energy and hot springs
• Highly fertile soils– soft rocks and high
mineral content
PredictingVolcanicEruptions

• Monitoring seismic
disturbances (tremors)
• Changes in volcano profile
(shape)
• Chemical changes in
groundwater
• Emissions of gases
• Thermalmonitoring
(temperature)
 History Of Eruptions
• 1800 BC – destruction of Bronze age
settlements – then several more times
• 79 AD – destruction of Pompeii
• At least 40 times until the last eruption in 1944
– witnessed by allied troops towards the end of
WWII
• = once every 40-50 years
 Reducing The Risks

• Round-the-clock monitoring of the volcano:

Tremors, gases, changes in water
• Identifying hazard areas: Weak spots,
secondary vents, predicting routes of
pyroclastic flows
• Creating an evacuation plan: Zoning, warning
systems, public education
References