SCIENCE NOTES: Parts of a Volcano and its formation.
Ria’s Notes || 9-MMOR
FORMATION OF A VOLCANO
The tectonic plates are in contact with each
other, but they are also moving relative to
one another. The movement of faults at
plate boundaries can provide a convenient
pathway for magma to reach the surface. It
helps to explain this by looking at the three
main types of plate boundaries:
● constructive boundaries (divergent):
where plates are moving away from
each other as new crust is created
between the two plates.
● destructive boundaries (convergent):
where plates are moving towards
each other and old crust is either
dragged down into the mantle at the
subduction zone or pushed upwards
to form mountain ranges.
● transform boundaries (conservative):
where plates are moving past each
other and crust is neither nor
destroyed.
There are three settings where volcanoes
typically form:
● constructive plate boundaries
● destructive plate boundaries
● hot spots
Volcanoes do not typically occur at
transform boundaries. One of the reasons
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for this is that there is little or no magma
available at the plate boundary.
Constructive plate boundaries volcanoes
At constructive plate boundaries, the
tectonic plates are moving away from one
another. The Earth’s crust is pulled apart to
create a new pathway for rising hot magma
to flow on to the surface. Volcanoes can
sometimes form in these settings; one
example is Iceland.
Iceland lies on the Mid Atlantic Ridge, a
constructive plate boundary, where the
North American and Eurasian plates are
moving away from each other. As the plates
pull apart, molten rock (magma) rises up
and erupts as lava, creating a new ocean
crust. The island is covered with more than
100 volcanoes. Some are extinct, but over
30 are still active. The majority of volcanism
in Iceland occurs along volcanic rift zones
that cut through the centre of the island.
Destructive plate boundary volcanoes
Volcanoes form here in two settings where
either an oceanic plate descends below
another oceanic plate or an oceanic plate
descends below a continental plate. This
process is called subduction and creates
distinctive types of volcanoes depending on
the setting:
● ocean-ocean subduction produces
an island-arc volcano
● ocean-continent subduction
produces Andean-type volcanoes
SCIENCE NOTES: Parts of a Volcano and its formation.
Ria’s Notes || 9-MMOR

Subduction provides a mechanism for

introducing water-bearing sediments into
the mantle. As the subducted oceanic plate
sinks and heats up, water is gradually
released from the sediments and minerals
within the plate ‘slab’. Water has the effect
of reducing the melting temperature of the
mantle by about 60–100°C. It is this process
that allows the generation of magma at
depth that feeds volcanoes that are formed
at the surface. PARTS OF A VOLCANO
● Volcano
Hot-spot volcanism ○ a vent or fissure (split) in the
Volcanoes can also form above a column of Earth’s surface through
superheated magma called a mantle plume. which magma and gasses
This may happen in areas that are distant are expelled.
from plate boundaries. It is also referred to ● Vent
as hotspot or intraplate volcanism. ○ an opening at the surface of
the Earth through which
Heat from the mantle plume causes melting volcanic material passes
and thinning of the crust, which leads to ● Magma
volcanic activity at the surface. The ○ hot, molten rock beneath the
Hawai’ian Islands are a chain of volcanoes Earth’s surface
in the middle of the Pacific Plate, which ● Lava
have formed due to the presence of a hot ○ magma that flows onto the
spot. The Hawai’ian hot spot causes Earth’s surface.
magma to rise and erupt as lava on the ● Pyroclastic Material
ocean floor. Over millions of years, the ○ material including ash and
Pacific Plate has moved over the hot spot, large blocks of rock that are
creating a chain of volcanic islands. blasted into the air during an
explosive volcanic eruption.
● Ash
○ dust-sized particles of
hardened lava

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SCIENCE NOTES: Parts of a Volcano and its formation.
Ria’s Notes || 9-MMOR

● Crater ○ a column of magma that

○ the funnel-shaped pit near rises from deep within the
the top of the central vent of Earth
a volcano
● Caldera
○ a large, semicircular
depression that forms when
the magma chamber below a
volcano partially empties and
causes the ground above to
sink
● Lava Plateau
○ a wide, flat landform that
results from the repeated non
explosive eruptions of lava
that spread out over a large
area.
● Riffs
○ long crack in the Earth’s crust
● Riff zone
○ an area of deep cracks that
form between two tectonic
plates that are pulling away
from each other.
● Mid-ocean Ridge
○ a long, undersea mountain
chain that forms along the
floor of the world’s major
oceans
● Divergent boundary
○ where two tectonic plates
separate or divide
● Hot Spot
○ a volcanically active area on
the Earth’s surface that is far
from a tectonic plate
boundary.
● Convergent boundary
○ where two tectonic plates
collide
● Mantle Plume