Little-Known Facts About Volcanoes volcanoes are at the Ring of Fire. This Everest.
e. This Everest. Mauna Loa has also been very
So there you have it. These are the 10 most
fascinating facts about volcanoes.
Do you have an interest in learning more about
volcanoes? Here are some online courses
offered by universities around the world, which
you can explore.
When I was a kid, I used to play a game
where everything was lava…Except for the
couch. And if you were stuck on the floor,
then you’d get burned by lava. But little did I
know: The lava I was referring to came from
a volcano, which is a real risk in life. So even
when you were a kid, you knew the stuff that
came out of volcanoes can be pretty deadly.
Today, we’re going to look at little-known
facts about volcanoes. Enjoy
1. Ash from volcanoes can spark lightning
Lightning commonly occurs in sync with
volcanic eruptions. But how come? As the
ash from a volcano rises, it builds static
electricity the same way clouds do. It
interacts with the weather system which
allows lightning to strike.
Enter
2. 75% of volcanoes are at the Ring of Fire.
The Pacific Ring of Fire is a string of
volcanoes is where the Pacific Ocean
seafloor is subducting under the continents. It
brings water causing volcanic eruptions from
stratovolcanoes. 75% of the world’s
includes the deadliest volcanoes in the active erupting 33 times since 1832.
United States, Japan, and the Philippines.
Indonesia is the most volcanically active 5. Volcanoes released water vapor for us to
country on the Ring of Fire. drink Volcanoes created much of the water
we drink and the air we breathe. Degassing is
the process that water existed inside the
rocks that made up the Earth itself. Because
Earth’s interior contains minerals with
hydrogen and oxygen, volcanoes continually
degas releasing H2O as water vapor.
6. Mount Olympus is the largest volcano in
the solar system On Mars, the largest
volcano is Mount Olympus. But not only on
planet Mars, but it’s also the largest in the
whole solar system. Mount Olympus formed
billions of years ago. Mars didn’t have plate
3. Lava from volcanoes build new land tectonics. And it didn’t have surface geology
Volcanoes are areas inside the planet that like Earth. But it did have a period of active
degassing where huge amounts of gases like
makes their way to the surface. They create
water and carbon dioxide ejected out from
new land like in Hawaii. Continents would be
the interior of Mars.
smaller if it wasn’t for volcanoes. The majority
of Earth’s surface is volcanic rock. All ocean
seafloor is created by basalt coming out at
mid-ocean ridges.
4. Mauna Loa is taller than Mount Everest It’s
a little-known fact that the Mauna Loa
volcano in Hawaii is taller than Mount
Everest. This is because most of the Mauna
Loa is below the ocean surface. From sea
level base to its summit, it’s 9,170 meters in
height. That’s 300+ meters higher than Mount
7. The mysterious case of Paricutin A cinder
cone volcano “Paricutin” appeared out of
nowhere in a cornfield in Mexico. It baffled
scientists and became a popular tourist
destination for volcanologists to study. During
9 years of volcanic activity, it left a 420-meter
tall cone without erupting ever again. It’s now
become one of the 7 natural wonders of the
world.
among the most dangerous: Lava is molten
hot rock. Temperatures reach up to 1200+°C.
Then, pyroclastics are deadly because
they’re fast, hot, and poisonous. This type of
flow can travel at speeds up to 700 mph.
Finally, VOG is a form of air pollution mixing
sulfur dioxide and other particles from
volcanic eruptions.

8. Kilauea in Hawaii poses the highest threat

in the United States. The United States has a
large geographic footprint of volcanoes with
>10% of active volcanoes. According to the
USGS National Volcanic Threat Assessment,
Kilauea in Hawaii poses the highest threat in
the United States because developed areas
still exist on the flanks. Next on the list are
Mount St. Helens and Rainier as the
deadliest.

9. Mudflows (Lahars) are deadly hazards at

volcanoes Lahars are deadly mudflows
resulting from volcanoes. They are capable of
sweeping people to death and tearing down
infrastructure. According to USGS, lahars
caused the deaths of more than 44,000
worldwide between 1600-2010. Lahars are
among the most serious ground-based
hazards at volcanoes.
Enter

10. Temperatures can reach up to 1200+°C

at volcanoes When volcanoes erupt, lava,
pyroclastic and volcanic smog (VOG) are

Why are there different types of volcano?
Viscosity is important in volcanology. An
eruption of highly viscous (very sticky) magma
tends to produce steep-sided volcanoes with
slopes that are about 30–35°. That’s because
the viscous volcanic material doesn’t flow that
far from where it is erupted, so it builds up in
layers forming a cone-shaped volcano known
as a stratovolcano. Shield volcanoes, on the
other hand, have gentle slopes that are less
than 10° and erupt more fluid lavas called
basalt. When a shield volcano erupts, the
basalt can flow great distances away from the
vent to produce broad, gentle slopes.
Stratovolcano Stratovolcanoes have relatively
steep sides and are more cone-shaped than
shield volcanoes. They are formed from
viscous, sticky lava that does not flow easily.
The lava therefore builds up around the vent
forming a volcano with steep sides.
Stratovolcanoes are more likely to produce
explosive eruptions due to gas building up in
the viscous magma. Andesite (named after the
Andes Mountains), is perhaps the most
common rock type of stratovolcanoes, but
stratovolcanoes also erupt a wide range of
different rocks in different tectonic settings.

Shield volcanoes Where a volcano produces

low viscosity, runny lava, it spreads far from the
source and forms a volcano with gentle slopes:
a shield volcano. Most shield volcanoes are
formed from fluid, basaltic lava flows. Mauna
Kea and Mauna Loa are shield volcanoes. They
are the world’s largest active volcanoes, rising
over 9 km above the sea floor around the island
of Hawai’
Lava dome The Soufrière Hills volcano, on the
Caribbean island of Montserrat, is well known
for its lava dome complex at the summit of the
volcano, which has gone through phases of
growth and collapse. As viscous lava is not very
fluid, it cannot flow away from the vent easily
when it is extruded. Instead it piles up on top of
the vent forming a large, dome-shaped mass of
material.
Volcanoes spew hot, dangerous gases, ash,
lava, and rock that are powerfully destructive.
People have died from volcanic blasts.
Volcanic eruptions can result in additional
threats to health, such as floods, mudslides,
power outages, drinking water contamination,
and wildfires. Health concerns after a
volcanic eruption include infectious disease,
respiratory illness, burns, injuries from falls,
and vehicle accidents related to the slippery,
hazy conditions caused by ash. When
warnings are heeded, the chances of adverse
health effects from a volcanic eruption are
very low.
Volcanic ash Exposure to ash can be
harmful. Infants, elderly people, and people
with respiratory conditions such as asthma,
emphysema, and other chronic lung diseases
may have problems if they breathe in
volcanic ash. Ash is gritty, abrasive,
sometimes corrosive, and always unpleasant.
Small ash particles can abrade (scratch) the
front of the eye. Ash particles may contain
crystalline silica, a material that causes a
respiratory disease called silicosis.

Gases Most gases from a volcano quickly

blow away. However, heavy gases such as
carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide can
collect in low-lying areas. The most common
volcanic gas is water vapor, followed by
carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide. Sulfur
dioxide can cause breathing problems in both
healthy people and people with asthma and
other respiratory problems. Other volcanic
gases include hydrogen chloride, carbon
monoxide, and hydrogen fluoride. Amounts of
these gases vary widely from one volcanic
eruption to the next. Although gases usually
blow away rapidly, it is possible that people
who are close to the volcano or who are in
the low-lying areas downwind may be
exposed to levels that may affect health. At
low levels, gases can irritate the eyes, nose,
and throat. At higher levels, gases can cause
rapid breathing, headache, dizziness,
swelling and spasm of the throat, and
suffocation.