Module 7.

Volcanoes & Volcanic Eruptions

What's This Module About?
In this module you'll learn about what volcanoes are, and the variety of shapes and sizes they
come in. The module covers volcanic eruption styles ranging from freely flowing lava that
can be observed close-up, to extremely dangerous explosive eruptions. You'll learn about
how plate tectonics influences why particular kinds of volcanoes form where they do. You'll
also find out about the many different hazards that accompany volcanic eruptions, and how
scientists monitor volcanoes to keep the public safe.

Master List of Readings & Activities (In Order)

 Read Chapter 11, Volcanism to the end of section 11.4.

 Watch the videos about types of volcanic eruptions (Video Interlude 1).

 Read 11.5 Plate Tectonics & Volcanism.

 Watch the video about settings of volcanism, and answer the questions (Activity &
Video Interlude 2).

 Read 11.6 Volcanic Hazards.

 Watch the videos about people's experiences with different types of volcanic hazards
(Video Interlude 3). Note: These videos do not include graphic content.

 Read 11.7 Monitoring Volcanoes & Predicting Eruptions.

 Relax with the Volatile Volcanoes tour in Google Earth at https://bit.ly/2Z1iTuF.

(This link is case sensitive.)

Learning Objectives
When you have finished this module, you should be able to do the following:

1. Explain what a volcano is.

2. Describe the different products of volcanic eruptions.

3. Compare and contrast the different types of volcano structures.

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 4. Compare and contrast the different types of volcanic eruptions.

5. Summarize the types of volcanism characteristic of different plate tectonic settings.

6. Describe the nature and mitigation of volcanic hazards.

 Key Terms & Concepts

1. Volcano – a location where molten rock flows put, or erupts, onto Earth surface as
lava

2. Volcanic eruption

a. Lava – the ease with which lava flows, and the structures it forms depend on
how much silica and gas are in the lava

i. The more silica, the more polymerization (formation of long

molecules) happens, stiffening the lava. Higher silica lava contains
more gas than low silica.

ii. Lava that flows easily has low viscosity (the thickness and shape of
lava), and lava that is sticky has high viscosity. The greater the
viscosity, the shorter the distance is can go before solidifying

b. Fissure eruptions – volcanic

eruptions flowing from long
cracks in the Earth

3. Parts of a volcano

a. Magma chamber

b. Vent

c. Flank eruption

d. Lava flows

e. Crater – the basin above a volcanoes vent that have diameters in the scale of
10s to 100s of meters

4. Caldera – a bowl shaped structure that resembles a crater, but it’s much larger and
forms when a volcano collapses in on itself

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5. Volcanic gas (fumaroles) – openings where gases erupt from a volcano

- Most gas emitted by volcanoes is water, but gas also contains carbon dioxide (CO2),
sulphur dioxide (SO2) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) or order of decreasing abundance

6. Lava structures

a. Lava dome – high viscosity lava that accumulates as a bulge in a volcano’s

crater

b. Lava tube – conduits where low viscosity lava flows for extended distances

c. Lava levees – formations created when flowing ava cools near it’s margins

7. Lava flow characteristics

a. Pahoehoe – Basaltic lava with an unfragmented surface. It can be smooth and

billowy

b. Ropy lava – pahoehoe lava that has developed a wrinkled texture. It forms
when the outermost layers= of lava cools and develops a skin, but the skin is
still hot end thin enough to be flexible.

c. Vesicles – holes formed within lava when the lava solidifies around gas
bubbles

d. A’a – sharp splintery rubble like lava flow that results from the outer
layer of lava breaking into fragments as lava moves beneath

i. Difference between a’a and the blocky lava is that the blocky
lava has fragments with smoother surfaces and fewer vesicles

e. Blocky lava – fragmented surface caused by higher viscosity andesitic lava

flows.

f. Pillow lavas – the result of when lava flows into water and the outside of the
lava cools quickly, making a tube. Blobs of lava develop at the end of the tube
forming pillows

g. Columnar joints – long vertical cracks formed within brittle rock when lava
cools, solidifies and shrinks

8. Tephra/ pyroclastic debris – loose material thrown from a volcano / individuals

fragments are referred to as pyroclasts

a. Volcanic ash – small mineral grains and glass less than 2mm in diameter

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 b. Lapilli – fragments with dimensions between 2mm and 64mm

i. Pele’s tears – form when droplets of lava cool quickly as they are
flung through the air

ii. Pele’s hair – rapidly moving through the air may draw Pele’s tears
into long threads
c. Blocks – solid fragments of the volcano that form when an explosive eruption
Fragments > shatters pre-existing rocks
64mm
d. Bombs – form when lava is thrown from the volcano and cools as it travels
through the air

e. Scoria – the mafic counterpart to pumice. Highly vesicular mafic tephra

f. Pumice – forms from gas-filled felsic lava. Vesicular felsic tephra that can
float on water

g. Reticulite – a rare and fragile rock in which the walls surrounding the
bubbles have all burst, leaving behind a delicate network of glass

9. Types of volcanoes

a. Cinder(spatter) cone – have straight sides, are the smallest and typically less
than 200m high. Most are made up from fragments of scoria that were
expelled from the volcano as gas-rich magma erupted. Because they are made
of loose fragments, they have very little strength

b. Composite volcano – have a conical shape with sides that steepen toward the
summit and are the next largest. Consist of layers of lava alternating with
layers of tephra. They typically erupt higher viscosity lavas which don’t travel
as far from the vent

c. Shield volcano – get their name from their broad rounded shape and are the
largest. They get their hill like shape because they are built of successive
flows of low-viscosity lava. Lava can flow for longer distances resulting in
greater size of shield volcanoes

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10. Eruption columns – how high they blast material into the air. These columns are
used to classify eruptions

11. Types of eruptions

a. Hawai’ian – they are effusive (flowing) rather than explosive because

they erupt low-viscosity basaltic lava. They form shield volcanoes and
can also take the form of fissure eruptions (eruptions that occur when
lava erupts from long cracks in the ground rather than from a central
vent). Can be refired to as “gentle eruptions”

b. Strombolian – occur when basaltic lava has higher viscosity and higher gas
content. The lava is ejected in loud, violent but short lived sputtery eruptions

a. Vulcanian – much more explosive than Strombolian and

can blast tephra and gas to a height of 5-10km. the
explosiveness is related to a build up of pressure as the higher
viscosity of intermediate silica content restricts the escape of
gas. They result in a phenomenon called the pyroclastic flow

b. Plinian – explosive eruptions of intermediate to

felsic lava that can erupt columns up to 45km high. Pyroclastic
flows resulted, as did lahars, landslides that formed when glaciers
melted and turned volcanic ash into mud. The shape of the eruption
column reflect different atmospheric characteristics

c. Hydrovolcanic (Phreatic)- far more explosive

than any other. They occur when water in the
form of groundwater, seawater or meting glacier
water comes into contact with magma. Heat from
the magma changes water suddenly to steam

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 which can expand to more than a thousand times the original volume of water.
The sudden expansion results in an explosive force that can blast a volcano to
pieces and create volcanic ash.

7. Settings for volcanism

a. Along divergent plate margins

b. Along subduction zones – composite volcanoes with Vulcanic or Plinian

eruption styles are characteristic of the volcanic arcs that form in subduction
zones. Where two margins of oceanic crust collide the volcanic arc will be a
chain of volcanic islands. Where continent and oceanic crust collide, there will
be a volcanic arc on the continental crust.

c. Due to mantle plumes (rising columns of hot solid rock)

1. Hotspot volcano – the lithospheric plate above the mantle plume is

moving across the plume, so a chain of hotspot volcanoes can result as
existing hotspot volcanoes are slowly moved away from the mantle
plume and new volcanoes form in the lithosphere.

2. Mantle plume

3. Large igneous province (LIP)

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 4. Kimberlite

8. Volcanic hazards

a. Toxic gas

b. Tephra – loose material thrown from a volcano

c. Climate change

d. Pyroclastic flows

e. Lahar

f. Sector collapse

9. Monitoring volcanoes

a. Seismometers

b. Detecting gases

c. Tiltmeters