Volcanoes MADE BY SHABAZ AHMED
5 I
What is a volcano?
• A point on the earth’s crust where magma forces its way to the surface
• Ash and gases may also escape
Where do they occur?
• On subduction zones• On constructive plate boundaries• On hot spots
What types of volcanoes are there?
Acid volcanoes• Highly explosive• Magma/lava is viscous
(thick)• Found where oceanic
crust is subducted under continental crust
Basaltic volcanoes• Less explosive*• Magma/lava less viscous
(runny)• Found at rift zones
(constructive boundaries) and hotspots
* Continental hotspots are basaltic but potentially highly explosive
Acid (rhyolitic) volcanoes
Lava domes• Formed of layers of lava
high in silica• Lava is viscous and does
not run very far• Rounded form• composed completely of
lava
Stratovolcanoes • Also called composite
volcanoes• Formed of layers of lava
and ashes• Lava is viscous• Distinct cone shape
Example – lava dome
• Mount St Helens - Washington state, USA
beforeduring
after
Example - stratovolcano
• Mount Pinatubo, Luzon, Philipines
before
During…
after
Other famous stratovolcanoes
Fuji,dormant
Krakatoa,active
Vesuvius,active
Kilamanjaro,dormant
Location of stratovolcanoes• Along subduction
zones
• Often found in volcanic arcs*
• E.g. Cascade range, USA
*not to be confused with Island chains formed over hotspots
Basic (basaltic) volcanoes
• Also known as shield volcanoes• Formed of widespread layers of lava low in
silica – low viscsity, lava travels very far• Low form spread over a great distance
Example – basic volcano
• Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland
Example 2
• Kilauea, Hawaii
Calderas
• 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”
Caldera - Santorini
• Destroyed the Minoan civilization due to tsunamis circa 1600BC
• May have given rise to the Atlantis myth
Yellowstone national park
Yellowstone is a hotspot
Hotspots
• Tectonic plate moves over a magma ”plume”
• Occasionally erupts, creating a volcano
• Hawaii – basic• Yellowstone - acid
Major hotspots
Volcanic Explosivity index (VEI)• 1 – Hawaiian gentle (Kilauea)• 2 – Strombolian explosive (Stromboli)• 3 – Vulcanian severe• 4 – Peléan cataclysmic (Mt.Pelée)• 5 – Plinian paroxysmal (St.Helens)• 6 – plinian/ultra-plinian colossal (Krakatoa)• 7 – ultra-plinian super-colossal (Tamb.)• 8 – supervolcanic mega-colossal (Y.st)
Number 8 has never been experienced in human historyThe list has been simplified. See correct details here:
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/scales/VEI.html
Volcanic hazards
• Most hazards during eruptions are caused by what comes out of a volcano
• In worst case scenarios then a volcano may violently explode
Volcanic hazards – lava flows• Mostly associated
with basic volcanos• Slow moving 1 – 5
kmh• Low risk to human
life• Cover large areas
and destroy large amounts of infrastructure
Hazards – pyroclastic flows
• Hot clouds of ash and gas• Move downhill, close to the ground,
following valleys• High speed – up to 500 kmh• As far as 30 km• Up to 7000 C• Highly dangerous
Hazards - lahars
• Occur on high volcanos covered in snow and ice, or wet mud/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
Hazards – lava bombs• Molten rocks thrown out of volcano• Pummice – smaller rocks• Travel short distances• Can start fires
The Decade Volcanoes
• 16 volcanoes identified as potentially highly hazardous to humankind
So why live near a volcano?• Aesthetic beauty
e.g. Mount Fuji, Japan
• Mining of minerals and diamonds
• Geothermal energy and hot springs
So why live near a volcano?• Highly fertile soils – soft rocks and high
mineral content
So why live near a volcano?• Poverty – cheap
marginal land• Overcrowding
and population pressure – nowhere else to live
• Common problems in LEDCs
So why live near a volcano?• Complacency or naivete
– ”nothing will happen”• Confidence
– ”we will be warned and have time to get away”• Tradition/family
– ”we have always lived here”
Predicting volcanic eruptions
• Monitoring seismic disturbances (tremors)• Changes in volcano profile (shape)• Chemical changes in groundwater• Emissions of gases• Thermal monitoring (temperature)
Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius is an active volcano in ItalyIt is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted in the last 100
yearsIt is not currently eruptingIt is dormant, not extinct
• Vesuvius is
in southern Italy near Naples
• Location: 40°49′N
14°26′E
Naples
Vesuvius
Vesuvius is a composite volcano(strato-volcano)
Vesuvius - data• Height (elevation)
1,281 metres (4,203 ft) above sea level
• Has a collapsed caldera from a previous eruption
Formed at the collision of two tectonic plates – the African and
the Eurasian• A converging,
destructive boundary, with very little movement
• Several volcanoes nearby, none active
An acid volcano• Potential for
violent eruptions• Slow moving lava• Explosions• Hot ash/cinders• Pyroclastic flows• Real danger!
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
Pompeii Ad79
Pompeii AD79
• Massive eruption of Vesuvius buries the towns of Pompeii under a thick layer of burning ashes and pumice up to 2.8 metres deep and Herculaneum under 23 metres of ash and pumice
• Eruption lasted for two days• Deaths unknown – estimates from 5000 to
25000
Causes of deaths
• Burial under ash and pumice• Killed by pyroclastic flows• Collapsing building• Rain of lava bombs• Starvation• Disease• Drowning (many fled to the sea for rescue)
Buried alive!
The population of Naples is 960,000(as of 2012)The centre of Naples is 15km from Vesuvius
the population of the Naples suburban region is nearer 3 million
Reducing the risks
• Round-the-clock monitoring of the volcano– Tremors, gasses, changes in water
• Identifying hazard areas– Weak spots, secondary vents, predicting
routes of pyroclastic flows• Creating an evacuation plan
– Zoning, warning systems, public education
Evacuation plans?• Red zone – immediate risk from pyroclastics• Blue zone – secondary zone of floods and lahars• Yellow zone – mostly ash and other debris
Useful links
• http://greenfieldgeography.wikispaces.com/IGCSE+Plate+Tectonics+and+GCSE+Plate+Tectonics
• http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/
• http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/chapter10.html
• http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hazards/index.php