Maybe you’ve seen them on TV, on the news, news about volcanic eruptions and the damage they cause to their surroundings. Volcanic eruptions are very dangerous, but there is a good reason as to why this phenomenon happens. And to further understand this we must first understand what they are and how they work.
A volcano is described as an opening in the Earth’s surface, an opening through which lava, hot gases, and some rock fragments erupt. This opening happens when lava, which is a mixture of melted rocks, from deep in the Earth’s crust blasts through the surface.
Most volcanoes are shaped like mountains, sort of like an upside-down cone. This shape takes place because of the way the volcano
(a picture of Almolonga, a volcano in Guatemala)erupts, which is the lava build up around the opening by lava and other materials thrown out, during the eruption.
To see a volcanic eruption is an amazing sight. During an eruption huge fiery clouds sometimes rise over the mountain, and bright rivers of lava flow down its sides. In some other eruptions, hot ash and cinders shoot out the top of the mountain, and large chunks of hot rock are blasted high into the air. Some eruptions can be so violent that it can blow the mountain apart.
Some islands are called volcanic islands, because these islands are the tops of volcanic mountains that have been built up from the ocean floor by repeated eruptions. Other types of ocean eruptions take place in cracks in the ocean floor. In these eruptions, lava flows away from the cracks, building up the ocean bottom.
The word volcano comes from Vulcan, a name that ancient Romans gave to their god of fire. They believed that the god lived underneath a volcanic island of the Italian coast. They called the island Volcano.
Most people are both fascinated by the spectacle of volcanic eruptions and terrified by their amazing power. Volcanic eruptions have caused some of the worst disasters in history, wiping out entire towns and killing thousands of people. What needs to be understood is that they have many benefits. For example, rock formed from lava is used in rebuilding roads. Purnice, a glass that comes from lava, is used to grind and polish stones and metals. In some volcanic regions people use underground steam as a source of energy. The geothermal energy is used by cities like Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, and the United States to create electric power.
But the most important fact is that volcanic eruptions serve as a “window” to the Earth’s interior for scientist to learn more about the conditions within the earth.
Small-scale eruptions from Fuego, a volcano in central America
Check out these sites for further information on Volcanoes
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