VOLCANOESBack to main page
Volcanoes are one of the most powerful forces on earth, along with earthquakes. They are our link to what is below the surface of the earth. Everyday, we are learning more about them, learning about their dangers and wonders.
Scientists have become more and more accurate with predicting
when a volcanoe is going to erupt. They have identified many of the
signs that poin to an upcoming eruption. Observing the state of a volcanoe
happens during an eruption , or between eruptions. Before an eruption
the volcanoe 'bloats' This cross section of the volcano outlines how the volcanoe swells up before erupting This changes the volcanoes shape. The 'inflation' process can take from
hours to days up to even a year. After the eruption, the volcanoe shrinks
back to it's previous state. Scientists have been coming up with
precise surveilance to monitor volcanic activity since 1948
A subduction zone volcano are volcanoes that appears on a subduction
zone. (The name obviously gives it away) You will notice that almost
all volcanoes show up on a subducion zone. When the earth's crust sinks
into the mantle, it melts, creating magma, which is less dense than the
solid crust, so it pushes up from the cracks. This forms the ocean
trenches which volcanoes show up behind. The most volcanically active area
on earth is the Ring of Fire. It is formed by the converging and diverging
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of the pacific plate with the continental plates around it, forming a ring
of subduction zones. Massive underwater trenches are formed from the plates
submerging into the mantle. The largest is 11km deep, called Mariana's Trench.
It's located off the east coast of the Phillipines.
Of the some 550 volcanoes on earth, most of them are located on the
subducting plates of the Ring of Fire. Volcanoes rarely form along transform
plate boundaries because no gaps are created to allow magma to escape.
This is diagram of diverging plates