Volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows
hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging, and
because most of Earth's plate boundaries are underwater, most volcanoes are found underwater.
For example, a mid-ocean ridge, such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has volcanoes caused by
divergent tectonic plates whereas the Pacific Ring of Fire has volcanoes caused by convergent
tectonic plates. Volcanoes can also form where there is stretching and thinning of the crust's
plates, such as in the East African Rift and the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field and Rio
Grande rift in North America. Volcanism away from plate boundaries has been postulated to arise
from upwelling diapirs from the core–mantle boundary, 3,000 kilometers (1,900 mi) deep within
Earth. This results in hotspot volcanism, of which the Hawaiian hotspot is an example. Volcanoes
are usually not created where two tectonic plates slide past one another.
Large eruptions can affect atmospheric temperature as ash and droplets of sulfuric acid obscure
the Sun and cool Earth's troposphere. Historically, large volcanic eruptions have been followed
by volcanic winters which have caused catastrophic famines.[1]
Other planets besides Earth have volcanoes. For example, volcanoes are very numerous on
Venus.[2] In 2009, a paper was published suggesting a new definition for the word ‘volcano’ that
includes processes such as cryovolcanism. It suggested that a volcano be defined as ‘an opening
on a planet or moon’s surface from which magma, as defined for that body, and/or magmatic gas
is erupted.’[3]
This article mainly covers volcanoes on Earth. See § Volcanoes on other celestial
bodies and Cryovolcano for more information.
Etymology
The word volcano is derived from the name of Vulcano, a volcanic island in the Aeolian Islands of
Italy whose name in turn comes from Vulcan, the god of fire in Roman mythology.[4] The study of
volcanoes is called volcanology, sometimes spelled vulcanology.[5]
Plate tectonics
Map showing the divergent
plate boundaries (oceanic spreading ridges) and recent sub-aerial volcanoes (mostly at
convergent boundaries)
According to the theory of plate tectonics, Earth's lithosphere, its rigid outer shell, is broken into
sixteen larger and several smaller plates. These are in slow motion, due to convection in the
underlying ductile mantle, and most volcanic activity on Earth takes place along plate boundaries,
where plates are converging (and lithosphere is being destroyed) or are diverging (and new
lithosphere is being created).[6]
During the development of geological theory, certain concepts that allowed the grouping of
volcanoes in time, place, structure and composition have developed that ultimately have had to
be explained in the theory of plate tectonics. For example, some volcanoes are polygenetic with
more than one period of activity during their history; other volcanoes that become extinct after
erupting exactly once are monogenetic (meaning "one life") and such volcanoes are often
grouped together in a geographical region.[7]
Fissure vents
Lakagigar fissure vent in Iceland, the source of the major
world climate alteration of 1783–84, has a chain of volcanic cones along its length.
Volcanic fissure vents are flat, linear fractures through which lava emerges.
Shield volcanoes
Skjaldbreiður, a shield volcano whose name means "broad shield"
Shield volcanoes, so named for their broad, shield-like profiles, are formed by the eruption of low-
viscosity lava that can flow a great distance from a vent. They generally do not explode
catastrophically, but are characterized by relatively gentle effusive eruptions. Since low-viscosity
magma is typically low in silica, shield volcanoes are more common in oceanic than continental
settings. The Hawaiian volcanic chain is a series of shield cones, and they are common
in Iceland, as well.
Lava domes
Lava domes are built by slow eruptions of highly viscous lava. They are sometimes formed within
the crater of a previous volcanic eruption, as in the case of Mount St. Helens, but can also form
independently, as in the case of Lassen Peak. Like stratovolcanoes, they can produce violent,
explosive eruptions, but the lava generally does not flow far from the originating vent.
Cryptodomes
Cryptodomes are formed when viscous lava is forced upward causing the surface to bulge.
The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens was an example; lava beneath the surface of the
mountain created an upward bulge, which later collapsed down the north side of the mountain.
Cinder cones
Stratovolcanoes (composite volcanoes)
Cross-section through a stratovolcano (vertical scale is exaggerated):
1. Large magma chamber
2. Bedrock
3. Conduit (pipe)
4. Base
5. Sill
6. Dike
7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano
8. Flank
9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano
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[Link] cone
[Link] flow
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[Link] cloud
Submarine volcanoes
Satellite images of the 15 January 2022 eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai
Duration: 1 minute and 9 seconds.1:09Timelapse of San Miguel (volcano) degassing in
2022. El Salvador is home to 20 Holocene volcanoes, 3 of which have erupted in last 100yrs [34]
Pāhoehoe lava flow on Hawaii. The picture shows overflows of a main lava channel.
Litli-Hrútur (Fagradalsfjall) eruption 2023. View from an
airplane The Stromboli stratovolcano off the coast
of Sicily has erupted continuously for thousands of years, giving rise to its nickname
"Lighthouse of the Mediterranean".
The material that is expelled in a volcanic eruption can be classified into three types:
1. Volcanic gases, a mixture made mostly of steam, carbon dioxide, and a sulfur compound
(either sulfur dioxide, SO2, or hydrogen sulfide, H2S, depending on the temperature)
2. Lava, the name of magma when it emerges and flows over the surface
3. Tephra, particles of solid material of all shapes and sizes ejected and thrown through the
air[35][36]
Types of volcanic eruptions
Schematic of volcano injection of aerosols and gases
Volcanic activity
Fresco with Mount
Vesuvius behind Bacchus and Agathodaemon, as seen in Pompeii's House of the
Centenary
Dormant and reactivated
Narcondam Island, India, is classified as a dormant volcano by the Geological
Survey of India.
Extinct
Capulin Volcano National Monument in New Mexico, US
Volcanic-alert level
Decade volcanoes
Koryaksky volcano towering over Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky on Kamchatka
Peninsula, Far Eastern Russia
Solar radiation graph 1958–2008, showing how
the radiation is reduced after major volcanic eruptions
