Scribd
Upload
21 views2 pages

Understanding Volcanoes and Their Types

A volcano is a vent in a planetary crust that allows the escape of lava, ash, and gases from a magma chamber. On Earth, volcanoes are primarily located at tectonic plate boundaries, with different eruption styles depending on whether the plates are diverging or converging. Volcanoes can be classified as active, dormant, or extinct based on their eruption history, and significant eruptions can impact global climate and lead to volcanic winters.

Uploaded by

devesh pant
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
21 views2 pages

Understanding Volcanoes and Their Types

A volcano is a vent in a planetary crust that allows the escape of lava, ash, and gases from a magma chamber. On Earth, volcanoes are primarily located at tectonic plate boundaries, with different eruption styles depending on whether the plates are diverging or converging. Volcanoes can be classified as active, dormant, or extinct based on their eruption history, and significant eruptions can impact global climate and lead to volcanic winters.

Uploaded by

devesh pant
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Volcanic" redirects here.

For other uses, see Volcano (disambiguation) and Volcanic


(disambiguation).

Augustine Volcano (Alaska) during its


eruptive phase on January 24, 2006

A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure 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.[1]

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 resulting from divergent tectonic activity are usually non-explosive
whereas those resulting from convergent tectonic activity cause violent eruptions.[2][3] Volcanoes
can also form where there is stretching and thinning of the crust's plates, such as in the East
African Rift, the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field, and the Rio Grande rift in North
America. Volcanism away from plate boundaries most likely arises from upwelling diapirs from
the core–mantle boundary called mantle plumes, 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi) deep within Earth.
This results in hotspot volcanism or intraplate volcanism, in which the plume may cause thinning
of the crust and result in a volcanic island chain due to the continuous movement of the tectonic
plate, of which the Hawaiian hotspot is an example.[4] Volcanoes are usually not created at
transform tectonic boundaries where two tectonic plates slide past one another.

Volcanoes, based on their frequency of eruption or volcanism, are referred to as either active or
extinct.[5] Active volcanoes have a history of volcanism and are likely to erupt again while extinct
ones are not capable of eruption at all as they have no magma source. “Dormant” volcanoes have
not erupted in a long time- generally accepted as since the start of the Holocene, about 12000
years ago- but may erupt again.[5] These categories aren't entirely uniform; they may overlap for
certain examples.[2][6][7]
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.[8]

Other planets besides Earth have volcanoes. For example, volcanoes are very numerous on
Venus.[9] Mars has significant volcanoes.[10] 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.'[11]

This article mainly covers volcanoes on Earth. See § Volcanoes on other celestial bodies and
cryovolcano for more information.

You might also like