Geography

Assignment on
VolcanoeS.

Submitted by:

Sonam Phuntsho

Class: XII Arts A

 Table of Content

Topic Page No.

Acknowledgement 1

Introduction 2

Definition of Natural Hazard 3

Brief History of Volcanoe 4

Definition and Volcanic Formation 5

Causes of Volcanoes 6

Types of Volcanoes 7

Different Stages of Volcanoes 8

Types of Volcanic Eruption 9

Impacts of Volcanoes 10 and 11

Distribution of Volcanoes 12

Conclusion 13

Bibliography 14
 Acknowledgment
“Writing a project is not that easy” I suggest. My assignment is about ‘Volcanoes’ and it has
many things to write about it. Truly, it is not easy to complete this work on my own hard
work but it has successfully completed because of my tutors and some friends.

Firstly, I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my Geography teacher, ‘Sir
Dorji’ for his able guidance and support in completing my project successfully. His valuable
guidance has been the ones that helped me patch this project and make it full proof success. I
would also like to extend my gratitude to my parents and friends who helped me with their
valuable suggestions and ideas; and being helpful in various phases of the completion of the
project.

I preferred this topic since it is important to study about volcanoes. It is because volcanoes
spew hot, dangerous gases, ash, lava, and rock that are powerfully destructive and it can kill
people. We should be aware of it because if volcano erupts around where we live, we would
know how to protect ourselves from it.

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 Introduction

“A disaster is a natural or man-made event that negativity affects life, property, livelihood or
industry often resulting in permanent changes to human societies, ecosystem and
environment.”

Disaster is highly disruptive events that cause suffering, deprivation, hardship, injury and
even death, as a result of direct injury, disease, the interruption of commerce and business,
and the partial or total destruction of critical infrastructure such as homes, hospitals, roads,
bridges, etc. Disasters can be caused by naturally occurring events, such as earthquakes,
flooding, forest fire and volcanoes or can be due to man-made events. Spatial extent measures
the degree or severity of the disaster. The severity or degree of damage can be further divided
into three categories, namely; small scale disasters- those disaster which extend from 50 Kms
to 100 Kms and does not cause much damage, medium scale disasters- extend from 100 Kms
to 500 Kms and cause more damage than small scale disaster; and lastly large scale disasters-
disaster cover an area of more than 1000 Kms and cause the most severe damage to the
environment.

Focusing on one of the natural hazards, volcanoe is one of the disasters which occur due to
the eruption of hot molten liquid from the earth crust. Volcanic eruption mainly occurs in Old
Mountain and it pours very hot lava. Volcanoe can occur at any time and it risks the life on
the earth. Volcanic action occurs with loud noises but some flows without loud noise. There
are different stages of volcanoes of namely; Active, dormant [sleeping] and extinct. Thus, we
will discuss briefly about volcanoes in following contents.

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Definition of Natural Hazard
Natural hazards are naturally occurring physical phenomena caused either by rapid or slow
onset events which can be geophysical (earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis and volcanic
activity), hydrological (avalanches and flood), and biological etc. It may also be referred to as
a potential or existing condition that may cause harm to people or damage to property or the
environment.

Difference between natural hazard and disaster

The two may be used interchangeably but natural hazards are threats or events themselves.
The difference is that one of them is a potential threat (natural hazard) while other is what
happens when the threat actually happens (natural disaster). For example, earthquakes,
landslides, blizzards, tornados, and hailstorms are all natural hazards. The 2010 earthquake in
Haiti is a recent disaster and also 2004 Tsunami that impacted Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand
and India.

Types of natural hazards

 Earthquake
 Volcanic eruptions
 Floods
 Landslides
 Fire
 Tsunami
 Drought

Figure 1.0 Natural Hazards

Brief History of Volcanoe

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The word volcanoe is derived from the name of Vulcano, and is defined as 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.

It was formed about 145 million years ago when massive lava flows erupted from the centre
of the volcanoe to form a broad, shield-like feature. There are more than 1500 active
volcanoes on the Earth. We currently know of 80 or more which are under the oceans. Active
volcanoes in the U.S. are found mainly in Hawaii, Alaska, California, Oregon and
Washington.

The 79 A.D. eruption of Vesuvius was the first volcanic eruption and erupted about three
dozen times including large, explosive eruption in 1631. It killed 4,000 people and had
significant damage on environment too.

The magma chamber is a large underground pool of magma. Under pressure the magma in
chamber can rise up the main vent which the central tube through the volcano. The mouth of
the volcanoe is known as the crater and it is typically a bowl-shaped feature, and uppermost
end of the funnel. There is no visible opening in dome cones while the crater is narrow and
deep in the composite cones and broad dome like in cinder cones. When the crater is vast in
size, it is called caldera. When magma reaches the surface, it is usually-liquid, solid and
gaseous. The liquid material is the most important and is known as lava. Eruptions from
other vents may lead to the formation of secondary cones on the flank (side) of the volcano.

The main parts of a volcano include the magma chamber, conduits, vents, craters and slopes.

Figure1. 1 Volcanic Feature

Definition and Volcanic Formation

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What is volcanoe?
Volcanoe is a vent or an opening in the earth’s crust through which hot materials come forth
from deep below the surface. When pressure builds up, eruption occurs. Gases and rock shoot
up through the opening and spill over or fill the air with lava fragments. Eruptions can cause
lateral blasts, lava flows, hot ash flows, mudslides, avalanches, falling ash and floods. An
erupting volcano can trigger tsunamis, flash floods, earthquake, mudflows and rock falls.

How are volcanoes formed?

Volcanic are formed when magma, red-hot liquid rock, seeps up through a vent in the earth.
The molten rock materials within the earth, together with whatever gases it may contain, are
called magma. After it rises to the surface, it is called lava. At the surface, it erupts to form
lava flows and ash deposits. More violent eruptions occur when pyroclastic material- a
mixture of magma, rocks, ash, and hot gases is exploded upward by pressure caused by
underground gases and magma. Volcanic eruptions vary in size and display. Over time as the
volcanoe continues to erupt, it will get bigger and bigger. Several more complex types of
volcanic eruptions have been described by volcanologists and often named after famous
volcanoes where that type of eruption has been seen.

Why do volcanoes erupt?

The Earth’s crust is made up of huge slabs called plates, which fit together like jigsaw puzzle.
These plates sometimes move. The friction causes earthquakes and volcanic eruptions near
the edges of the plates. The theory that explains this process is called plate tectonics.

Figure1. 2 Volcanic Eruptions

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Causes of Volcanoes

What makes a volcano erupt?

There are several different causes for a volcano to erupt which all fundamentally come down
to a pressure change within the volcano which forces the magma to overflow the chamber it
is held in. The common causes are as following:

I. Movement of tectonic plates or spreading plate margins

When plates move away from each other at spreading or divergent plate margins,
volcanic eruptions are gentle extrusions of basaltic lava. Most of these occur under water
where magma rises from great depth below to fill the space created by seafloor spreading
which occurs at a rate of about 10 centimeters a year. This kind of eruption produces sticky,
thick lava at temperatures from 800 to 1,000C.

II. Sub-ducting plate margins

At sub ducting plate margins, one plate is pushed under a neighboring plate as they
squeeze together. In addition to the old, weathered plate being forced down and melted, wet
sediment and sea water is forced down creating and eristic lava and more violent eruptions
containing ash. These volcanoes form classic cone shapes.

III. Buoyancy of the magma

As rock inside the earth melts, its mass remains the same while its volume increases-
producing a melt that is less dense than the surrounding rock. This lighter magma then rises
toward the surface by virtue of its buoyancy. If the density of the magma between the zone of
its generation and the surface is less than that of surrounding and overlying rocks, the magma
reaches the surface and erupts.

IV. The pressure from the exsolved gases in the magma

Magmas of so-called andesitic and rhyolitic compositions also contain dissolved volatiles
such as water, sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. Experiments have shown that the amount of
a dissolved gas in magma (its solubility) at atmospheric pressure is zero, but rises with
increasing pressure and erupts explosively.

V. Injection of a new batch of magma into an already filled magma chamber

This injection forces some of the magma in the chamber to move up in the conduit and erupt
at the surface.

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Types of Volcanoes
Volcanoes are grouped into four types: cinder cones, composite volcanoes, shield volcanoes
and lava volcanoes.

1. Cinder Cones- Cinder cones are circular or

oval cones made up of small fragments of lava
from a single vent that have been blown into the
air, cooled and fallen around the vent.

Figure1. 3 Cinder Cones

2. Composite Volcanoes- Composite volcanoes are steep-sided volcanoes

composed of many layers of volcanic rocks, usually made from high-viscosity
lava, ash and rock debris. Mt. Rainer and Mount St. Helens are examples of this
type of volcano.

Figure1. 4 Composite Volcanoes

3. Shield Volcanoes- It’s shaped like a bowl or shield in the middle with long
gentle slopes made by basaltic lava flows. Basalt lava flows from these volcanoes
are called flood basalts. The volcanoes that formed the basalt of the Columbia
Plateau were shield volcanoes.

Figure1. 5 Shield Volcanoes

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 4. Lava Volcanoes- It is formed when erupting lava is too thick to flow and makes
a steep-sided mound as the lava piles up near the volcanic vent. The eruption of
Mount St. Helens in 1980 was caused in part by a lava dome shifting to allow
explosive gas and steam to escape from inside the mountain.

Figure1. 6 Lava Volcanoes

What are the different stages of volcanoes?

Scientists have categorized volcanoes into three main categories:

i. Active- An active volcanoe is one which has recently erupted and there is possibility
that it may erupt soon.

ii. Dormant- A dormant volcanoe is one which has not erupted in a long time but there is
a possibility it can erupt in future.

iii. Extinct – An extinct volcanoe is one which has erupted thousands of years ago and
there’s no possibility of eruption.

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Types of Volcanic Eruption

 Explosive Eruption
In volcanology, an explosive eruption is a volcanic eruption of the most
violent type. A notable example is the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
Such eruptions result when sufficient gas has dissolved under pressure within
a viscous magma such that expelled lava violently froths into volcanic ash
when pressure is suddenly lowered at the vent. Sometimes a lava plug will
block the conduit to the summit, and when this occurs, eruptions are more
violent. Explosive eruptions can send rock, gas and pyroclastic material up to
20 km (12 mi) into the atmosphere at a rate of up to 100,000 tonnes per
second, (citation needed) travelling at several hundred meters per second. This
cloud may then collapse, creating a fast-moving pyroclastic flow of hot
volcanic matter.

 Quiet Eruption
It occurs when the liquid lava flows without loud noises. There is great
pouring of lava which rises up through long fissures in the ground.

 Fissure Eruption
There may be some cracks or a weak channel, the molten basalt beneath the
earth’s crust and the pressure below simply pushes the lava up through the
fissures. These produce the great lava plains and plateaus.

Figure1. 7 Mount St. Helens Figure1. 8 Chilean Volcanos

Explosive Eruption Quite Eruption

Figure1. 9. Kilauea Volcano

Fissure Eruption

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Impacts of Volcanoes
There is both advantage and disadvantage of volcanic action:

Advantages of Volcanic Eruption

 Fertile Land: Volcanic dust, ash and rocks decompose into soils with an exceptional
ability to hold nutrients and water, making them very fertile. Volcanic ash often
contains minerals that are beneficial to plants, and if it is very fine ash it is able to
break down quickly and get mixed into the soil. These rich volcanic soils, called
andisols, form about 1 percent of the Earth’s available surface.

 Geothermal Energy: Volcanoes provide resources for energy extraction which is

known as geothermal resources (Energy). The steam that is released during an
eruption could be utilized to move the turbine that could produce energy. This is
called geothermal energy.

 Land Formation: The dramatic scenery created by the eruptions attracts tourists,
hence, bringing more income to that area.

Figure 2.0 Land Formed After Volcanoe

 Atmospheric Cooling: Volcanic eruption explodes both ash and sulfur gas into the
stratosphere. The sulfur gas combines with water in the atmosphere, creating
microscopic droplets that can stay in the atmospheric for years. The effect of those
aerosol droplets is cooling the lowest level of the atmosphere, which is the level in
which we live and breathe.

 Water Production: Over 4.5 billion years, the amount of water that has been
produced by volcanoes has actually provided sufficient water to the Earth. It comes
out of steam which releases during volcanic action. Moreover, volcanoes have also
helped create a large portion of Earth’s atmosphere.

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Disadvantages of Volcanic Eruption

 Destruction: It performs a lot of destruction to people, environment and property.

Man-made and natural landscapes can be destroyed and will be changed forever. It
also kills people.

 Floods: When ash and mud from the eruption is mixed with rain water or melting
snow, rapid mudflows are produced. This can trigger flash floods and rock fall.

 Pollution: The volcanic eruptions also produce harmful gases which eventually
hamper the people and animals on earth.

 Global Warming: The lava heat act as a booster for the global warming and results
in many negative consequences.

 Wild Fire: The lava flow often causes wild fire in the nearby forestlands.

Figure 2.1 Hawaii Wildfire

 Economy: During eruption, explosion of many gases like sulfur dioxide, carbon
dioxide, water and carbon monoxide forms a brown fog which is very caustic to most
animals and plants. It kills people, damages crops and infrastructure like
communication facilities, road, homes, etc. As a result, economic activity can suffer
as it is hard for businesses to operate and hampers economy of country.

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Distribution of Volcanoes
Volcanic activity is widespread over the earth, but tends to be concentrated in specific
locations. Volcanoes are most likely to occur along the margins of tectonic plates, especially
in subduction zones where oceanic plates dive under continental plates. As the oceanic plate
subducts beneath the surface, intense heat and pressure melts the rock. Molten rock material,
magma, can then ooze its way toward the surface where it accumulates at the surface to
create a volcano. It is also found in belts which are identical with region of greatest folding
and faulting. Volcanic activity can be found along the Mid-ocean ridge system as well. Here,
oceanic plates are diverging and magma spreads across the ocean floor, ultimately being
exposed at the surface. Crustal spreading long the ridge is partly responsible for the volcanic
activity of Iceland. It is also thought that a “hot spot” lies beneath the island that contributes
to volcanism.

There are exception; Himalayas have no volcanoes and there is no crumpling of the earth’s
crust in Iceland, a volcanic area. Most of the volcanoes are found near the sea coast and on
islands. Volcanoes are found in the borders of the Pacific Ocean, consisting of the western
coasts of the Americas, the Kuerile Islands, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and
Newzealand.

It is found in Eurasian belt, consisting of Italy and the Eastern Mediterranean region. It
spread through Caucasia, Armenia, Iran, Baluchistan and Burma and finally terminates in the
East Indies or Indonesia.

Atlantic belt consists of West Indies and the islands of Eastern Atlantic, from Iceland to St,
Helens, which are all of volcanic origin.

Figure 2.2 Distribution of Volcanic Activity

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 Conclusion
In conclusion, volcano is a mountain that opens downward to a pool of molten rock below the
surface of the earth. When pressure builds up, eruptions occur. In an eruption, gases and rock
shoot up through the opening and spill over or fill the air with lava fragments. More than 80%
of the earth’s surface is volcanic origin. Volcanoes can be active, dormant or extinct. While
active volcanoes erupt regularly, dormant volcanoes erupted in the past, but do not now; and
extinct volcanoes have never erupted and scientists do not expect that they will.

Volcanologists also classify volcanoes further as to their form. These forms include fissure
volcanoes, composites, cinder cones, shield volcanoes and lava domes. Fissure volcanoes
form when tectonic plates spread apart, while composite form when two plates meet and one
is beneath the other. Composite volcanoes have crater and several layers of lava and hardened
ash and debris. They can erupt because of gas build-ups. Cinder cones often form on other
volcanoes as cooled lava and usually only erupt once. Lava domes can be quite explosive,
while shield volcanoes are not. In lava domes, lava can plug the vent causing a build-up,
which can lead to an eruption. Shield volcanoes are mainly comprised of many different
layers of hardened lava.

Furthermore, there are many positive and negative impacts of volcanic eruption. There is also
different ways of eruption and all are clearly mentioned above. Hence, study of volcanoe is
very important for all of us.

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Bibliography

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