MOUNT PELEÈ ON MAY

8TH, 1902
WHAT IS A VOLCANO

• A natural vent or fissure linking

the earths interior to the
surface through which an
assortment of hot molten,
liquid, solid and gaseous
materials are ejected.
STRUCTURE OF
VOLCANO
• Volcanoes are conical in appearance
with a funnel-shaped depression or
crater at its top.
• Its structure is built up when lava is
solidified around a vent.
• In the lower part of the funnel is a
vent through which the materials are
ejected.
• The shape is determined by the type
of material ejected.
A VOLCANO
Distribution of

volcanoes
• Near the margins of continents lining
the pacific sea board and western
side of north, central and south
America. More than half circle the
pacific Ocean as a “Ring of Fire”

• Some are located in and around the

Mediterranean Sea e.g. Vesuvius.
• Volcanic islands form island
arcs e.g. the Pacific Ring of Fire
from Kuriles to Japan, the East
Indies and the eastern
Caribbean.
• Others are located near rift
valley zones and plate margins.
These volcanic zones coincide
with the edges of tectonic
plates which form the earth’s
crust.
FOLD MOUNTAINS
RING OF FIRE
HOW A VOLCANO IS
FORMED
• Colliding plates at convergent
plate margins
• Zone of divergence
• Fissure Eruption
• Hot Spot Volcanoes
HOW A VOLCANO
ERUPTS
INTRUSIVE FEATURES
• Batholiths- Large dome-shaped reservoirs
of Magma, located deep within the earth’s
crust.

• Laccoliths and Phacoliths- smaller

reservoirs of magma

• Sills- masses of magma injected or flowing

horizontally to the bedding plane.

• Dykes- sheet-like intrusions of magma

lying across or diagonally at an angle to
the bedding planes.
CHANGES TO INTRUSIVE
VOLCANIC FEATURES OVER
TIME
• Batholiths- if the overlying rocks are
denudated, they form steep sided
rounded hills or uplands on exposure
on the earth’s surface e.g. Canadian
Shield.
• Laccoliths- exposed through
denudation of overlying rocks to
form conical-shaped hills or
mountains such as Henry Mountains
in UTAH, USA.
• Sills- through denudation theey
are exposed to form scarps and
waterfalls. A tilted sill may form
a waterfall or spring as it
impedes the flow of ground
water. Thy are common in
Guyana in the Pakaraima Mts.
and Mt. Roraima. Also found
below Malali Falls on the left
bank of the Demerara River.
• Dykes- They are
exposed by
denudation,
forming a ridge if it
is more resistant
than the
surrounding rocks
or a depression, if
it is less resistant.
Some dykes form
springs and
waterfalls.
Volcanic Plugs

• Acidic lava sometimes

solidify in the vent of
volcanoes. When the
composite con
becomes dormant
erosion begins to
destroy the cone. The
cone is stripped away
leaving a plug standing
as a steep, semi-
circular pinnacle in the
vent or pipe .e.g.
Pitons in St. Lucia
The Pitons in St. Lucia
Extrusive Landforms
• Ash and Cinder Cones- simplest
type of Volcano and are formed
from fragmented particles such
as cinder, ash and dust and
blobs of solidified magma
ejected from a single vent.
 SHIELD VOLCANOES
• Formed from the
accumulation of
basic lava or
basaltic lava.
There sides are
broad and gentle
and their crater,
wide.
Composite Volcanoes or
Strata-Volcanoes-Caldera
Cones
• These volcanoes compromise of
alternative layers of ash and
lava flow, cinder, blocks and
bombs. These are associated
with convergent plate margins
CALDERA

• Acidic lava plug the vents so that

pressure is built up within the
Volcano and this leads to violent
eruptions. This causes the crater to
be blown away explosively; the top
of the volcano then subsides or
collapses into the underlying magma
forming a new depression known as
a caldera.
 CHANGES TO EXTRUSIVE
FEATURES OVER TIME
• Volcanoes- they
may blow off to
form Calderas,
which are large
steep sided
basin-shaped
depressions.
• Calderas- water
may collect in
the depressions
forming crater
lakes.
• Rivers can establish themselves on
the top of mountains cutting down
the slope creating a radial drainage
pattern.

• Lava-Plateau Some basic lava

sometimes pour out from long
fissures instead of a Central vent
forming a broad plateau. These can
be dissected by streams to form flat
top hills with steep sides seperated
by steep valleys.
OTHER VOLCANIC
FEATURES

Hot springs- continuous

outflow of ground water
GEYSERS
• Violent emissions of
hot water and steam at
intermittent intervals.
They are formed when
underground water is
heated above 100
degree Celsius and the
super heated steam so
formed, forcefully
expels the water above
it. The eruption occurs
when steam pressure
is built up.
STEAMBOAT GEYSER,
YELLOWSTONE
FUMEROLES
• Vents along the
sides of
volcanoes
which, under
pressure emit
steam and
vapour and
gases such as
hydrochloric
acid and
VALLEY OF
DESOLATION
DOMINICA EXPORTS
PUMICE
Ashfall from Pinatubo,
1991; Phillipines
NEVADO DEL RUIZ
• On November 13, 1985, Nevado del Ruiz erupted.
Pyroclastic flows melted ice and snow at the
summit which formed lahars that rushed down
several river valleys. The lahars were up to 50
metres thick and travelled more than 100
kilometres.[1]
• Many houses and towns were devastated by the
lahars. The town of Armero was completely
covered by debris, killing approximately 21,000
people (out of 28,700). The eruption caused an
estimated 23,000 deaths, 5,000 injuries, and
destroyed more than 5,000 homes. This was the
second-deadliest volcanic disaster in the 20th
century (the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée was the
worst).
NEVADO DEL RUIZ