Portal:Volcanoes
The Volcanoes portal
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.
Other planets besides Earth have volcanoes. For example, volcanoes are very numerous on Venus. 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.’
This article mainly covers volcanoes on Earth. See § Volcanoes on other celestial bodies and Cryovolcano for more information. (Full article...)
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The Mono–Inyo Craters are a volcanic chain of craters, domes and lava flows in Mono County, Eastern California. The chain stretches 25 miles (40 km) from the northwest shore of Mono Lake to the south of Mammoth Mountain. The Mono Lake Volcanic Field forms the northernmost part of the chain and consists of two volcanic islands in the lake and one cinder cone volcano on its northwest shore. Most of the Mono Craters, which make up the bulk of the northern part of the Mono–Inyo chain, are phreatic (steam explosion) volcanoes that have since been either plugged or over-topped by rhyolite domes and lava flows. The Inyo volcanic chain form much of the southern part of the chain and consist of phreatic explosion pits, and rhyolitic lava flows and domes. The southernmost part of the chain consists of fumaroles and explosion pits on Mammoth Mountain and a set of cinder cones south of the mountain; the latter are called the Red Cones.
Eruptions along the narrow fissure system under the chain began in the west moat of Long Valley Caldera 400,000 to 60,000 years ago. Mammoth Mountain was formed during this period. Multiple eruptions from 40,000 to 600 years ago created the Mono Craters and eruptions 5,000 to 500 years ago formed the Inyo volcanic chain. Lava flows 5,000 years ago built the Red Cones, and explosion pits on Mammoth Mountain were excavated in the last 1,000 years. Uplift of Paoha Island in Mono Lake about 250 years ago is the most recent activity. These eruptions most likely originated from small magma bodies rather than from a single, large magma chamber like the one that produced the massive Long Valley Caldera eruption 760,000 years ago. During the past 3,000 years, eruptions have occurred every 250 to 700 years. In 1980, a series of earthquakes and uplift within and south of Long Valley Caldera indicated renewed activity in the area. (Full article...)Did you know
- ... that the Galápagos hotspot (pictured), located in the east Pacific Ocean, is responsible for the creation of the Galápagos Islands?
- ... that although the summit of submarine volcano Lōʻihi is 969 metres (3,180 ft) below sea level, it is still twice as tall, measured from the base of its southern flank, as Mount St. Helens ever was?
- ... that a sub-marine eruption near the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai volcano in Tonga began spewing steam, smoke, pumice, and ash thousands of feet into the sky on March 16, 2009?
- ... that Cross Seamount, a landform arising from the ocean floor southwest of Hawaii, is used by the NOAA to study tuna migratory patterns?
- ... that Detroit Seamount, a submarine volcano in the North Pacific, is as big as the island of Hawaii?
- ... that Koko Guyot, a submarine volcano in the Hawaiian volcanic chain, was named for the 58th emperor of Japan, Emperor Kōkō?
- ... that the discovery of a population of Aleutian cackling geese on Buldir Volcano in the Aleutian Islands prevented their extinction?
- ... that the 1929 eruption of the Gareloi Volcano created a fissure running down the mountain's southern summit?
General images
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Satellite measurements of ash and aerosol emissions from Mount Pinatubo. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
NASA, Global Dimming - El Chichon, VEI 5; Pinatubo, VEI 6. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
Satellite animation of the initial ash plume and shockwave of the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai eruption and tsunami. The massive explosive eruption was hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. (from Volcanism) -
The lava spine that developed after the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Diagrammatic representation of a plume on Enceladus (from Volcanism) -
Phreatic explosion captured at the Main Crater of Taal Volcano. Photo taken from the installed IP camera of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) monitoring the volcano. (from Decade Volcanoes) -
A gentle, or effusive, volcanic eruption, in which liquid material (lava) gently flows from a vent, in this case in south-eastern Hawai’i island (from Volcanism) -
Some of the eruptive structures formed during volcanic activity (counterclockwise): a Plinian eruption column, Hawaiian pahoehoe flows, and a lava arc from a Strombolian eruption (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Mount Lamington following the devastating 1951 eruption (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Diagram of a Strombolian eruption. (key: 1. Ash plume 2. Lapilli 3. Volcanic ash rain 4. Lava fountain 5. Volcanic bomb 6. Lava flow 7. Layers of lava and ash 8. Stratum 9. Dike 10. Magma conduit 11. Magma chamber 12. Sill) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
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Diagram of a Plinian eruption. (key: 1. Ash plume 2. Magma conduit 3. Volcanic ash rain 4. Layers of lava and ash 5. Stratum 6. Magma chamber) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
The high initial temperatures of silicate lavas mean that they emit visible light before cooling. (from Volcanism) -
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Lava-flooded craters and large expanses of smooth volcanic plains on Mercury (from List of extraterrestrial volcanoes) -
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An example of the lava arcs formed during Strombolian activity. This image is of Stromboli itself. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Diagram showing the scale of VEI correlation with total ejecta volume (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Cross section diagram of Earth showing some settings for volcanism on the planet (from Volcanism) -
A major eruption of Gran Canaria took place around 14 million years ago. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
Some features of volcanism found in Earth's crust (from Volcanism) -
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Diagram of a Submarine eruption. (key: 1. Water vapor cloud 2. Water 3. Stratum 4. Lava flow 5. Magma conduit 6. Magma chamber 7. Dike 8. Pillow lava) Click to enlarge. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Sarychev Peak: the sulphur dioxide cloud generated by the eruption on June 12, 2009 (in Dobson units). (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
Diagram of a Surtseyan eruption. (key: 1. Water vapor cloud 2. Compressed ash 3. Crater 4. Water 5. Layers of lava and ash 6. Stratum 7. Magma conduit 8. Magma chamber 9. Dike) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
VEI and ejecta volume correlation (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth)
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Diagram of a Vulcanian eruption. (key: 1. Ash plume 2. Lapilli 3. Lava fountain 4. Volcanic ash rain 5. Volcanic bomb 6. Lava flow 7. Layers of lava and ash 8. Stratum 9. Sill 10. Magma conduit 11. Magma chamber 12. Dike) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
TOMS sulfur dioxide from the June 15, 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
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Diagram of a phreatic eruption. (key: 1. Water vapor cloud 2. Magma conduit 3. Layers of lava and ash 4. Stratum 5. Water table 6. Explosion 7. Magma chamber) (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Lahar flows from the 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz, which totally destroyed Armero in Colombia (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
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2016 eruption of Mount Sinabung (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
The final eruptions in the creation of Banks Peninsula in New Zealand occurred about 9 million years ago. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
Diagram of a Hawaiian eruption. (key: 1. Ash plume 2. Lava fountain 3. Crater 4. Lava lake 5. Fumaroles 6. Lava flow 7. Layers of lava and ash 8. Stratum 9. Sill 10. Magma conduit 11. Magma chamber 12. Dike) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
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Colima Volcano eruption column, December 2016 (from Decade Volcanoes) -
Location of Mount Pinatubo, showing area over which ash from the 1991 eruption fell. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
A diagram of a Subglacial eruption. (key: 1. Water vapor cloud 2. Crater lake 3. Ice 4. Layers of lava and ash 5. Stratum 6. Pillow lava 7. Magma conduit 8. Magma chamber 9. Dike) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Distribution of selected hotspots. The numbers in the figure are related to the listed hotspots on Hotspot (geology). (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
MLO transmission ratio - Solar radiation reduction due to volcanic eruptions (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
Sulfur dioxide emissions by volcanoes. Mount Pinatubo: 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
21 April 1990 eruptive column from Redoubt Volcano, as viewed to the west from the Kenai Peninsula (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Olympus Mons (Latin, "Mount Olympus"), located on the planet Mars, is the tallest known mountain in the Solar System. (from Volcanism) -
Diagram of Peléan eruption. (key: 1. Ash plume 2. Volcanic ash rain 3. Lava dome 4. Volcanic bomb 5. Pyroclastic flow 6. Layers of lava and ash 7. Stratum 8. Magma conduit 9. Magma chamber 10. Dike) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions)
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Selected biography -
George Julius Poulett Scrope FRS (10 March 1797 – 19 January 1876) was an English geologist and political economist as well as a Member of Parliament and magistrate for Stroud in Gloucestershire.
While an undergraduate at Cambridge, through the influence of Edward Clarke and Adam Sedgwick he became interested in mineralogy and geology. During the winter of 1816–1817 he was at Naples, and was so keenly interested in Vesuvius that he renewed his studies of the volcano in 1818; and in the following year visited Etna and the Lipari Islands. In 1821 he married the daughter and heiress of William Scrope of Castle Combe, Wiltshire, and assumed her name; and he entered the House of Commons of the United Kingdom in 1833 as MP for Stroud, retaining his seat until 1868.
Meanwhile he began to study the volcanic regions of central France in 1821, and visited the Eifel district in 1823. In 1825 he published Considerations on Volcanos, leading to the establishment of a new theory of the Earth, and in the following year was elected FRS. This earlier work was subsequently amplified and issued under the title of Volcanos (1862); an authoritative text-book of which a second edition was published ten years later. In 1827 he issued his classic Memoir on the Geology of Central France, including the Volcanic formations of Auvergne, the Velay and the Vivarais, a quarto volume illustrated by maps and plates. The substance of this was reproduced in a revised and somewhat more popular form in The Geology and Extinct Volcanos of Central France (1858). These books were the first widely published descriptions of the Chaîne des Puys, a chain of over 70 small volcanoes in the Massif Central. (Full article...)Selected picture
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The small town of Ortahisar in Cappadocia, Turkey. The area is covered in soft volcanic rock, which villagers have carved out to form houses, monasteries, and other structures.
Selected quote
"Do we need to bring a sleeping bag, or will the volcano keep us warm at night?"
— Documentary producer at Mount Etna, 2000.
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Featured articles: 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens • 2007–2008 Nazko earthquakes • Amchitka • Armero tragedy • Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve • Cerro Azul (Chile volcano) • David A. Johnston • Enceladus (moon) • Geology of the Lassen volcanic area • Io (moon) • Kamaʻehuakanaloa Seamount • Mauna Kea • Mauna Loa • Metacomet Ridge • Mono-Inyo Craters • Mount Cayley volcanic field • Mount St. Helens • Mount Tambora • Nevado del Ruiz • Surtsey • The Volcano (British Columbia) • Triton (moon) • Upper and Lower Table Rock • Volcanism on Io • Volcano (South Park) • Yellowstone National Park
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Good articles: Abyssal plain • Amak Volcano • Anahim hotspot • Axial Seamount • Ben Nevis • Bowie Seamount • Crater Lake • Davidson Seamount • Ferdinandea • Gareloi Volcano • Geyser • Glacier Peak • Hawaii hotspot • Hualālai • Kohala (mountain) • Lake Toba • Minoan eruption • Mount Adams (Washington) • Mount Bailey • Mount Baker • Mount Cleveland (Alaska) • Mount Edziza volcanic complex • Mount Garibaldi • Mount Hood • Mount Kenya • Mount Rainier • Mount Redoubt • Mount Tehama • Mount Thielsen • Mount Vesuvius • Peter I Island • Roxy Ann Peak • Rùm • Sakurajima • Sangay • Silverthrone Caldera • Staffa • Types of volcanic eruptions • Volcanic ash • Weh Island • Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field • Yamsay Mountain
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