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World map of active volcanoes and plate boundaries Kīlauea's lava entering the sea Lava flows at Holuhraun, Iceland, September 2014. An active volcano is a volcano that has erupted during the Holocene (the current geologic epoch that began approximately 11,700 years ago), is currently erupting, or has the potential to erupt in the future. [1]
Volcanoes vary greatly in their level of activity, with individual volcanic systems having an eruption recurrence ranging from several times a year to once in tens of thousands of years. [76] Volcanoes are informally described as erupting, active, dormant, or extinct, but the definitions of these terms are not entirely uniform among ...
active volcano A volcano that is currently erupting, or one that has erupted within the last 10,000 years (the Holocene) or during recorded history. [3] adret The sunny, warm aspect of a hill or mountain, as opposed to the ubac or shady side. [4] affluent See tributary. agricultural geography
The volcanic cone Puʻu ʻŌʻō stopped erupting as its crater floor collapsed, according to National Geographic. New eruptions are likely to happen in the future. New eruptions are likely to ...
Volcanism, vulcanism, volcanicity, or volcanic activity is the phenomenon where solids, liquids, gases, and their mixtures erupt to the surface of a solid-surface astronomical body such as a planet or a moon. [1]
Shield volcanoes are found wherever fluid, low-silica lava reaches the surface of a rocky planet. However, they are most characteristic of ocean island volcanism associated with hot spots or with continental rift volcanism. [1] They include the largest active volcanoes on Earth, such as Mauna Loa.
A volcanic eruption is essentially the only natural way for short-lived – less than a few years – gases like sulfur dioxide and water vapor to make it into the stratosphere.
A volcanologist is a geologist who studies the eruptive activity and formation of volcanoes and their current and historic eruptions. Volcanologists frequently visit volcanoes, especially active ones, to observe volcanic eruptions, collect eruptive products including tephra (such as ash or pumice), rock and lava samples. One major focus of ...