Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A volcano is 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. The process that forms volcanoes is called volcanism. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging, and because most of Earth ...
Volcanism. 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] It is caused by the presence of a heat source, usually internally generated, inside the body; the heat is generated by ...
Types of volcanic eruptions. 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. Several types of volcanic eruptions —during which material is expelled from a volcanic vent or fissure —have been distinguished by ...
This is a list of volcanic eruptions in the 21st century with a volcanic explosivity index (VEI) of 4 or higher, and smaller eruptions that resulted in fatalities, significant damage or disruptions. As of 3 September 2024, the largest volcanic eruption of the 21st century is the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai eruption and tsunami, and the ...
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] A volcano that is not currently erupting but could erupt in the future is known as a ...
A fissure vent, also known as a volcanic fissure, eruption fissure or simply a fissure, is a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive activity. The vent is often a few metres wide and may be many kilometres long. Fissure vents can cause large flood basalts which run first in lava channels and later in lava ...
Volcanic eruptions can be highly explosive. Some volcanoes have undergone catastrophic eruptions, killing large numbers of humans or other life forms. This list documents volcanic eruptions by human death toll.
In explosive volcanic eruptions, the sudden release of gases from magma may cause rapid movements of the molten rock. When the magma encounters water, seawater, lake water or groundwater, it can be rapidly fragmented. The rapid expansion of gases is the driving mechanism of most explosive volcanic eruptions.