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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 ...
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 ...
List of largest volcanic eruptions. The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, the largest eruption since 1912, is dwarfed by the eruptions in this list. In a volcanic eruption, lava, volcanic bombs, ash, and various gases are expelled from a volcanic vent and fissure. While many eruptions only pose dangers to the immediately surrounding area, Earth ...
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.
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 ...
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.
The Yellowstone Caldera, sometimes referred to as the Yellowstone Supervolcano, is a volcanic caldera and supervolcano in Yellowstone National Park in the Western United States. The caldera and most of the park are located in the northwest corner of the state of Wyoming. The caldera measures 43 by 28 miles (70 by 45 kilometers), and postcaldera ...
The volcanic explosivity index ( VEI) is a relative measure of the explosiveness of volcanic eruptions. It was devised by Christopher G. Newhall of the United States Geological Survey and Stephen Self in 1982. Volume of products, eruption cloud height, and qualitative observations (using terms ranging from "gentle" to "mega-colossal") are used ...