The four main types of lava flows are pahoehoe, a’a (pronounced “ah-ah”), blocky, and pillow. The type of lava flow depends on the lava’s viscosity, or resistance to flow. This makes it behave differently depending on its composition and how quickly it is moving. Even though lava acts like a liquid, it is constantly cooling as it moves. Understanding flow types can help volcanologists categorize igneous rocks because features of the rocks change as they cool and harden. The large differences in how volcanoes erupt affect the type of lava flows they produce. The other three major volcano types are cinder cones, stratovolcanoes, and lava domes, all of which are much more explosive than shield volcanoes 1, 2. If lava meets water, however, the interaction can cause the eruptions to become extremely explosive. Shield volcanoes have very fluid lava but do not have violent eruptions. For example, shield volcanoes, like Tamu Massif, are the main type of volcanoes that make up the Hawaiian Islands. Some volcanic eruptions are violent, spewing molten rock and gases into the air, while other volcanic eruptions are less explosive but equally damaging, because lava flows out of the volcano and spreads over large distances. Volcanoes are classified by their shapes and where magma is stored within them, which both determine how magma tends to be released during eruption. Tamu Massif spans over 553,000 square kilometers, making it larger than the entire country of Spain ! While its height is average, what makes this volcano so large is how far it spans outward. The largest volcano in the solar system is called Tamu Massif, located east of Japan at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. With time, this can make the volcano higher and wider. Every time a volcano erupts, it changes in shape and size because the lava it releases cools and hardens around it. Volcanoes are created whenever there is a break in the Earth’s crust that opens a pathway for magma and gas to escape. Molten rock is called magma when it is stored in a chamber beneath a volcano, but it is referred to as lava when it reaches the surface. Igneous rocks form when molten rock cools and hardens into solid rock. The types of rocks that volcanologists spend their time studying are called igneous rocks. The rocks surrounding volcanoes give us important data to calculate the volcano’s age and to help us answer questions about how the Earth was formed, including when volcanoes erupted and how explosive the eruptions were. By figuring out the conditions that created volcanic rocks, volcanologists can learn about the history of a volcano and possibly predict whether a volcano will erupt again-and what will happen to the landscape and the people living nearby if it does. Volcanologists also study the rocks that volcanoes make, looking for clues to help them figure out how and when the volcanoes were formed. While geologists are scientists who study all kinds of rock, volcanologists are geologists who focus on past and present volcanoes, lava, and magma. We also discuss ways that volcanologists can determine how ancient volcanoes were made, by studying the rocks produced during past eruptions. In this article, we explain the processes that make volcanic rocks and formations look different from each other. Volcanic rocks are unique because we can study them to accurately discover when and how they were formed. These rocks vary based on the characteristics of the volcano from which they came. Volcanologists-scientists that study volcanoes-can study the types of rocks that volcanoes produce, to gain a better understanding of volcanoes. Yet, we do not know everything about the histories of the volcanoes that previously existed on Earth. These eruptions play a big part in the formation and destruction of rocks as well as in shaping the Earth’s surface. Every time a volcanic eruption occurs, new rock is added to the surrounding area. Volcanoes are constantly growing and changing.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |