Volcanoes – All about

We have been seeing all these mountains erupting once in a while at places like Italy and we see rivers of burning material flowing out of these mountains and destroying whatever comes there way of flow. These are called volcanoes. Volcanoes are one of the oldest forms of Natural disasters recorded. But can we really call volcanoes as disasters?

After all it was the innumerable volcanoes that erupted and formed the surface of the present earth, including the sea bed and the mountains that we see today. And the gases released from these volcanic eruptions, formed the atmosphere of the earth and hence we have a life here.

The earth if we look at it as a big ball is a ball of layers of different materials on top of one another. Its like if the palm is called the Earth’s core, then the gloves that we wear would be called the mantle. Now this mantle is made up of solid rocks. It is so hot inside the earth near the core that the mantle rocks melt and try to move out towards the surface of the earth. And when these molten rocks find a puncture on the earth, they come out as volcanoes. Extremely high temperature beneath the earth actually causes the rock to melt and form a liquid called Magma. And this magma travels through more dense rocky layers underneath the earth while traveling towards the surface, forms lava.
This lava then erupts out of the earth because of intense pressure and flows down like a river. This river of molten rock eventually cools down on the surface and adds up to the earth’s surface.

There are more than 500 active volcanoes on the earth yet. About 250 of them are the part of the “Ring of Fire” which circles the Pacific Ocean.

The cold lava of a volcano is rich in minerals as it comes from the deepest of the earth’s crust. It is rich in gases and precious metals. However, a volcanic eruption is highly unpredictable but scientists have now been able to get indications when a volcano becomes dangerous for living beings. It is although not predictable when a volcano would erupt.

Some of the amusing examples of gigantic volcanoes are:

Mount Mazama or the Crater Lake, Oregon, USA: It is said that Mount Mazama erupted around 5000 years ago. Before it’s eruption Mt. Mazama was a 12000 high mountain. After the eruption it got replaced by a 1900 feet deep crater lake. Wizard Island got formed in between the lake due to later volcanic activities.

Mount Aetna, Sicily, Italy: One of the oldest active volcanos recorded, Mt Aetna is the highest volcanic peak in Europe. It has a mention in the Greeko-Roman Mythology too. Legend stands that the Giants who were enemies of Gods were buried under the mountain and they used to cause several earthquakes beneath in an effort to break free.

Paricutin, Mexico: A corn field in Paricutin, Mexico today is a volcanic mountain. It is recorded that in 1943, ash started piling on a corn field and it reached a height of 1200 ft within a span of a year. It then erupted and destroyed the town of Paricutin. Only around 5 people died of the volcano but it showed the earth, the birth of a Volcano.

There are several other popular volcanoes across the world like Mount Vesuvius in Italy, Mount Karakatau in Indonesia, Mount Tambora in Indonesia, Mount St. Helens in Washington, Nevada Del Ruiz in Columbia, Mount Pinatubo in Philippines.

Mauna Loa in Hawaii is said to be the largest volcano of the world. It is one of the world’s most active volcanoes and has already had around 33 eruptions since 1843. it is feared that another eruption is on its way soon.

Linus Orakles
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