Erupting Volcanoes
With their powerful eruptions, gushing lava and billowing smoke, volcanoes look quite powerful, but have you ever wondered exactly what a volcano is and what makes it form? Today The Mini Page takes a look at volcanoes.
Volcano terms
Let’s start by getting familiar with some basic volcano terms.
Magma is rock that is so hot that it is liquid, or molten. It is underground.
A volcano is a place where the magma reaches the
Earth’s surface.
Lava is magma that is no longer underground. Instead, it flows over the Earth’s surface in the form of semifluid rock.
A vent is the opening in the Earth where volcanic materials and gas erupt.
A crater is the circular depression, or lowered part of the Earth, that is created when a volcano explodes.
An active volcano is a volcano that is erupting or showing signs of activity.
Rising magma in Oregon
In early 2022, scientists noticed an increase in ground lift at the Three Sisters volcanic region of Oregon. Scientists discovered an increase in the region near one of the volcanoes, South Sister. Data show that the ground rose .09 inch from June 2020 to July 2021, which means magma is moving beneath the volcano. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) says it should not erupt in the near future, however.
Ring of Fire
The most active area of volcanoes is the Ring of Fire, which is in the Pacific Ocean. National Geographic says, “Seventy-five percent of Earth’s volcanoes — more than 450 volcanoes — are located along the Ring of Fire. Ninety percent of Earth’s earthquakes occur along its path.”
The movement of tectonic plates, or pieces of the Earth’s crust, along the Ring of Fire is responsible for all this activity.
Volcán Atitlán in Guatemala (pictured here) is one of the many volcanoes making up the Ring of Fire. It most recently eupted in
1853.