Volcanoes 101
https://youtu.be/VNGUdObDoLk
（Joanna 老师整理)
Portals into the heart of the Earth. They burn bottomless cauldrons, fueled by an ancient raft,
bubbling and boiling thousands of miles beneath the surface and just waiting to burst through.
Volcanoes are scattered across the planet. About 1500 hundred active volcanoes can be found across
the world, though countless others are on the ocean floor. Most volcanoes, whether on land or
underwater, are located where tectonic plates meet. In fact, the Ring of Fire, a path that traces the
boundaries between several tectonic plates around the Pacific Ocean, contains about 75% of the
planet's volcanoes. There are several types of volcanoes primarily classified by shape and size. Major
types include stratovolcanoes, which often appear as tall, steep mountains shield volcanoes, which
are flatter and dome shaped calderas, which are large depressions in the ground and MidOcean
ridges, which are underwater chains of volcanic mountains. No matter their shape or size, all
volcanoes emit gas and molten rocks. The journey of these emissions begins deep underground in the
Earth's core. The core, which can burn as hot as the surface of the sun, transfers its heat to the
surrounding rocky mantle. In doing so, the heat melts some of the rock. This molten rock, or magma,
is lighter than the surrounding solid rock layer, so it rises through the mantle. The magma then
escapes through vents in the Earth's crust, causing volcanic eruption. Now above ground, this magma
is referred to as lava and it can reach temperatures of over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. In addition to
lava, volcanoes may erupt with searing hot gas formed in the mantle in a phenomenon called
pyroclastic flow. This gas, combined with hot ash, can race down the sides of a volcano as fast as 100
mph, burning everything in its path. To measure and classify eruptions, scientists develop the Volcanic
Explosivity Index, or VEI. It considers various factors such as the volume of lava gas and other
emissions from the volcano. Along with the height of the eruption cloud above the volcano's summit,
the VEI scale begins at zero. Each successive measurement increases logarithmically, meaning that
each magnitude is ten times more powerful than the one before it. The VEI scale does not have an
upper limit, but the most catastrophic eruptions measured thus far are categorized as VEI Eight. These
eruptions occurred thousands and millions of years ago. The most destructive volcanic eruption ever
witnessed occurred in Indonesia. In 15 Mount Tambora, a large stratovolcano erupted with a VEI
measurement of seven. The blast caused earthquakes, tsunamis and pyroclastic flows that decimated
the land and took tens of thousands of Indonesian lives. The eruption even destroyed the top of
Mount Tambora itself, turning the 13,000 foot tall mountain into a 3640 foot deep caldera. While
volcanoes are some of the most destructive forces of nature, they have also helped make life on Earth
possible. Volcanic ash provides nutrients to nearby soil, making the land fertile. And lava, when it
cools, hardens into rock and creates new landforms with heat from the heart of the Earth volcanoes
have helped para form the planet, making it the rich, dynamic landscape we see today.
