Interesting facts about volcanoes

July 29, 2009 | In: Geography Facts



The name “volcano” has its origin from the name of Vulcan, a god of fire in Roman mythology.

Earth has more than 1,500 active volcanoes.

The largest volcano in the world is Mauna Loa. It has a volume of about 40,000 cubic kilometers, and an above-sea level area of 5125 square kilometers.

The most common type of lava – called basalts – usually have eruption temperatures of about 1150-1200 C.

The highest volcano is Ojos del Salado in Chile. It is 22,589 feet (6,887 m) tall.

More than 80% of the Earth’s surface is volcanic in origin.

About 500 million people live close to active volcanoes!

Somewhere, around the world, there are 20 active volcanoes erupting as you’re reading this. Between 50-70 volcanoes erupted last year, and 160 went off in the last decade.

The names of some famous volcanoes are: Mount St. Helens, Muana Loa, Lassen Peak, Mount Rainier, and Mount Olympus.

The oldest volcano is probably Etna and that is about 350,000 years old.

The Indonesian volcano, Tambora, which erupted in 1815 produced so much ash that world temperatures fell sharply in the following year. New England, in the eastern USA, had severe frosts in August.

The loudest sound in the history of mankind was caused by a volcanic eruption at Krakatoa, near Java in 1883. The sound was so powerful that it was heard in Australia, which is 5000 km far from Krakatoa.

The highest volcano ever discovered is not on Earth, but on Mars! Olympus Mons, the highest volcano in the Solar System, is about 16.5 miles (26.4 km) high — more than four times as high as Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest volcano on Earth.

Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, is the most volcanically active body in the solar system after Earth. Nine volcanoes have been observed on Io’s surface, some eruptions ejecting material at speeds of 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) per second, and sending debris up to 300 kilometers (190 miles) above the surface!

It is believed that Io’s volcanic activity is created by the moons Europa and Ganymede, whose gravitational forces pull against the gravity of Jupiter. The resultant tug-of-war causes distortions in Io’s surface of up to 100 meters (330 feet) and fuels its volcanic activity.

When lava begins to cool, it solidifies and forms a crust that helps insulate the still molten lava underneath. Basaltic lava can form a crust strong enough to stand on in 10 to 15 minutes. This crust slows the cooling of the lava underneath and it may take several months to cool.

Thick lava flows cool even more slowly. A lava flow that is 100 feet (30 m) thick may take several years to completely solidify. Thicker lava flows can take even longer. In 1959, lava filled a pit crater on Kilauea Iki in Hawaii. The depth of the lava pond was about 300 feet (100 m). In 1988, geologists drilled core samples of the lava pond and found that there was still some molten lava at the bottom.

Established in 1916, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park has two of the most active volcanoes in the world: Mauna Loa and Kilauea. Joining them are the inactive Mauna Kea, Kohala, and Hualalai. Ancient Hawaiians worshiped Pele, goddess of volcanoes, and believed her wrath caused the mountains’ eruptions that destroyed their villages and agricultural lands.

Not everything is destroyed by lava. Within weeks of lava’s hardening, plants appear in hardened lava’s cracks where moisture accumulates. Soon other plant life settles in, nurtured by the abundant tropical storms, and rain forests appear, as do unusual animal life.


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13 Responses to Interesting facts about volcanoes

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emi hyde

September 21st, 2009 at 11:54 am

good web 4 kids.
emi

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Go me

October 6th, 2009 at 2:58 am

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Ryan murray

October 20th, 2009 at 6:17 am

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Rosey

January 24th, 2010 at 4:32 pm

this is awesome im using this info for my project

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Betul

February 24th, 2010 at 7:23 pm

This is SUPER COOL! I am gonna use some of these info for my sciene project ( volcano project ) !!!!!

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alysha

May 2nd, 2010 at 1:00 pm

totally awesome using this on my report!!!

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admin

June 25th, 2010 at 1:32 pm

After Japan and Indonesia, America the Beautiful is the third most volcanically active nation on the planet.

Fully 10 percent of the Earth’s 1,500 potentially active volcanoes are the U.S.

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admin

July 29th, 2010 at 2:27 am

Lava has been measured flowing as fast as 40 miles per hour (60 km/hr).

Some kinds of lava flow better than others. Basalt lava, which contains relatively little silica, flows the best. This is the type of lava that emerges from Hawaiian volcanoes at temperatures of over 1000 degrees Celsius.

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admin

August 2nd, 2010 at 8:49 am

In 1943, a crack opened up in the middle of a Mexican cornfield, and volcanic dust and gases began to spew out. Within hours, a brand new volcano had formed!

The Paricutin volcano, which eventually covered two villages and annihilated 25 square kilometers of forest, remained active until 1952. Today, its black cinder cone looms 424 meters tall.

Volcanoes like Paricutin are part of the Pacific “Rim of Fire,” a long belt of volcanoes that encircles the Pacific ocean. They form when melted rock pushes up underneath a continent. This occurs as a result of subduction, when one section of the crust (the hard outer layer of the planet) pushes under another section.

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munny

August 14th, 2010 at 6:30 am

i love this volcano is like a tom yum googng but is very very very hot than tom yum goong and it is not yumy than tom yum goong hahahahaha 55555555555 my friend want to eat the grey water around the volcano ill!!!!!

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yoyo

January 30th, 2012 at 6:57 pm

wow there r some seriously interesting facts on this website!!!!

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LOVE

February 15th, 2012 at 8:45 pm

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BUT IIM SERIOUS NO JK THIS IS A GREAT SITE FOR KIDS…….
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Tanner

February 23rd, 2012 at 5:34 am

good

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