CHAPTER 1

Definition: A volcano is a vent or narrow opening in the

earth’s crust that allows magma, hot lava, volcanic ash,
rock fragments, and gases to escape from a magma
chamber below the surface. Earth's volcanoes occur
because its crust is broken into 17 major, rigid tectonic
plates that float on a hotter, softer layer in its mantle.
Thus, on Earth, volcanoes are generally found where
tectonic plates are diverging or converging.

A volcanic cone is a triangle-shaped hill formed as

material from volcanic eruptions piles up around the
volcanic vent, or opening in Earth’s crust. Most volcanic
cones have one volcanic crater, or central depression, at
the top. They are probably the most familiar type of
volcanic mountain.

Crater-A volcano crater is a circular depression around a

volcanic vent. This is where the lava, ash and rock erupt
out of a volcano. In most situations, the volcano crater is
located at the top of the volcano.

Conduit-is the pipe or vent at the heart of a volcano

where material wells up from beneath the surface.

Parasitic cone- in some cases where the main vent has

grown too high, a cone-shaped accumulation of volcanic
material not part of the central vent of a volcano is
formed.

A magma chamber is a large underground pool of molten rock

sitting underneath the Earth’s crust. The molten rock in such a
chamber is under extreme pressure, which in time can lead to
the surrounding rock fracturing, creating outlets for the
magma. This, combined with the fact that the magma is less
dense than the surrounding mantle, allows it to seep up to the
surface through the mantle’s cracks.
http://www.universetoday.com
A volcano’s main vent is the weak point in the Earth’s crust
where hot magma has been able to rise from the magma
chamber and reach the surface.

On large volcanoes, magma can reach the surface through

several different vents. Where they reach the surface of the
volcano, they form what is referred to as a secondary vent.

CHAPTER 2
FREQUENCY

Active Volcanoes
A volcano will be classified as an active volcano if it is has erupted
in the recent historic period. There are a total of close to 500 of
such volcanoes on the planet. Every year somewhere between 50
and 70 volcanoes erupt.
E.g. Mount Etna in Italy, Mount St Helena in USA, Mauna Loa in
Hawaii
Etc.

Dormant Volcanoes
The classification of volcanoes, which are called dormant, would
be a volcano that is predicted to erupt in the near future. However,
it has done so in recordable history. Sometimes the difference
between a dormant volcano and an active volcano can be pretty
small. That is because even though a volcano can be dormant for
hundreds of years it is still expected to have an eruption in the
future. They are also called sleeping volcanoes.
E.g. Mount Vesuvius in Italy

Extinct Volcanoes
An extinct volcano is a volcano that no one expects will ever have
another eruption. They were active in the remote geographical
periods. Keep in mind that this classification of volcanoes that are
extinct is not necessarily definitive, as some have gone through
what is called rejuvenation.
E.g. Mt.Kilimanjaro in Africa, the famous crater Gorongoro in
Tanzania

TYPE OF ERUPTION http://sciencelearn.org.nz

Volcanic fields
Rather than pools of magma forcing through one vent to the
surface, volcanic fields are often formed from a large diffuse area of
magma that forces its way through the crust at different points.
This results in a large number of inactive volcanoes within a
relatively small geographical region. Although each volcano is
dormant, the field may remain active, and magma can push
through and form another new volcano at another point.
The Auckland volcanic field is made up of nearly 50 small
volcanoes spread over a large area.

Caldera volcanoes
When there are the really violent eruptions, which throw magma,
ash and rock across large areas. These are the caldera volcanoes
(sometimes called super volcanoes). Following such a large
eruption, the volcano collapses into the void left by the empty
magma chamber and a large depression is formed.
This type of eruption formed Lake Taupō and Lake Rotorua.
Each lake was formed by water filling the crater that was left after
an eruption.

Shield volcanoes
A second type of eruption takes place along a narrow fissure in the
crust. A large quantity of magma that is highly fluid and contains
very less gas is erupted and, because the lava is runny it spreads
over wide areas and forms gently sloped shield volcanoes.
E.g. Deccan Plateau

Cone volcanoes
A cone volcano is formed by magma forcing its way through the
Earth’s surface (the crust) and, once erupted, the lava builds up
near the vent. Over time, the lava and ash accumulate close to the
vent area building up until eventually a cone is formed.
CHAPTER 3
DYKE- intrusions of magma or lava in vertical forms. They are
usually narrow but may extend several kilometers in length. They
form when magma intrudes into a crack then crystallizes as a
sheet intrusion, either cutting across layers of rock or through an
unlayered mass of rock. They are generally more resistant than
the nearby rocks being of volcanic origin.
Cross-section of a stratovolcano: 1. Magma chamber 2. Bedrock
3. Vent 4. Base 5. Sill 6. Dike 7. Layers of ash 8. Flank 9. Layers of
lava 10. Throat 11. Parasitic cone 12. Lava flow 13. Vent 14.
Crater 15. Ash cloud. m