Volcano Basics
What is a Volcano?
An opening in the Earth's Crust that allows magma, ash and gases to escape from below the surface
What is Mount Vesuvius?
This Italian volcano buried the city of Pompeii in 79 AD.
What is a shield volcano?
This broad, gently sloping type of volcano has non-explosive eruptions.
What are pyroclastic flows?
Hot, fast-moving clouds of gas and ash.
What is volcanology?
The branch of geology that studies volcanoes.
What is magma
The molten rock beneath the Earth's surface
What is Mauna Loa?
This Hawaiian volcano is the largest volcano on Earth.
What is a stratovolcano (or composite volcano)?
A steep-sided volcano formed by alternating layers of lava and ash.
What are lahars?
Thick mudflows made of volcanic ash and water.
What are plate boundaries?
Volcanoes are often found at these places where tectonic plates meet.
What is an extinct volcano?
This type of volcano has not erupted in recorded history and is not expected to erupt again.
What is Mount St. Helens?
The 1980 eruption of this U.S. volcano caused a massive landslide.
What is a caldera?
These volcanic features are formed when a volcano collapses into its emptied magma chamber.
What is volcanic ash?
The smallest solid material ejected from a volcano.
Who is Vulcan?
In Roman mythology, he was the god of fire
What is the Ring of Fire?
The ring-shaped zone of volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean.
What is Mount Fuji?
This stratovolcano in Japan is also a cultural icon.
What is a cinder cone volcano?
This small, cone-shaped volcano is built from tephra.
What is sulfur dioxide (SO₂)?
Gas released by volcanoes that can cause acid rain.
What is the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)?
This scale measures the explosiveness of volcanic eruptions.
What is a seismograph?
This instrument is used to detect volcanic earthquakes and eruptions.
What is Mount Tambora?
This Indonesian volcano's 1815 eruption caused "the year without a summer."
What is a phreatomagmatic eruption?
This rare type of eruption involves water and magma.
What is igneous rock?
This type of rock is formed from cooled lava.
What is a seamount?
This underwater volcanic feature can eventually form islands.