Volcano Vocabulary
This is melted rock beneath Earth's surface.
What is magma?
This volcano type is tall and steep and often erupts explosively.
What is a composite volcano?
Volcanoes often form where these giant pieces of Earth’s crust meet.
What are tectonic plates?
This volcano erupted in 1980 in Washington, causing massive destruction.
What is Mount St. Helens?
This hot flowing rock moves down the side of a volcano during an eruption.
What is lava flow?
This is melted rock that reaches Earth's surface.
What is lava?
This volcano type is wide with gentle slopes and forms from flowing lava.
What is a shield volcano?
This layer of Earth lies beneath the crust and contains hot, flowing rock.
What is the mantle?
This volcano famously destroyed the city of Pompeii in AD 79.
What is Mount Vesuvius?
This mixture of ash, rock, and gas can race down a volcano very quickly.
What is a pyroclastic flow?
This opening in Earth's crust is where lava, ash, and gases escape.
What is a volcano vent?
This small volcano forms mostly from ash and cinders.
What is a cinder cone volcano?
When plates move apart, magma rises to create volcanoes at these boundaries.
What are divergent plate boundaries?
This volcano is one of the most active in Hawaii.
What is Mauna Loa?
Volcanoes can release this material into the air that may affect airplanes.
What is volcanic ash?
This bowl-shaped opening at the top of many volcanoes forms after eruptions.
What is a crater?
This famous volcano type is common in places like Hawaii.
What is a shield volcano?
When one plate slides under another, volcanoes can form in this process.
What is subduction?
This large volcano helped form much of the island of Hawaii.
What is Mauna Loa?
This volcanic mudflow occurs when ash mixes with water.
What is a lahar?
Hot, melted rock mixed with gases that can explode from a volcano is called this.
What is magma (or volcanic material)?
This volcano type forms from layers of ash and lava built up over time.
What is a composite volcano?
These places where hot magma rises through the crust can form volcanoes even away from plate boundaries.
What are hot spots?
This supervolcano is located mostly in Yellowstone National Park.
What is the Yellowstone Caldera?
Volcano eruptions can change the weather by releasing these into the atmosphere.
What are gases and ash particles?