Volcanic Eruptions Reading Preview Key Concepts + What happens when a volcano erupts? * What are the two types of volcanic eruptions? * What are a volcano’ stages of activity? Key Terms + magma chamber * pipe *vent ¢ lava flow ° crater * pyroclastic flow * dormant + extinct @ Target Reading Skill Using Prior Knowledge Before you read, look at the section headings to see what the section is about. Then write what you know about how a volcano erupts in a ‘graphic organizer like the one below. As you read, write what you learn What You Know 1. Lava flows out of a volcano. B ues Discover Activity What Are Volcanic Rocks Like? Volcanoes produce lava, which hardens into rock. Two of these rocks are pumice and obsidian. 1, Observe samples of pumice and obsidian with a hand lens. 2. How would you describe the texture of the pumice? What could have caused this texture? 3. Observe the surface of the obsidian. How does the surface of the obsidian differ from pumice? Think It Over Developing Hypotheses What could have produced the difference in texture between the two rocks? Explain your answer. Obsidian In Hawaii, there are many myths about Pele (Pay lay), the fire goddess of volcanoes. Pele lives in the depths of Hawaii's erupt- ing volcanoes. According to legend, when Pele is angry, she causes a volcanic eruption. One result of an eruption is “Pele’s hair,” a fine, threadlike rock formed by lava. Pele’s hair forms when lava sprays out of the ground like water from a fountain. As it cools, the lava stretches and hardens into thin strands, as shown in Figure 21. Where does this lava come from? Lava begins as magma, which usually forms in the asthenosphere. The materials of the | asthenosphere are under great pressure, Liquid magma is less dense than the solid material around it. Therefore, magma flows upward into any cracks in the rock above, As magma rises, it sometimes becomes trapped beneath layers of rock. But if an opening in weak rock allows the magma to reach the surface, a yolcano forms, 1 Figure 21 >. Pele’s Hair Pele’s hair is a type of rock formed from lava, Each strand is as fine as spun glass. Chapter 6 209Ficure 22 Lava Burp During an eruption on Mount Kilauea, the force of a bursting gas bubble pushes up a sheet of red-hot lava. Magma Rez ches A volcano is more than a large, cone-shaped mountain, {nig volcano is a system of passageways through which magma mo, Inside a Volcano All volcanoes have a pocket of Magm, beneath the surface and one or more cracks through which the magma forces its way. Beneath a volcano, magma collects in pocket called a magma chamber. The magma moves upwarj through a pipe, a long tube in the ground that connects ti. magma chamber to Earth’s surface. You can see these feature, in Figure 23. Molten rock and gas leave the volcano through an opening called a vent. Often, there is one central vent at the top of volcano. However, many volcanoes also have other vents that open on the volcano’s sides. A lava flow is the area covered by lava as it pours out of a vent. A crater is a bowl-shaped area that may form at the top of a volcano around the central vent. A Volcanic Eruption What pushes magma to the surface? The explosion of a volcano is similar to the soda water bub- bling out of a warm bottle of soda pop. You cannot see the car bon dioxide gas in a bottle of soda pop because it is dissolved in the liquid. But when you open the bottle, the pressure is released, The carbon dioxide expands and forms bubbles, which rush to the surface, Like the carbon dioxide in soda pop, dissolved gases are trapped in magma. These dissolved gases are under tremendous pressure.ih | wey ree NaN ee tC aes, s- Side vent Lava flow Go @nline “omposite Volcano Eruption activity Visit: PHSchool.com chamber \ ‘As magma rises toward the surface, the pressure of the sur- ee rounding rock on the magma decreases, The dissolved gases | A volcano forms where magma begin to expand, forming bubbles, As pressure falls within the | breaks through Earths cust and magma, the size of the gas bubbles increases greatly, These bea tars eens expanding gases exert an enormous force, When a volcano | of a ne screen tien tana erupts, the force of the expanding gases pushes magma from | with the magma chamber? | the magma chamber through the pipe until it flows or explodes out of the vent. Once magma escapes from the yol- cano and becomes lava, the remaining gases bubble out. | Gre ng What happens to the pressure in magma as the Checkpoint) magma rises toward the surface? t Chapter 6 @ 2117 Some volcanic eruptions occur gradually. Others are q,. m; Gases in Magma explosions. Geologists classify volcanic eruptions as Ait This activity models the explosive. The physical properties of its magma deter,” gas bubbles in a volcanic how a volcano erupts. Whether an eruption is quiet or ¢,," eruption. sive depends on the magma’s silica content and viscosit 1. Ina 1- or 2-liter plastic bottle, mix 10 g of baking Quiet Eruptions A volcano erupts quietly ite magma st soda into 65 mL of water. in silica. Low-silica magma has low viscosity and flows easj, 2. Put about six raisins in the | | ‘The gases in the magma bubble out gently. Lava with low vi water. ity oozes quietly from the vent and can flow for many kilome 3. While swirling the water ters. Quiet eruptions can produce both pahoehoe and aa. and raisins, add 65 mL of The Hawaiian Islands were formed from quiet eruption vinegar and stir vigorously. 4. Once the liquid stops moving, observe the raisins. On the Big Island of Hawaii, lava pours out of the crater nea the top of Mount Kilauea, But lava also flows out of long « on the volcano’ sides. Quiet eruptions have built up the Big fae onerncae Island over hundreds of thousands of years. er yo aera) ; ‘ See oot rains | | Explosive Eruptions A volcano erupts explosively i ismodelcimiortetheweye | | Magma is high in silica. High-siica magma has high viscos magma behaves in a volcano? making it thick and sticky. The high-viscosity magma does no! always flow out of the crater. Instead, it builds up in the vo cano’s pipe, plugging it like a cork in a bottle. Dissolved gases including water vapor, cannot escape from the thick magma The trapped gases build up pressure until they explode. The erupting gases and steam push the magma out of the volcano with incredible force. That’s what happened during the ert tion of Mount St. Helens, shown in Figure 24.Paes. i. An explosive eruption breaks lava into fragments that quickly cool and harden into pieces of different sizes, The smallest pieces are volcanic ash—fine, rocky particles as small as a speck of dust. Pebble-sized particles are called cinders. Larger pieces, called bombs, may range from the size of a base. ball to the size of a car. A pyroclastic flow (py roh KtAs tik) occurs when an explosive eruption hurls out a mixture of hot h, cinders, and bombs, gases © Pumice and obsidian, which you observed if you did the Discov ivity, form from high-silica lava. Obsidian forms when lava cools very quickly, giving it a smooth, glossy surface like glass. Pumice forms when gas bubbles are trapped in fast- cooling lava, leaving spaces in the rock. S Checkpoint ) What is a pyroclastic flow? Ficure 24 ‘An Explosive Eruption Mount St. Helens in Washington State erupted at 8:30 A.M. on May 18, 1980. The explosion blew off the top of the mountain, leaving a huge crater and causing great destruction.Volcano Hazards Although quiet eruptions and ¢.,, eruptions produce different hazards, both types of oe can cause damage far from the crater’s rim, ion During a quiet eruption, lava flows from vents, Setting to, and then burying, everything in its path. A quiet ree | can cover large areas with a thick layer of lava. ion, During an explosive eruption, a volcano can belch ous 5 clouds of deadly gases as well as ash, cinders, and bom, vy" | inic ash can bury entire towns. If it becomes wet, the heay .- | can cause roofs to collapse. Ifa jet plane sucks ash into its en, S | the engine may stall. Eruptions can cause landslides ang | ite : 4 Janches of mud, melted snow, and rock. The Science and Hig a. ;j ory timeline shows the effects of several explosive eruptions, | Gerding... ) How does volcanic ash cause damage? Te ( Saleem ay The Power of Volcanoes Within the last 150 years, major volcanic eruptions have greatly affected the land and people around them. 1912 . Mount Katmal Today, a river in Alaska cuts throug? the thick layer of 1883 Krakatau volcanic ash ‘rom The violent eruption of the eruption of Krakatau volcano in Indonesia Mount Kat! threw 18 cubic kilometers of | ‘ash skyward, The blast was heard 5,000 kilometers away,a. stages of Volcanic Activity The activity of a voleano may last from less than a decade to more than 10 million years. Most long-lived volcanoes, how- ever, do not erupt continuously. Geologists try to determine a vyolcano’s past and whether the volcano will erupt again Life Cycle of a Volcano Geologists often use the terms active, dormant, or extinct to describe a volcano’s stage of activity. An active, or live, volcano is one that is erupting or has shown signs that it may erupt in the near future, A dormant, or sleeping, volcano is like a sleeping bear. Scientists expect a dormant volcano to awaken in the future and become active. An extinct, or dead, volcano is unlikely to erupt again. The time between volcanic eruptions may span hundreds to many thousands of years. People living near a dormant vol- cano may be unaware of the danger. But a dormant volcano can become active at any time. Research and Write People have written eyewitness accounts of famous volcanic eruptions. Research one of the eruptions in the timeline. Then writea letter describing what someone observing the eruption might have seen. 2002 Mount Etna Bulldozers constructed a wall against a scalding river of lava creeping down the slopes of Mount Etna in Sicily. Chapter 6 @ 215| Figure 25 Volcano Watch Near Mount Kilauea in Hawaii, these geologists are testing instruments t0, monitor temperatures in and arou' crater. Monitoring Volcanoes Geologists have been more sy. ful in predicting volcanic eruptions fhe in predicting ean, quakes. Geologists use instruments to detect changes Nang around a volcano. These changes may give warning a shor, before a volcano erupts. But geologists cannot be certain abo, the type of eruption or how powerful it will be. Geologists use tiltmeters and other instruments to dere, slight surface changes in elevation and tilt caused by mag moving underground. They monitor any gases escaping fy the volcano. A temperature increase in underground wate may be a sign that magma is nearing the surface. Geologist; also monitor the many small earthquakes that occur around; volcano before an eruption. The upward movement of magn: triggers these quakes, Reading GS F238.) How do geologists monitor volcanoes? py Yast] Assessmen ‘@ Target Reading Skill Using Prior Knowledge "~ Review your graphic organizer and revise it 3. a. Naming What are the three stages of volcanic activity? based on what you just learned in the section. b. Predicting Which is more likely to be Reviewing Key Concepts dangerous—a volcano that erupts frequently °* 1.a. Listing What are the main parts of a a volcano that has been inactive for a hundred volcano? years? Why? b. Sequencing Describe the order of parts through which magma travels as it moves to the surface, <. Relating Cause and Effect Asa volcano erupts, what force pushes magma out of a volcano onto the surface? | 2. a. identifying What are the two main kinds {| of volcanic eruptions? Writing in Scie interview You are a television news re" who will be interviewing a geologist. 1!" ‘Geologist has just returned from studyins ? Nearby volcano that may soon erupt. WV’ © b, Explaining What properties of magma the questions that you would ask, Be su"° '° help to determine the type of eruption? ask about the evidence that an eruption « Inferring What do lava flows made of coming, the type of eruption expected: *” pahoehoe and aa indicate about the typeof | @Ny Hazards that will result. Write an ans" volcanic eruption that occurred? for each question. et ee 216