Volcanism Volcanic Features Location and Types of Volcanic Activity Effusive vs. explosive Eruptions    Volcano Forecasting and Planning

Volcanic Settings Figure 12.24

Shield and Composite Volcanoes Figure 12.32

l Generally at hot spots, spreading centers Mantly comes directly to surface Hot lava; low viscosity, very mafic, flows easily, gases escape easily Forms shield, flood basalts

FLOOD BASALTS

Composite Volcano basalt flow

EXPLOSIVE ERUPTIONS Found at subduction zones Magma low temp (800 degrees C), high viscosity, does not flow easily, more felsic mineralogy, gases trapped, hard to predict explosions Forms composite volcanoes, cinder cones, calderas, aerial bombs, nuee ardente gas flows, very destructive

Composite/stratovolcanoes Composite, or stratovolcano = alternating layers of solidified lava, hardened ash, and volcanic rocks Figure 12.34

Nuée ardente: pyroclastic flow, of searing superheated gas and incandescent volcanic ash and dust Mount Pelee, on the Carribean island of Martinique, 1902 eruption. All but 2 of the more than 20,000 people in the town of St. Pierre were killed.

KRAKATAU: World’s largest explosion? Over a century ago, on August 26,1883, the island volcano of Krakatau ("Krakatoa") in Indonesia, a virtually unknown volcanic island with a history of violent volcanic activity, exploded with devastating fury. The eruption was one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in recorded history. The effects were experienced on a global scale. Fine ashes from the eruption were carried by upper level winds as far away as New York City. The explosion was heard more than 3000 miles away. Volcanic dust blew into the upper atmosphere affecting incoming solar radiation and the earth's weather for several years. A series of large tsunami waves generated by the main explosion, some reaching a height of nearly 40 meters (more than 120 feet) above sea level, killed more than 36,000 people in the coastal towns and villages along the Sunda Strait on Java and Sumatra islands. Tsunami waves were recorded or observed throughout the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the American West Coast, South America, and even as far away as the English Channel.  

Shiveluch and Klyuchevskaya Volcanoes (Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia - part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire” ) ASTER thermal infrared images of both eruptions, April 26, 2007

Archeological evidence from Spanish chronicles Why Coropuna? Archeological evidence from Spanish chronicles Highly worshipped mountain; stratovolcano Coropuna is believed to contain Inca ruins and human sacrifices offered to the mountain deity. Source: Guaman Poma de Aylla [1613]