Volcano, How do Volcanoes Erupt?
Sourik Sannigrahi
In the volcano rocks slowly start to melt and become Magma. Magma is lighter than solid rock so it
starts to rise and starts to go in to Magma chambers and some magma pushes threw vents and the volcano
erupts. When a volcano erupts it is called Lava. Some volcanoes eruptions are explosive some are not. To
produce an explosive or not one depends on how runny or sticky the Lava is. When Magma is thin and
runny gas can escape. This type of Magma erupts and flows out of the volcano. Lava rarely kills people
because it flows slowly so it gives people time to escape. Lava can’t kill people but it can destroy
buildings and anything else in its path. If Magma is thick and sticky then gas can’t escape very well, so
pressure builds up and the volcano erupts violently and then when it erupts Lava shoots out in to the air
and turns in to tephra. Tephra can be like little particles or be house size boulders. Big explosions can be
really dangerous. A volcano can erupt tephra from the side or the front of a volcano. When ash comes
down it comes down like powdery snow but snow that can’t melt. If ash is thick enough it could suffocate
plants and animals. When ash mixes water it could produce a mudflow. A mudflow could bury a whole
city that was next to an erupting volcano. Since volcanoes eruptions are 100 of years apart, people forget
how bad an eruption could be.
Famous Volcanoes around the World Mt. Etna, Mt. Saint Helen, Mt. Fuji, Mt. Vesuvius, Mt. Rainer,
Mauna Loa, Mt. Everest, and Mt. Khoala are some of the volcanoes we see today.