Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Magma Magma is LESS DENSE than the rock around it and slowly forced up as lava. (Magma Chamber – space deep in the Earth that contains the molten rock.) What causes volcanoes?
Anatomy of a Volcano Magma reaches the surface and flows out through an opening called a vent. Lava flows out quickly and becomes solid, forming layers of igneous rock around the vent. A crater (opening at the top of a volcano) forms. (Caldera – larger crater up to 50 km in diameter)
Where do volcanoes occur? At Divergent plate Boundaries (15%) Separated plates form long deep cracks called rifts. Lava flows out and is instantly cooled by seawater. Ex. Iceland Laki
4/15/2010 Lightning in the ash plume of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano. Credit: Olivier Vandeginste
the Northern Lights have been rippling across the Icelandic sky over Eyjafjallajokull
At Convergent plate Boundaries (80%) – Magma is created in the subduction zone and is forced upward when 2 plates converge.
At hot spots (far away from plate boundaries) – some areas in the mantle are hotter than others and melt rock, which is forced up as magma. Ex. Hawaiian Islands
Yellowstone