Dante’s Peak Study Guide. This study guide is intended to be followed by the student as the
video is shown in class. All questions are to be answered by the student.
1. What happened to Harry Dalton’s fiancé/wife at the beginning of the movie? Research the
different types of “solid” objects ejected from a volcano, collectively known as “tephra”.
What are they, BRIEFLY describe each. Also include a description of “volcanic bombs”. Which
one do you think got her? Explain.
2. When Harry reports to work after getting the call from his boss, “Paul”, what are the
people working on as he enters the building? Why is it so essential to have technology like
this? What are some other technological items we can/could use in dangerous settings
(seafloor exploration, fires, etc.) to preserve human life and protect property?
3. What mountain range is Dante’s Peak located in? Look up online the plate interactions
that caused these volcanoes and mountains to form. Describe the plate motion as well as tell
about what type of volcanoes are found in these mountains. Describe these volcanoes and
name 3 of them.
4. Twonset Hot Springs is the skinny dipping scene. What happens to the two people in the
water? Is the portrayal of this in the video realistic or “Hollywood”? Explain your answer.
Could the springs heat up that fast?
5. When Mayor Wando goes to the mine to get Graham, he gets in trouble. Some volcanic
areas have lots of mining around them due to the large concentration of minerals associated
with volcanism. Besides being a safety hazard, what are 3 major impacts on the environment
that are caused by mining?
6. When the town council meets and Harry gets shut down by Paul, Paul sites a mountain in
the past that he was “sure was going to blow”. What was the town and what happened to it?
What was the town council's biggest concern? Was it a valid concern? Explain.
7. When they get in the helicopter and fly over the volcano, they are testing for one
particular type of gas. What is that gas? Why are gasses in lava and volcanoes so important?
What are the 3 most common types of gas emitted from volcanoes? How does the gas
content of lava affect an eruption?
8. After the coffee is delivered, the scientists set some devices on the mountain. What are
they? What do they record? Do volcanoes cause earthquakes?
9. Dante’s Peak is a stratovolcano. Diagram and describe how these form use a google image.
Also, diagram and describe a shield volcano. Most volcanoes are found on or near plate
boundaries, but Hawaii is different. It is a hot spot volcano. What is “hot spot” or “intraplate
volcanism? Diagram how these form as well.
10. According to Harry, what kinds of tremors were on the volcano? How are those
significant? What is the difference between a magmatic eruption and a phreatic eruption?
Describe each.
11. No one believes Harry that the volcano is getting ready to blow. What is the evidence that
finally convinces them that Harry might be right? What is significant about this and the study
of volcanoes?
12. What happens to Harry and the family in the cabin with grandma? What type of lava is it?
(Is it basaltic, also known as mafic, or granitic, also known as felsic)? What is the temperature
of this type of lava, so close to the vent of the volcano? Could they stand that close to it?
13. What is the lake filled with? Why? Is that possible? Has it happened anywhere else on
earth? Do some research on acid lakes. There is a volcano like this…somewhere. You find it.
What is the acid?
14. When the Dam breaks in the movie, it was caused by a volcanic mudflow? What is that
called? Are these deadly? Give an example. We will take some time here for you to research
and answer the following. It will be collected when you are done! What are some precautions
we as a society could take to protect life from various geo-hazards such as landslides,
earthquakes, tsunamis, sinkholes, groundwater pollution (like what happened in this movie),
and flooding?
15. Volcanic ash is one type of tephra. You have seen a lot of it fall during this video. Do you
think this is realistic? What FACTS do you base your answer on? Please explain. Make a
comparison chart if you need to.
16. What chased the family into the mine? Harry names it for you. Where have you seen this
before?
17. What technology allowed the others to find them? Explain how a GPS would work and
allow them to be found. (We covered this with earthquakes.)
18. What is it that makes volcanic soil so rich? (This is not in the video, but is still important to
know). How do soils form over time? What are the 3 main components of soil?