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Devils Post Piles: What? Where? How?
Devils Postpile National Monument outside the caldera to the west of Mammoth Mt. protects basaltic
columns some 60 ft (18 m) in height that formed from lava that erupted 200 000 to 100 000 years ago.
Devils Tower: What? Where? How?
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Devils Tower rises above the surrounding grassland and Ponderosa pine forests like a rocky
sentinel. Northern Plains tribes have worshipped near this remarkable geologic formation for
thousands of years. Fur trappers, explorers, and settlers alike were awed by the tower's majesty.
In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established Devils Tower as our nation's first national
monument. Many have gazed at the Tower and wondered, "How did this amazing formation
form?"
The Stage is Set
Most of the landscape surrounding Devils Tower is composed of sedimentary rocks. These
rocks are formed from broken or dissolved fragments of other rocks and are usually deposited by
water or wind.
The oldest rocks visible in Devils Tower National Monument were laid down in a shallow
inland sea. This sea covered much of the central and western United States during Triassic time,
225 to 195 million years ago. This dark red sandstone and maroon siltstone, interbedded with
shale, can be seen along the Belle Fourche River. Oxidation of iron rich minerals causes the
redness of the rocks. This rock layer is known as the Spearfish Formation.
Above the Spearfish formation is a thin band of white gypsum, called the
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Caldera: What? How formed?
A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a
volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes
confused with volcanic craters. The word comes from Spanish caldera, and this from Latin
CALDARIA, meaning "cooking pot". In some texts the English term cauldron is also used.
In 1815, the German geologist Leopold von Buch visited the Las Cañadas caldera of Teide on
Tenerife, and the Caldera de Taburiente on La Palma, both in the Canary Islands. When he
published his memoirs he introduced the term caldera into the geological vocabulary.
Lava Plateau: What? How Formed?
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Lava plateaus are formed by highly fluid (runny) basaltic lava during numerous successive
eruptions through numerous vents without violent explosions (quiet eruptions). These eruptions
are quiet because of low viscosity of mafic lava, so that it is very fluid and contains small
amount of trapped gases. The resulting sheet lava flows may be extruded from linear fissures or
rifts or gigantic volcanic eruptions through multiple vents characteristic of the prehistoric era
which produced giant flood basalts. Multiple successive and extensive lava flows cover the
original landscape to eventually form a plateau, which may contain lava fields, cinder cones,
shield volcanos and other volcanic landforms.
Perhaps the most extensive of all the subaerial basaltic plateaus existed during the Paleogene[1]
and possibly extended over 1,800,000 km2 (700,000 square miles) of the northern Atlantic Ocean
region. This region, known as the Thulean Plateau, is generally believed to have been broken up
by foundering of the Earth's crust to form the present ocean basin.
The Earth features numerous subaerial and submarine volcanic plateaus such as the Columbia
River Plateau (subaerial) and the vast Ontong Java Plateau (submarine).
Pyroclastic plateau
Pyroclastic volcanic plateaus are produced by massive pyroclastic flows and they are underlain
Hot Spot: Inter-plate Volcanic Activity?
What? How? Where?
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Intraplate volcanism
The 5 percent of known volcanoes in the world that are not closely related to plate margins are
generally regarded as intraplate, or “hot-spot,” volcanoes. A hot spot is believed to be related to
the rising of a deep-mantle plume, which is caused by very slow convection of highly viscous
material in the Earth’s mantle. As hot but solid mantle rock moves upward, partial melting may
occur from the lowering of its pressure-dependent melting temperature. Where a lithospheric
plate moves over a hot spot, a chain of volcanic islands may be created. As the plate moves, the
older
Most Dangerous Volcano? Where
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A recent PBS documentary identified Kilauea, on the island of Hawaii, as “The Most Dangerous Volcano
in the World.” A curious choice, in my opinion, for any rating of a volcano's danger must take into
account both the intrinsic hazard and the number of lives at risk.
Eruptions of Kilauea are certainly spectacular. Its cherry-red lava flows and roaring lava fountains are
impressive, especially when seen at night. But relatively few people have been killed by Kilauea's lava,
because it is usually possible for people to get out of its path. The one major fatality at Kilauea was
caused by a steam explosion. In 1794, lava-heated groundwater killed a troop of soldiers marching past
the caldera. But such explosions at Kilauea are rare. Therefore, Hawaiian volcanism is a fairly gentle sort
of thing.
All volcanoes pose a danger to volcanologists, and I personally rate Grimsvatn in Iceland as most
hazardous. Why? Because I fell into its caldera barely escaping with my life (see sidebar, “Bill & The
Volcano”.) The volcano lies buried under an ice sheet 500 meters thick. Its eruptions can melt enormous
volumes of ice. In 1996, gigantic floods were caused by an eruption that liquefied six cubic kilometers of
solid water. Fortunate for Icelanders, the floods make their way from the volcano to the sea through an
uninhabited region.
Most Active? Where?
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Kīlauea -- Perhaps the World's
Most Active Volcano
View north-northeast across Kīlauea's summit
caldera and Halema`uma`u crater (left of center)
Kīlauea is the youngest and southeastern most volcano on the Big Island of Hawai`i.
Topographically Kīlauea appears as only a bulge on the southeastern flank of Mauna Loa, and so
for many years Kīlauea was thought to be a mere satellite of its giant neighbor, not a separate
volcano. However, research over the past few decades shows clearly that Kīlauea has its own
magma-plumbing system, extending to the surface from more than 60 km deep in the earth.
In fact, the summit of Kīlauea lies on a curving line of volcanoes that includes Mauna Kea and
Kohala and excludes Mauna Loa. In other words, Kīlauea is to Mauna Kea as Lo`ihi is to Mauna
Loa. Hawaiians used the word Kīlauea only for the summit caldera, but earth scientists and, over
time, popular usage have extended the name to include the entire volcano.
11 October 2002


The eruption of Kīlauea Volcano
that began in 1983 continues at the
cinder-and-spatter cone of Pu`u `Ō
`ō (high point on skyline). Lava
erupting from the cone flows
through a tube system down
Pulama pali about 11 km to the sea
(lower left).
Map of Kīlauea, including location of Pu`u `Ō `ō
Sketch showing magma reservoir & active lava-tube system
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Largest Volcano on Earth? Where?
Mount Etna (Αἴτνη (Aítnē) in Classical Greek,[2] Aetna in Latin, also known as Muncibeddu
(beautiful mountain) in Sicilian and Mongibello in Italian (from the Latin mons and the Arabic
gibel, both meaning mountain[3]) is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to
Messina and Catania. Its Arabic name was Ǧabal an-Nār ("the Mountain of Fire").[citation needed]
According to Adrian Room’s book Placenames of the World, the name Etna is said to have
originated from a Phoenician word attuna meaning “furnace.” He dismisses the theory that Etna
is from a Greek source meaning “I burn.”[4] It is the largest active volcano in Europe, currently
standing 3,329 metres (10,922 ft) high, though this varies with summit eruptions; the mountain is
21 m (69 ft) lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps.
Etna covers an area of 1,190 km² (460 sq mi) with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes
it by far the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the
height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. Only Mount Teide in Tenerife surpasses it in the
whole of the European region.[5] In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped
under this mountain by Zeus, the god of the sky.
Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of
activity. The fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards
spread across the lower slopes of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south. Due
to its history of recent activity and nearby population, Mount Etna has been designated a Decade
Volcano by the United
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Largest Volcano in our Solar System?
What kind?
Olympus Mons (Latin for Mount Olympus) is a large volcanic mountain on the planet Mars. At
a height of 25 km (82,020 ft), it is almost three times as tall as Mount Everest and is the tallest
known volcano in the Solar System. Olympus Mons is the youngest of the large volcanoes on
Mars, having formed during Mars' Amazonian Period. Olympus Mons had been known to
astronomers since the late 19th century as the albedo feature Nix Olympica (Latin for "Snows of
Olympus"). Its mountainous nature was suspected well before space probes confirmed its
identity as a mountain.[2]
The volcano is located in Mars' western hemisphere at approximately 18°24′N 226°00′E18.4°N
226°E,[1] just off the northwestern edge of the Tharsis bulge. The western portion of the volcano
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lies in the Amazonis quadrangle (MC-8) and the central and eastern portions in the adjoining
Tharsis quadrangle (MC-9). Two impact craters on Olympus Mons have been assigned
provisional names by the IAU. They are the 15.6 km (10 mi)-diameter Karzok crater (18°25′N
131°55′W18.417°N 131.917°W) and the 10.4 km (6 mi)-diameter Pangboche crater (17°10′N
133°35′W17.167°N 133.583°W).[3] The craters are notable for being two of several suspected
source areas for shergottites, the most abundant class of Martian meteorites.[4]
.[4]
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The Volcano is named after?
(Roman God)
Vulcan--the Roman god of fire and smithing.
3 kinds of Pyroclastic materials? Size?
Volcanic ash, Lapilli, Volcanic bombs and Volcanic blocks.
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Types_of_pyroclastic_material#ixzz1IeuCftp7