Volcanoes

By Darryl Keane
Illustrated by Amy Robinson

What
What Are
Are Volcanoes?
Volcanoes?
Have you ever heard of (or even climbed) Mount Snowdon, Scafell Pike or
Ben Nevis? Many breathtaking mountains like these were made by volcanoes
millions of years ago.
A volcano is an opening in Earth’s surface that allows ash, magma and
gas to escape during an eruption. Surprisingly, many people choose to live
near to volcanoes because of the rich, fertile soil.

Magma chamber Lava flow

Why
Why Do
Do Volcanoes
Volcanoes Erupt?
Erupt?
As Earth’s crust melts, incredibly hot liquid rock called magma is formed.
Pressure eventually forces the magma up and out of the vent of the volcano.
Once magma leaves the volcano, it becomes known as lava.
Volcanoes can be classed in these categories:
Active: There has been at least one ‘recent’ eruption (in the last
10,000 years).
Dormant: There has been no eruption in the last 10,000 years, but it’s
expected that an eruption will take place in the future.
Extinct: There has been no recent eruption, and the volcano is not
expected to erupt again in the future.

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 How
How Are
Are Volcanoes
Volcanoes Formed?
Formed?
Earth’s surface is made up of tectonic plates, which are like pieces of a
giant jigsaw puzzle. The plates are always moving, although only by a few
centimetres each year.

Volcanoes
Volcanoes are
are formed
formed like
like this:
this:
1.
1. Two
Two tectonic
tectonic plates
plates collide.
collide.
2.
2. One
One of
of the
the plates
plates is is subducted
subducted beneath
beneath the
the other
other plate.
plate.
3.
3. The
The crust
crust of
of the
the subducted
subducted plate
plate gets
gets hotter
hotter and
and melts
melts to to
form
form magma
magma (liquid
(liquid rock).
rock).
4.
4. The
The magma
magma is is lighter
lighter than
than the
the surrounding
surrounding rock,
rock, so
so itit rises
rises
towards
towards Earth’s
Earth’s surface.
surface.
5.
5. Eventually,
Eventually, the
the magma
magma erupts
erupts to
to make
make aa volcano.
volcano.

Earth’s crust
Subducted
plate

What
What Are
Are Hot
Hot Spots?
Spots?
Volcanoes can also be formed above hot spots. As a tectonic plate moves
over a hot spot in Earth’s crust, a whole line of volcanoes is made.
This happened in the Pacific Ocean, and the volcanic islands of Hawaii
were created. The map below shows a line of volcanoes formed by a hot spot
in the Pacific Ocean. The largest active volcano in the world is Mauna Loa in
Hawaii, which is 4,169 metres tall.

Pacific Ocean
Hawaii

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 Where
Where Can
Can II See
See AA Volcano?
Volcano?
There are around 1,900 active volcanoes in the world. Many active volcanoes
can be found in an area known as the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’, which surrounds
the Pacific Ocean.
Approximately 10% of active volcanoes are in Japan, and over 20% are
found underwater.

Ring of Fire

Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupted in 79 CE, killing and covering the people of
the town of Pompeii in ash. The volcanic ash preserved the bodies of the dead
and turned them into statues. Visitors to Pompeii can see what life was like
in a Roman town almost 2,000 years ago because it is preserved so well.

Are
Are There
There Volcanoes
Volcanoes in
in Britain?
Britain?
If you live in Britain, the chances are that you’ve never been close to an active
volcano. That’s because Britain is no longer near the edge of a tectonic plate
or a hot spot.
However, 500 million years ago, Britain was extremely volcanic. This created
many of the magnificent mountains in Britain such as Glen Coe in Scotland
and the Borrowdale Hills in Cumbria. All the volcanoes in Britain have been
extinct for many millions of years.

Did
Did You
You Know?
Know? Edinburgh
Edinburgh Castle
Castle is
is built
built on
on an
an extinct
extinct volcano.
volcano.

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