our planet has a violent soul majestic
and often destructive volcanic
explosions rattle our collective
imagination
Krakatoa Mount st. Helens Etna AAF yet
lay your Co the images simultaneously
strike fear and awe in our hearts but
how did these giant mountains form and
where does all that destructive force
come from at least 50 eruptions Rock the
earth each year meaning our planet is
literally bursting apart of the seeds
the Earth’s crust is made up of about 17
slabs of land called tectonic plates
that float on the superheated magma that
makes up most of the planets interior
magma is the Earth’s lifeblood churning
restlessly beneath the crust and
wherever it can it’s trying to burst
through it’s at these spots that
volcanoes form our planet is home to
some 500 active volcanoes while some
volcanoes like those in Hawaii break
through a thin point in the crust called
a hotspot the vast majority of volcanoes
occur on active fault lines where
tectonic plates meet the most volatile
region is the Ring of Fire a geological
fault felt that rims the Pacific Ocean
and holds roughly 75 percent of all the
Earth’s volcanoes typically volcanoes
take one of two forms shield volcanoes
wide and broad with lava usually slowly
oozing out of them and composite or
stratovolcanoes steeper and more violent
when hot liquid magma reaches the
surface whether in a slithering flow or
a booming eruption we call it lava
though molten lava may seem threatening
it’s not known to move quickly a
volcano’s pyroclastic flow is far more
deadly this poisonous ash cloud can race
down the slope of a volcano like a
bullet train obliterating everything in
its path at speeds topping
100 miles per hour it’s what stopped the
residents of Pompeii dead in their
tracks
but despite the volcano’s brutal
destruction it is also a force of beauty
and rebirth for the planet lava creates
new lands where life can flourish like
it or not volcanoes are part of the
planets life cycle as the Earth
continues to explode gurgle and slither
its molten heart out we must learn to
live side by side with its awesome power
and often destructive volcanic
explosions rattle our collective
imagination
Krakatoa Mount st. Helens Etna AAF yet
lay your Co the images simultaneously
strike fear and awe in our hearts but
how did these giant mountains form and
where does all that destructive force
come from at least 50 eruptions Rock the
earth each year meaning our planet is
literally bursting apart of the seeds
the Earth’s crust is made up of about 17
slabs of land called tectonic plates
that float on the superheated magma that
makes up most of the planets interior
magma is the Earth’s lifeblood churning
restlessly beneath the crust and
wherever it can it’s trying to burst
through it’s at these spots that
volcanoes form our planet is home to
some 500 active volcanoes while some
volcanoes like those in Hawaii break
through a thin point in the crust called
a hotspot the vast majority of volcanoes
occur on active fault lines where
tectonic plates meet the most volatile
region is the Ring of Fire a geological
fault felt that rims the Pacific Ocean
and holds roughly 75 percent of all the
Earth’s volcanoes typically volcanoes
take one of two forms shield volcanoes
wide and broad with lava usually slowly
oozing out of them and composite or
stratovolcanoes steeper and more violent
when hot liquid magma reaches the
surface whether in a slithering flow or
a booming eruption we call it lava
though molten lava may seem threatening
it’s not known to move quickly a
volcano’s pyroclastic flow is far more
deadly this poisonous ash cloud can race
down the slope of a volcano like a
bullet train obliterating everything in
its path at speeds topping
100 miles per hour it’s what stopped the
residents of Pompeii dead in their
tracks
but despite the volcano’s brutal
destruction it is also a force of beauty
and rebirth for the planet lava creates
new lands where life can flourish like
it or not volcanoes are part of the
planets life cycle as the Earth
continues to explode gurgle and slither
its molten heart out we must learn to
live side by side with its awesome power
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