Volcanic Activity

INTRODUCTION
Volcanic activity refers to all events where molten
rock (magma) is involved. The most obvious
evidence of volcanic activity is when molten
magma forces its way up to the surface of the
earth.
However most volcanic activity actually takes
place deep underground
It is widespread all over the earth but tends to be
concentrated in specific locations (convergent,
divergent, where plates are rifting and at hot
spots

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

1. To understand WHY
volcanic activity occurs. 5. To understand the
impact that
2. To understand HOW the
distribution of Volcanic
volcanic activity
activity relates to plate
has had on the
boundaries.
Irish landscape
3. To EXPLAIN how
6. To study how
Volcanic activity can be
geothermal energy
predicted.
can be harnessed.
4. To be able to identify
7. To understand the
different types of
effects that Volcanoes
volcano and name its
parts
have on people.

WHY DO VOLCANOES ERUPT ?

They erupt as a
result of pressure:
Molten Magma is less
dense than hard rock.
It is capable of flow.
Gasses held under
high pressure in a
magma chamber
force the magma to the
surface through vents.
Vents develop along
fault lines, hotspots,
ridges and trenches.

Mount Pinatubo eruption

as seen from space

WHY DO VOLCANOES ERUPT?

The term of the upper mantle is about 1000 degrees
Celsius. This is hot enough for the rocks here to be molten,
including sections of plates that have been subducted, to
melt and form molten magma. Molten magma is less dense
then the surrounding solid rock so it rises and intrudes into
the crust.. It can build up in magma chambers.
Magma contains gas and steam which is under high
pressure. As magma rises the gases and steam expand to
several hundred times their original volume. This pushes
the magma upwards
The magma is eventually forced through a hole or crack in
the ground.
An eruption occurs. The magma is then known as lava.

WHAT IS A VOLCANO ?
A volcano is a opening in the earths crust
through which molten material from the interior
can make its way to the surface.
Volcanoes form along plate boundaries and
hot spots where rock is recycled.
The distribution of the worlds volcanoes can be
explained by studying the worlds plate
boundaries.

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF VOLCANOES

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION
The global
distribution of
volcanoes can be
explained by their
location in relation to
fault lines.
Volcanoes are found
on convergent,
divergent and
transform
boundaries.

DESTRUCTIVE BOUNDARIES

When subduction
occurs as plates collide
the descending old
crust is melted in the
asthenosphere. The
melted rock rises
through the crust
through a vent.
This creates central
vent eruptions along
chains of fold
mountain's.
E.g. The Andes,
South America

DIVERGENT BOUNDARIES
At Divergent
Boundaries new crust
is created.
As the plates pull
apart the sea floor
spreads and magma
rises to fill the void.
This results in the
creation of new crust
and ocean ridges
which rise to form
islands.
Iceland and the MidAtlantic Ridge

CYCLE OF VOLCANIC ACTIVITY

Active (Live): Erupts on a
Regular basis.
Dormant (live):
Volcanoes that have not
erupted in recent recorded
history. Can be asleep
from 100-600 years.
Extinct (dead) Has not
erupted since historical
times. There is no lava
supply.

MOUNT ST HELENS

CYCLE OF VOLCANIC ACTIVITY

VOLCANOES IN EUROPE

Eurasian Plate

African Plate

VOLCANIC MATERIAL
Basic Lava over 1000 C. Low in silica so it is
less viscous and runny. Produced at
constructive plate boundaries and hot spots. Can
flow vast distances, it forms extensive, gently
sloping landforms i.e. Antrim Derry Plateau
Acidic Lava : Is very high in silica and
pasty. It is produced at destructive plate
boundaries. Contains gas bubbles that cannot
escape easily and so explodes with force. It flows
only short distances before cooling and
hardening

PYROCLASTIC MATERIAL ( BROKEN BITS OF

ROCK EJECTED FROM A VOLCANO)

This is the material ejected by a volcano. It

includes ash, cinders, Pebbles and rock
Volcanic bombs and pumice.
A volcanic ash cloud, resulting from the eruption
of the volcanic fissure underneath the
Eyjafjallajokull glacier in Summer 2010 resulted
in the cancellation of over 100 000 flights
Lahars : Devastating mudflows that result
when volcanic material ( ash, dust, cinders)
mixes with snow melt water or heavy rainfall.
Can travel up to 200 KM per hours

VOLCANIC GASSES
Steam
Carbon Monoxide
Chlorine
Hydrogen
Sulphurous Oxides.
Depending on the
type of lava
explosions can be
devastating.
Acid Rain can result
when the gasses
react with moisture
in the atmosphere.

VOLCANIC LANDFORMS
Volcanic landforms
fall into two main
categories.
Intrusive : Formed
inside the earth.
Extrusive formed on
the surface.

EXTRUSIVE : CENTRAL VENT

ERUPTION
Form at
destructive
boundaries.
As lava and other
material builds
up on the surface
it creates a
volcanic cone.

ANATOMY OF A CENTRAL VENT ERUPTION

Cloud of Pyroclastic Material

Crater

Lava Flow

Secondary Flow

Alternate Layers
Of Ash and Lava

Pipe

Vent
Magma Chamber

TYPES OF CENTRAL VENT ERUPTIONS

1. Composite Volcano :
Layers of alternate ash
and lava.

2. Lava Dome: Thick

viscous lava that
solidifies to form a dome
over a vent.
3. Caldera. A large
surface crater where a
cone collapses in as it
was consumed by the
Magma chamber below
it.

FISSURE ERUPTIONS
Fissures are cracks
caused by plate
movement .
Krafla : This is a
20KM long fissure in
Iceland that has
been erupting for
over 30 years
spewing lava.
The Derry Antrim
Plateau formed from
fissure eruptions 65
million years ago.

HOT SPOTS
Hot Spots are places
where volcanic activity
takes place far in from
plate margins.
They from where there is
often a thin crust
overlying a hot mantle.
A plume of magma rises
from the mantle and melts
a spot in the crust through
which lava escapes.
E.g. The Hawaiian Islands.

INTRUSIVE LANDFORMS
Landforms of
volcanic activity
that are created
beneath the
surface.
Magma cools slowly
inside the crust to
create intrusive
igneous rock e.g.
Granite.
Plutons is the
collective name for
intrusive landforms.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5LdZJiKsVk

INTRUSIVE LANDFORM'S CONTD

Batholiths: The
Largest of the
Plutons. Coarse with
large crystals. They
are exposed after
denudation wears
away the crust above
them.
E.g. Leinster Batholith
Dublin, Wicklow
Mountains.

LACCOLITHS
Dome like
structures of hard
intrusive igneous
rock that bulged
upwards against
the overlying rock
strata.

SILLS
Horizontal sheets of
igneous rock that run
parallel to the under
and overlying rock
strata.
They formed when
magma forced its way
into the bedding
planes of sedimentary
rock where it cooled
and solidified.

DYKES.
Vertical sheets of
volcanic rock
that cooled and
solidified in
vertical cracks in
the crust.

PLUTONIC LANDFORMS

Human
interaction
with Volcanoes

PREDICTING VOLCANIC ACTIVITY

Measuring Gas samples

Increase in sulphur and

carbon levels in soils on or
close to volcanic slopes.
Increase in the
temperatures of
groundwater.
Changes in the shape of
the volcano as magma
upwells within.
Some volcanic activity
may be preceded by
plumes of smoke, ash and
steam.
Magma heating rock in the
upper mantle may cause
small tremors.

BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF VOLCANOES

The creation of fertile
soils. Ash and cinders
are natural fertilisers.
Cash crops such as
tea, coffee, cotton and
coco are grown in
volcanic soils.
Tourist Attractions:
Yellowstone National
Park, USA and Mt. Etna
, Sicily.
http://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=bVYD2gtq4IA

 Geothermal
Activity: A
renewable source
of energy whereby
the heat of
volcanically
heated springs are
harnessed to
provided clean
green energy. E.g.
Iceland.

Case Study :
Mount St. Helens
1980

BEFORE AND AFTER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK--hvgP2uY

MOUNT ST HELENS FALLOUT.

VOLCANIC ACTIVITY IN IRELAND

As we have studied
Ireland moved from
60 south of the
equator to its
present position
The Derry Antrim
Plateau
The Leinster
Batholith

Slemish Mountain

THE DERRY-ANTRIM PLATEAU

Formed by basalt- an
extrusive igneous
rock that cooled
slowly on the surface.
Covers 4,000km2
rising to 350m in
height.
When the lava cooled
60 million years ago it
covered over the
original chalk
seafloor.

 The Giants
Causeway on the
Antrim coast is but a
part of the DerryAntrim Plateau.
To understand how
the structure was
formed we can look
at Iceland today.
When the Eurasian
American plates
pulled apart 60
million MYA the crust
thinned and magma
cooled slowly

THE LEINSTER BATHOLITH

A batholith is a Plutonan intrusive igneous
formation that formed
slowly inside the crust.
Large crystals had
time then to form in
granite.
The Leinster batholith
stretches south west
over a distance of 120
km.

D
A

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN ICELAND

Geothermal energy is a form of renewable energy

derived from heat deep in the earth's crust.
Geothermal Energy has been around for as long
as the Earth has existed. "Geo" means earth, and
"thermal" means heat. So, geothermal means
earth-heat.
At hotspots or plate boundaries the volcanic
activity can heat the groundwater. The
temperature of the water can reach over 200
degrees Celsius.
Wells are drilled into the rock and the hot water is
pumped up into condensers and then turbines.
Then it is converted into electricity.

 Geothermal power is
generated in over 20
countries around the
world including
Iceland, the United
States, Italy, France,
Lithuania, New
Zealand, Mexico,
Nicaragua, Costa
Rica, Russia, the
Philippines,
Indonesia, the
People's Republic of
China and Japan.

ICELAND
Iceland The land of
Ice and Fire.
307,000 Population.
Lowest Population
Density in Europe.
85 % of all houses
and 30% of
electricity in Iceland
is produced by
geothermal energy.

http://www.geoberg.de/en/2010/06/12/geothermal-energy-in-iceland/

HOW IS GEOTHERMAL ENERGY USED ?

Domestic : Homes,
swimming pools,
public baths
Industrial:
Fishfarming-de
icing holding pools,
Kiln drying timber
in saw mills,
electricity
production.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=kWN5yXCYeXc

HOW GEOTHERMAL ENERGY WORKS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfUQy86ZMpQ

KEY CONCEPTS
1. Volcano
2. Pyroclastic
Material
3. Lava (Basis and
Acidic)
4. Magma
5. Active Live
6. Dormant Live
7. Extinct
8. Intrusive
9. Extrusive
10.Central Vent
11.Caldera

12.Fissure
13.Hotspot
14.Lahar
15.Geyser
16.Cascadia
17.Pacific Ring of Fire
18.Plutons
19.Laccoliths
20.Batholiths
21.Sills
22.Dikes
23.Plateau
24.Geothermal
Energy