Info4 Volcanic eruptions

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The map is designed to show Earth's most prominent features when viewed from a distance, and more detailed features upon closer inspection. The back of the map zooms in further, highlighting examples of fundamental processes, while providing text, timelines, references, and other resources to enhance understanding of this dynamic planet. The main and polar maps, above, are interactive, inviting you to make your own regional map, using whichever "layers" you choose. Data for any volcano, earthquake, or impact symbol can be found via the "Identify" tool.

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Most new crust forms at ocean ridge crests, is carried slowly away by plate movement, and is ultimately recycled deep into the earth�causing earthquakes and volcanism along the boundaries between moving tectonic plates. Oceans are continually opening (e.g., Red Sea, Atlantic) or closing (e.g., Mediterranean). Because continental crust is thicker and less dense than thinner, younger oceanic crust, most does not sink deep enough to be recycled, and remains largely preserved on land. Consequently, most continental bedrock is far older than the oldest oceanic bedrock (see back of map).

The earthquakes and volcanoes that mark plate boundaries are clearly shown on this map, as are craters made by impacts of extraterrestrial objects that punctuate Earth's history, some causing catastrophic ecological changes. Over geologic time, continuing plate movements, together with relentless erosion and redeposition of material, mask or obliterate traces of earlier plate-tectonic or impact processes, making the older chapters of Earth's 4,500-million-year history increasingly difficult to read. The recent activity shown on this map provides only a present-day snapshot of Earth's long history, helping to illustrate how its present surface came to be.

Both the front and back of this map illustrate the enormous recent growth in our knowledge of planet Earth. Yet, much remains unknown, particularly about the processes operating below the ever-shifting plates and the detailed geological history during all but the most recent stage of Earth's development.




Volcano

A volcano is a mountain that opens downward to a reservoir of molten rock below the surface of the earth. Unlike most mountains, which are pushed up from below, volcanoes are built up by an accumulation of their own eruptive products. When pressure from gases within the molten rock becomes too great, an eruption occurs. Eruptions can be quiet or explosive. There may be lava flows, flattened landscapes, poisonous gases, and flying rock and ash.

Because of their intense heat, lava flows are great fire hazards. Lava flows destroy everything in their path, but most move slowly enough that people can move out of the way.

Fresh volcanic ash, made of pulverized rock, can be abrasive, acidic, gritty, gassy, and odorous. While not immediately dangerous to most adults, the acidic gas and ash can cause lung damage to small infants, to older adults, and to those suffering from severe respiratory illnesses. Volcanic ash also can damage machinery, including engines and electrical equipment. Ash accumulations mixed with water become heavy and can collapse roofs. Volcanic ash can affect people hundreds of miles away from the cone of a volcano.

Sideways directed volcanic explosions, known as "lateral blasts," can shoot large pieces of rock at very high speeds for several miles. These explosions can kill by impact, burial, or heat. They have been known to knock down entire forests.

Volcanic eruptions can be accompanied by other natural hazards, including earthquakes, mudflows and flash floods, rock falls and landslides, acid rain, fire, and (under special conditions) tsunamis.

Active volcanoes in the U.S. are found mainly in Hawaii, Alaska, and the Pacific Northwest. Active volcanoes of the Cascade Mountain Range in California, Oregon, and Washington have created problems recently. The danger area around a volcano covers approximately a 20-mile radius. Some danger may exist 100 miles or more from a volcano, leaving Montana and Wyoming at risk.

What is the history of volcanic eruptions where I live?

How can I protect myself from a volcanic eruption?

Find a Volcano by Region

Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program


World Map of Volcanic Regions

| Mediterranean and W Asia | Africa and Red Sea | Middle East and Indian Ocean | New Zealand to Fiji | Melanesia and Australia | Indonesia | Philippines and SE Asia | Japan, Taiwan, Marianas | Kuril Islands | Kamchatka and Mainland Asia | Alaska | Canada and Western USA | Hawaii and Pacific Ocean | México and Central America | South America | West Indies | Iceland and Arctic Ocean | Atlantic Ocean | Antarctica |


All of the base maps in this section, for the world and volcanic regions, were generated using ER Mapper.

Citation Guidelines for this electronic version of Volcanoes of the World.

Amazing Pictures of Chile Volcano Eruption!!

Situation Update No. 5
Posted:2011-06-13, 03:15:47 [UTC]
Ref.no.: VE-20110613-31121-ERI

Situation Update No. 5
On 2011-06-14 at 03:23:11 [UTC]

Event: Volcano Eruption
Location: Eritrea Eritrea-Ethiopia regions Anabro (Nabro) volcano
Situation: A number of flights in eastern Africa are facing disruption after a volcano erupted in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea on early Monday morning, officials said. It is the first eruption in recent history. The eruption at the Nabro volcano began at around midnight local time on Monday (2100 GMT Sunday), according to the Volcanic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) in Toulouse. It sent a large plume of ash up to 13 kilometers (8 miles) high. There were no immediate reports of casualties as a result of the eruption, according to the country's Ministry of Information, which said the explosive eruption could be heard throughout the region. A statement from the ministry said local residents have been evacuated. VAAC forecaster Thoumieux said the ash cloud is moving towards the west and high concentrations of ash were spread over parts of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, and Sudan by Monday evening. Low density concentrations of volcanic ash were also detected over a small part of Egypt. Thoumieux said he had briefed a number of airlines and other agencies about the ash cloud, which is expected to impact air traffic in the region. "I had conversations with the chief of operations of Dubai (Emirates), Air France, KLM, and so they want information and I say, perhaps it will be dangerous for your planes," the forecaster said.

The volcanic ash cloud is expected to remain over parts of Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, and Sudan until at least early Tuesday morning. Low concentrations of volcanic ash are also expected to spread over a small part of Saudi Arabia on Tuesday morning, although those would unlikely impact air traffic. Lufthansa spokesman Marco Dall'Asta said the airline had canceled two routes on Monday because of the ash cloud. "We have very few destinations within this area," he said. "But we have canceled a flight from Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) to Asmara (Eritrea). This flight has been canceled for today. And we've also canceled a flight from Frankfurt to Addis Ababa, and that's all for the moment." The German airline said it did not yet know whether the flight disruptions would continue on Tuesday. "That's the news we have for today," he said. "We are in contact, observing the situation, in contact with the authorities, to figure out what's happening tomorrow." Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton decided to cut short her trip to neighboring Ethiopia because of the eruption. The U.S. State Department said there was a risk that Ethiopian authorities would shut down the country's main airport in Addis Ababa on Monday evening, which would otherwise prevent Clinton from leaving.

The VAAC earlier believed that the Dubbi volcano was erupting, but the center said on late Monday evening that the eruption was in fact taking place at the Nabro volcano. There have been no confirmed eruptions at the volcano in recent history.

An erupting Chilean volcano sent a towering plume of ash across South America on Monday

Situation Update No. 11
Posted:2011-06-04, 20:15:23 [UTC]
Ref.no.: VA-20110604-31011-MLC

Situation Update No. 11
On 2011-06-07 at 02:40:37 [UTC]

Event: Volcano Eruption
Location: MultiCountries Chile and Argentina Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex (PCCVC)
Number of Evacuated: 3500 person(s)

Situation: An erupting Chilean volcano sent a towering plume of ash across South America on Monday, forcing thousands from their homes, grounding airline flights in southern Argentina and coating ski resorts with a gritty layer of dust instead of snow.Booming explosions echoed across the Andes as toxic gases belched up from a three-mile-long (five-kilometer long) fissure in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic complex – a ridge between two craters just west of the Chilean-Argentine border that began erupting Saturday. Winds blew a six-mile-high (10-kilometer-high) cloud of ash all the way to the Atlantic Ocean and even into southern Buenos Aires province, hundreds of miles to the northeast. Authorities in Chile went house to house, trying to persuade stragglers near the volcano to leave because of an increasing danger of toxic gas and flash floods. By Monday, about 4,000 people had been evacuated from more than 22 communities. They began fleeing as swarms of earthquakes Saturday heralded the eruption and hundreds more fled Monday to shelters farther away. Some refused to leave, wanting to protect their homes and livestock. Chile's verdant lakes region is a center for dairy farming, with more than 9,000 cows and sheep. Deputy Interior Minister Rodrigo Ubilla said about 50 families in the Rininahue area refused to abandon their homes. "Everything is prepared with shelter and transportation for them to immediately leave the danger zone," added Vicente Nunez, director of Chile's emergency preparedness office, urging them to leave.

Just north of the complex of volcanoes, the city of Futrono and the communities of Lago Ranco and Entre Rios were particularly vulnerable to flash floods. Some people also refused to leave Mantilhue, along the Rio Bueno, or "Good River," just six miles (10 kilometers) from the eruption. And while the evacuation order wasn't yet mandatory, a group of Mapuche Indians said they would seek the regional governor's authorization to enter the area to pray for the volcano to stop erupting. Enrique Valdivieso, the director of Chile's National Geology and Mines Service, said the fissure was belching toxic gases and material that could clog rivers and force them to overflow. Spectacular displays of lightning flashed in the volcanic clouds during the weekend, and while the amount of ash falling east of the volcano subsided significantly by Monday, experts said it was too early to predict how long it will take before the volcano falls silent. Volcanic dust coated ski slopes above San Carlos de Bariloche and Villa la Angostura two weeks before the official start of the winter skiing season. The resorts' trade group said it was too early to say how it would affect the local economy, but for now, residents were told to stay indoors and tourists were asked not to come.

The Cordon Caulle is nearly 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) south of Santiago, in Chile's lakes region, just west of Bariloche. Authorities went on alert before the eruption Saturday when as many as 240 tremors an hour struck the region. The volcano's last major eruption was in 1960, shortly after a 9.5 magnitude earthquake, the most powerful in recorded history, struck Chile. Some scientists have said that last year's 8.8 quake in Chile increased the likelihood of volcanic activity due to shifts in pressure along the Earth's tectonic plates. The ash cloud first blew over Argentina and then circled back over Chile on Sunday. By Monday, however, prevailing winds had spread the ash eastward as far as Bahia Blanca, in southern Buenos Aires province on the Argentine coast. During the weekend, the volcano spat out pumice rocks nearly eight inches (20 centimeters) in diameter. Because airborne ash can severely damage jet engines, all flights between Buenos Aires and the Andean resorts of Bariloche, Esquel and Chapelco were canceled until June 12. Seven other airports in Argentina were closed through Thursday, effectively isolating the southern Patagonia region from the rest of the country. Aerolineas Argentinas also cancelled nighttime flights well to the north of the volcanos, from Buenos Aires to Santiago, Chile, and Mendoza, Argentina, as a precaution. LAN airlines suspended more than 35 flights from Chile to southern Argentina, and some highways in Argentina also were closed.

Across Argentina's southern midsection, schools were closed, routine government work was suspended and elective surgery were canceled as well. Also closed was the nearby border crossing of Cardenal Samore, where a twisting mountain road climbs through stunning arid valleys on the Argentina side before dropping through lush green forests and fields in Chile. Even when skies cleared in places Monday, the area was draped in an abrasive gray blanket. The 11-mile-long (17-kilometer-long) Cordon Caulle rises 5,900-feet (1,800 meters) above sea level between the Pueyehue and Nevada volcanoes, above a connected complex of molten rock. Chile has more than 3,000 volcanoes along its Andean spine, and 500 of these are considered geologically active. About 60 Of these have erupted in the last 450 years.
Situation Update No. 7
Posted:2011-06-04, 20:15:23 [UTC]
Ref.no.: VA-20110604-31011-MLC

Situation Update No. 7
On 2011-06-05 at 03:44:33 [UTC]

Event: Volcano Eruption
Location: MultiCountries Chile and Argentina Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex (PCCVC)
Number of Evacuated: 3500 person(s)

Situation:
The Puyehue volcano began erupting Saturday in southern Chile, leading the government to widen its evacuation order so that the approximately 3,500 people living near it are moved elsewhere, just hours after decreeing a red alert due to the intense seismic activity in the area. “We’re in an episode of significant volcanic activity. We have a column of smoke now 10 kilometers (6 miles) high. We even have news that it has reached Argentina,” Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter said. Meanwhile, the governor of the Los Rios region, Juan Andres Varas, said on Cooperativa radio that in nearby towns there is a strong “smell of sulfur and ash,” and from there can be seen a “crater of fire and a column of smoke.” Puyehue, some 2,240 meters (7,344 feet) high, is located in the Andes and its last eruption took place in 1960, the year that the same area was shaken by a magnitude-9.5 earthquake, the strongest ever registered anywhere in the world. This volcano forms part of the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic complex, which extends 15 kilometers (9 miles) between the regions of Los Lagos and Los Rios, some 950 kilometers (590 miles) south of the capital, in an area with few inhabitants.

The government had decreed a red alert just three hours previously, and had ordered the evacuation of some 600 people from both regions because of the risk of eruption, given that the area had reached the point of registering an average of 230 temblors an hour. When the volcano erupted, the administration decided to widen the area to be evacuated, though only in the Los Rios region, which would mean moving a total of 3,600 people. According to Hinzpeter, this process, for which the army has made a number of trucks available, is being carried out with complete normality. “We hope that in the process...we continue to have the collaboration of our fellow countrymen,” he said. Also ordered was the temporary closure of the Cardenal Samore border post in order to evacuate the people working there. Those wanting to cross over into Argentina can use the pass farther north at Pino Hachado.

Chile volcano eruption forces mass evacuation

Chile volcano eruption forces mass evacuation

Winds fanned ash from Chile's Puyehue volcano towards neighbouring Argentina, prompting mass evacuation [Reuters]
A volcano dormant for decades has erupted in south-central Chile, spewing ash to the height of 10 kilometres into the sky, and prompting the government to evacuate several thousand residents, authorities said.

Winds spread the ash towards neighbouring Argentina, darkening the sky in the ski resort city of San Carlos de Bariloche, a government official there said on Saturday, adding the city's airport had been closed.

The eruption in the Puyehue-Cordon Caulle volcanic chain, about 920km south of the capital, Santiago, also
prompted Chilean authorities to shut a heavily travelled border crossing into Argentina.

'Constant seismic activity'

It was not immediately clear which of the chain's four volcanoes had erupted because of ash cover and weather conditions. The chain last saw a major eruption in 1960. Local media said the smell of sulfur hung in the air and there was constant seismic activity.

"The Cordon Caulle [volcanic range] has entered an eruptive process, with an explosion resulting in a 10-kilometre-high gas column," ONEMI, the state emergency office, said. The government said it was evacuating 3,500 people from the surrounding area as a precaution.

It was the latest in a series of volcanic eruptions in Chile in recent years.
Chile's Chaiten volcano erupted spectacularly in 2008 for the first time in thousands of years, spewing molten rock and a vast cloud of ash that reached the stratosphere. The ash also swelled a nearby river and ravaged a nearby town of the same name.

The ash cloud from Chaiten coated towns in Argentina and was visible from space.

Chile's Llaima volcano, one of South America's most active, erupted in 2008 and 2009.

Chile's chain of about 2,000 volcanoes is the world's second largest after Indonesia. About 50 to 60 are on
record as having erupted, and 500 are potentially active.