Volcanoes

     Hi today I am blogging about Volcanoes! Volcanoes are the Earth's creators and destroyers. You are probably thinking how can a volcano be a creator and destroyer. Well you will learn about that and how a volcano is formed,what causes it to erupt and what types of volcanoes there are.


  Here are two pictures of volcanoes.(please note that these volcanoes are not real)

   


     First,there are three ways a volcano can be formed. The first way a volcano is called a Convergent boundary. Convergent boundaries cause two plates collide and one goes under the other. When one plate falls under another it starts to melt down into magma. The plate is usually the oceanic plate that goes under the other plate.


                        Here is a picture of a convergent boundary.


                       


    The second way a volcano can be formed is in a Divergent boundary. In a Divergent boundary the two plates move away from each other because of the magma from the mantle. Then the magma cools and becomes part of the crust and the cycle starts again.


                         Here is a picture of a Divergent boundary.

                   

   The last way a volcano can be formed is by a hot spot. The way a hot spot can create a volcano is by letting the rocks from the Earth's mantle  come up through the crust. Hawaii's islands were made from a hot spot.


                      Here is a picture of a hot spot volcano.

         


    Most volcanoes are found around the Ring of Fire. The only time a volcano is not on the ring of fire is when a hot spot occurs. The Ring of Fire is a bunch of volcanoes that are all around the Pacific plate.



                      Here is a picture of the Ring of Fire.

    Next is the different types of volcanoes about the different types of volcanoes. The first type of volcanoes are called Shield volcanoes. Shield volcanoes are big and have smooth gentle slopes that were formed by basaltic lava. They are usually found around Divergent boundaries and hot spots in the ocean.


                        Here is a picture of a shield volcano.

    Now for the Composite volcanoes. Composite volcanoes are very tall and steep sided volcanoes. They are formed by explosive eruptions. They are usually found around Convergent boundaries.


                    Here is a picture of a Composite volcano.

   The last one is the Cinder cone volcano. Cinder cone volcanoes are very dangerous. They are like super volcanoes because of how much lava,rocks and volcanic ash. Volcanic ash is a bunch of dust,smoke and derbies that fly out of a volcano. Lava is the molten rock that is on the surface. The molten rock is called magma only when it is still in the mantle.


                    Here is a picture of a Cinder cone volcano.

     Next is how do you determine the eruption style of a volcano. You can determine it by it's magma chemistry. I mean like the viscosity of the lava. Viscosity means a liquids resistance to flow. If something has low viscosity means that it flows easily like warm maple syrup. If something has high viscosity it means that it does not flow easily.


     








The last thing in this blog is how are volcanoes are classified. Volcanoes are classified by their shape and their size. If a volcano is small and steep sided it is classified as a Cinder cone volcano. If a volcano is big and not steep sided it is classified as a shield volcano. If a volcano is tall and steep sided it is a composite volcano.





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                            Hope you enjoyed my blog.


                    Here are some pictures of stick figures.

                                BYE!                                     

Tsunamis

   This blog is going to be on tsunamis.  Have you ever wondered why and how a tsunami happens,well I am going to explain.

                                                  This is what a tsunami can look like.
 

  First plate tectonics are related to tsunamis because plate tectonics cause tsunami!  When plates move under water they cause an earthquake, landslide or a under water volcano.  When that happens a sudden burst of energy  is released which causes a tsunami.
   
                                          Here is a diagram on how  a tsunami is formed.

     These waves can get very big and you do not want to be in their path when they come.


     Now I will blog about how a tsunami travels.  A tsunami wave can hold a lot of energy which means it can go very far.  A tsunami wave can go up to 500 miles per hour.  Wow!  That is fast.  A tsunami wave is not like a regular wave just because of it's size but also how it travels.  When it travels it stays under the water.  That is why if you are way out in the ocean you can not feel the wave, but if you were on shore you are in trouble.  When a tsunami wave travels it does not just go in one direction, it goes in a circle from the epicenter.  You know like when you throw a rock into a pond or someone jumps into the water it moves in all directions.

                                                  Here is a picture of a tsunami.

     Next is what happens when it impacts the shore.  When a tsunami wave gets closer to shore it starts to slow down which causes the water to recede from the shore about a few meters.  Then more waves build up and the water just gets so high that it floods the shore and it looks like a wall of water.  There is also another way a tsunami can hit the shore.  It is when the shore slows the water down enough that it comes in as a giant wave depending on the coastline structure.

              This is what it sometimes looks like when a tsunami hits shore.

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   BYE!!BYE!!BYE!!BYE!!BYE!!BYE!!BYE!!