Portal:Volcanoes
The Volcanoes portal
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are diverging or converging, and because most of Earth's plate boundaries are underwater, most volcanoes are found underwater. For example, a mid-ocean ridge, such as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has volcanoes caused by divergent tectonic plates whereas the Pacific Ring of Fire has volcanoes caused by convergent tectonic plates. Volcanoes can also form where there is stretching and thinning of the crust's plates, such as in the East African Rift and the Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field and Rio Grande rift in North America. Volcanism away from plate boundaries has been postulated to arise from upwelling diapirs from the core–mantle boundary, 3,000 kilometers (1,900 mi) deep within Earth. This results in hotspot volcanism, of which the Hawaiian hotspot is an example. Volcanoes are usually not created where two tectonic plates slide past one another.
Large eruptions can affect atmospheric temperature as ash and droplets of sulfuric acid obscure the Sun and cool Earth's troposphere. Historically, large volcanic eruptions have been followed by volcanic winters which have caused catastrophic famines.
Other planets besides Earth have volcanoes. For example, volcanoes are very numerous on Venus. In 2009, a paper was published suggesting a new definition for the word ‘volcano’ that includes processes such as cryovolcanism. It suggested that a volcano be defined as ‘an opening on a planet or moon’s surface from which magma, as defined for that body, and/or magmatic gas is erupted.’
This article mainly covers volcanoes on Earth. See § Volcanoes on other celestial bodies and Cryovolcano for more information. (Full article...)
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The geography of Indonesia is dominated by volcanoes that are formed due to subduction zones between the Eurasian plate and the Indo-Australian plate.
| Name | Shape | Elevation | Last eruption (VEI) | Coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weh | stratovolcano | 617 metres (2,024 ft) | Pleistocene | |
| Seulawah Agam | stratovolcano | 1,810 metres (5,940 ft) | 1839 (2) | |
| Peuet Sague | complex volcano | 2,801 metres (9,190 ft) | 25 December 2000 (2) | |
| Geureudong | stratovolcano | 2,885 metres (9,465 ft) | 1937 | |
| Kembar | shield volcano | 2,245 metres (7,365 ft) | Pleistocene |
Did you know
- ... that the 60 million years old Carmelo Formation (pictured) is made out of thousands of layers of volcanic pebbles, sandstone and mudstone with fossils?
- ... that one of the activities that are possible at the Nevado de Toluca National Park is scuba diving in the two volcanic crater lakes?
- ... that the Popocatépetl volcano occasionally dumps ash on the municipality of Ozumba, Mexico?
- ... that in August 2001, the Galileo spacecraft flew through the sulfur dioxide gas plume of the Ionian volcano Thor?
- ... that the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt in southwestern British Columbia is the site of Canada's largest recorded Holocene explosive eruption 2,350 years ago at the Mount Meager massif?
- ... that most of the recent volcanism in New Zealand has been along the line of the Taupo Volcanic Zone and the Kermadec island arc?
- ... that the asphalt volcano is a rare submarine volcano composed of asphalt and erupting petroleum and methane instead of lava?
- ... that eruptions from Mahogany Mountain, a caldera volcano, produced rock formations in Leslie Gulch over 15 million years ago?
General images
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Diagram of a Hawaiian eruption. (key: 1. Ash plume 2. Lava fountain 3. Crater 4. Lava lake 5. Fumaroles 6. Lava flow 7. Layers of lava and ash 8. Stratum 9. Sill 10. Magma conduit 11. Magma chamber 12. Dike) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
A diagram of a Subglacial eruption. (key: 1. Water vapor cloud 2. Crater lake 3. Ice 4. Layers of lava and ash 5. Stratum 6. Pillow lava 7. Magma conduit 8. Magma chamber 9. Dike) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Diagrammatic representation of a plume on Enceladus (from Volcanism) -
An example of the lava arcs formed during Strombolian activity. This image is of Stromboli itself. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
The high initial temperatures of silicate lavas mean that they emit visible light before cooling. (from Volcanism) -
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Diagram of a Vulcanian eruption. (key: 1. Ash plume 2. Lapilli 3. Lava fountain 4. Volcanic ash rain 5. Volcanic bomb 6. Lava flow 7. Layers of lava and ash 8. Stratum 9. Sill 10. Magma conduit 11. Magma chamber 12. Dike) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
A gentle, or effusive, volcanic eruption, in which liquid material (lava) gently flows from a vent, in this case in south-eastern Hawai’i island (from Volcanism) -
A major eruption of Gran Canaria took place around 14 million years ago. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
Diagram showing the scale of VEI correlation with total ejecta volume (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
VEI and ejecta volume correlation (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth)
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Phreatic explosion captured at the Main Crater of Taal Volcano. Photo taken from the installed IP camera of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) monitoring the volcano. (from Decade Volcanoes) -
Diagram of a Plinian eruption. (key: 1. Ash plume 2. Magma conduit 3. Volcanic ash rain 4. Layers of lava and ash 5. Stratum 6. Magma chamber) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Location of Mount Pinatubo, showing area over which ash from the 1991 eruption fell. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
The lava spine that developed after the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Lava-flooded craters and large expanses of smooth volcanic plains on Mercury (from List of extraterrestrial volcanoes) -
Some features of volcanism found in Earth's crust (from Volcanism) -
TOMS sulfur dioxide from the June 15, 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
Sulfur dioxide emissions by volcanoes. Mount Pinatubo: 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
Diagram of a Submarine eruption. (key: 1. Water vapor cloud 2. Water 3. Stratum 4. Lava flow 5. Magma conduit 6. Magma chamber 7. Dike 8. Pillow lava) Click to enlarge. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Colima Volcano eruption column, December 2016 (from Decade Volcanoes) -
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Satellite measurements of ash and aerosol emissions from Mount Pinatubo. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
Diagram of a Strombolian eruption. (key: 1. Ash plume 2. Lapilli 3. Volcanic ash rain 4. Lava fountain 5. Volcanic bomb 6. Lava flow 7. Layers of lava and ash 8. Stratum 9. Dike 10. Magma conduit 11. Magma chamber 12. Sill) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Satellite animation of the initial ash plume and shockwave of the 2022 Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai eruption and tsunami. The massive explosive eruption was hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. (from Volcanism) -
MLO transmission ratio - Solar radiation reduction due to volcanic eruptions (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
Cross section diagram of Earth showing some settings for volcanism on the planet (from Volcanism) -
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Lahar flows from the 1985 eruption of Nevado del Ruiz, which totally destroyed Armero in Colombia (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
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Mount Lamington following the devastating 1951 eruption (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Diagram of a phreatic eruption. (key: 1. Water vapor cloud 2. Magma conduit 3. Layers of lava and ash 4. Stratum 5. Water table 6. Explosion 7. Magma chamber) (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
NASA, Global Dimming - El Chichon, VEI 5; Pinatubo, VEI 6. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
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Olympus Mons (Latin, "Mount Olympus"), located on the planet Mars, is the tallest known mountain in the Solar System. (from Volcanism) -
2016 eruption of Mount Sinabung (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
The final eruptions in the creation of Banks Peninsula in New Zealand occurred about 9 million years ago. (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
Some of the eruptive structures formed during volcanic activity (counterclockwise): a Plinian eruption column, Hawaiian pahoehoe flows, and a lava arc from a Strombolian eruption (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Distribution of selected hotspots. The numbers in the figure are related to the listed hotspots on Hotspot (geology). (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
Sarychev Peak: the sulphur dioxide cloud generated by the eruption on June 12, 2009 (in Dobson units). (from Timeline of volcanism on Earth) -
21 April 1990 eruptive column from Redoubt Volcano, as viewed to the west from the Kenai Peninsula (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Diagram of Peléan eruption. (key: 1. Ash plume 2. Volcanic ash rain 3. Lava dome 4. Volcanic bomb 5. Pyroclastic flow 6. Layers of lava and ash 7. Stratum 8. Magma conduit 9. Magma chamber 10. Dike) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions) -
Diagram of a Surtseyan eruption. (key: 1. Water vapor cloud 2. Compressed ash 3. Crater 4. Water 5. Layers of lava and ash 6. Stratum 7. Magma conduit 8. Magma chamber 9. Dike) Click for larger version. (from Types of volcanic eruptions)
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Mount Hood, a dormant stratovolcano, reflected in the waters of Mirror Lake, Oregon, United States. At 11,249 feet (3,429 metres), Mount Hood is the highest mountain in Oregon and the fourth-highest in the Cascade Range. It is considered an active volcano, but no major eruptive events have been catalogued since systematic record keeping began in the 1820s.
Selected quote
"Is this volcano active?"
— Tourist on Mount Etna, after being reprimanded for camping out at the base of a dangerous volcanic vent, 2000.
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Featured articles: 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens • 2007–2008 Nazko earthquakes • Amchitka • Armero tragedy • Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve • Cerro Azul (Chile volcano) • David A. Johnston • Enceladus (moon) • Geology of the Lassen volcanic area • Io (moon) • Kamaʻehuakanaloa Seamount • Mauna Kea • Mauna Loa • Metacomet Ridge • Mono-Inyo Craters • Mount Cayley volcanic field • Mount St. Helens • Mount Tambora • Nevado del Ruiz • Surtsey • The Volcano (British Columbia) • Triton (moon) • Upper and Lower Table Rock • Volcanism on Io • Volcano (South Park) • Yellowstone National Park
Featured lists: List of volcanoes in Indonesia • List of volcanoes in the Hawaiian – Emperor seamount chain • List of largest volcanic eruptions
Featured pictures: There are currently 43 volcano-related Featured pictures. A full gallery can be seen here.
Good articles: Abyssal plain • Amak Volcano • Anahim hotspot • Axial Seamount • Ben Nevis • Bowie Seamount • Crater Lake • Davidson Seamount • Ferdinandea • Gareloi Volcano • Geyser • Glacier Peak • Hawaii hotspot • Hualālai • Kohala (mountain) • Lake Toba • Minoan eruption • Mount Adams (Washington) • Mount Bailey • Mount Baker • Mount Cleveland (Alaska) • Mount Edziza volcanic complex • Mount Garibaldi • Mount Hood • Mount Kenya • Mount Rainier • Mount Redoubt • Mount Tehama • Mount Thielsen • Mount Vesuvius • Peter I Island • Roxy Ann Peak • Rùm • Sakurajima • Sangay • Silverthrone Caldera • Staffa • Types of volcanic eruptions • Volcanic ash • Weh Island • Wells Gray-Clearwater volcanic field • Yamsay Mountain
Valued pictures: A gallery of volcano-related valued pictures can be seen here.
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- Add the {{WikiProject Volcanoes}} message box to talk pages of articles within the scope of this project, including appropriate assessments, if needed.
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- Expand volcano articles which are stubs, especially by adding photos and (most importantly) proper references.
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