50 Amazing Volcano Facts: Page 3

Lava lakes

erebus volcano, antarctica volcano, volcano news, erebus images, magma imaging, what the inside of a volcano looks like, earth — The summit of Mount Erebus, the southernmost active volcano on the planet. (Image credit: Nick Powell National Science Foundation.)

The southernmost active volcano on the planet is Antarctica's Mount Erebus. It is also home to Earth's only long-lived lava lakes.

Odd combination

volcano, volcano facts, volcano eruptions — (Image credit: Photograph by J.N. Marso on 14 August 1989)

"Lahar" is an Indonesian word that refers to a type of volcanic flow: a mixture of rock debris and water that originates on the slopes of the volcano. Typically it forms when snow or ice on a volcano is melted by volcanic material.

Dangerous avalanche

A pyroclastic flow an avalanche of hot ash, pumice, rock fragments and volcanic gas that rushes down the side of a volcano, staying close to the ground can travel 62 mph (100 kph), according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

High temperature

The temperature within a pyroclastic flow may be greater than 932 degrees Fahrenheit (500 degrees Celsius), sufficient to burn and carbonize wood.

Namesake eruptions

stromboli-eruption-100723-02 — Close view of Stromboli Volcano erupting incandescent molten lava framgents. (Image credit: B. Chouet/USGS.)

The mild eruptions of Italy's Stromboli Volcano are so frequent and numerous that an entire style of volcanism "strombolian" is named after the volcano. Strombolian eruptions have nearly continuous lava fountaining along with emissions of gas, ash and volcanic bombs.

First in history

nabro-eruption-110628-02 — This false-color image take by NASA's EO-1 satellite shows the eruption of Nabro volcano on June 24, 2011. It began erupting 11 days prior. (Image credit: NASA)

When Nabro, a stratovolcano in the northeast African nation of Eritrea, rumbled to life late in the evening of June 12, 2011, it was the first eruption of the volcano in recorded history, according to NASA.

Worldwide reach

There are about 1,500 potentially active volcanoes worldwide, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, not including the continuous belt of volcanoes on the ocean floor.

Pele's hair

Hawaiian volcanoes can form a type of volcanic glass called Pele's hair, named for Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes. The long, thin glass threads form as molten basaltic glass stretches out.

Pele's tears

Bits of lava in lava fountains can cool quickly to form chunks of gas called Pele's tears. They are black and often found on the end of strands of Pele's hair.

Plinian eruptions

volcano, volcano eruptions, volcano facts — In 79 AD, Vesuvius erupted cataclysmically, burying all of the surrounding cites with up to 30 m of ash. (Image credit: Image courtesy NASA/GSFC/MITI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team.)

When Pliny the Younger chronicled the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79, he ended up lending his name to the explosive type of eruption Vesuvius exhibited: a plinian eruption.