Violent+Volcanoes

**//__Violent Volcanoes!__//**
On May 18,1980, Mount Saint Helen's went off with a bang, literally! In the months leading up to this day, Mount Saint Helen's showed many signs of erupting. But still, the warning was ignored by campers and hikers. They thought that it could never happen. At 8:32, Mount Saint Helen's came to life with a vengeance. It erupted, causing massive damage to the area, and killing hundreds of people. Many people were scared and demanded to know what caused eruptions,in the hope to avoid more loss of life in the future. Now, we know more about volcanoes and can somewhat accurately predict eruptions. But, there still is a lot more to learn about these wonderful forces of nature.

Hi! I'm Gabby and I'm going to teach you about volcanoes. Just to warn you, some information on this page seems like the world is going to die at any moment. It's not. Massive eruptions are very, VERY rare. Anyway, I wanted to learn about volcanoes because they are around us and are very powerful. They are just cool.

Volcano Explanations from the past: Ancient Romans believed volcanoes were the chimneys of the gods. Specifically, Vulcan's, the god of blacksmiths, forge. Whenever he made weapons for fellow gods, a volcano erupted. Ancient Greeks believed that volcanoes were the jails of the gods. Lava and magma was thought to be the jailed breath as they try to escape.

Present Day Explanations: Today, scientists believe that movements under the Earth's crust cause volcanic eruptions. The crust covers every square inch of the Earth's surface. Under the crust, there is hot, molten rock called mantle. The crust floats on top of the mantle in 30 different pieces called plates. Volcanoes form where the crust meets. The plates is always moving on top of the mantle. When the plates pulls away from each other, it makes holes. Magma can push up through theses holes, causing an eruption.

FUN INFORMATION!!!!!!!! If you have ever been to Hawaii, then you have been on a volcano! The Islands are some of the largest volcanoes in the world. There's only one problem with these volcanoes, they are not near and of the plates edges! Some scientists think that they were form from "hot spots" in the crust. The cause of these hot spots is still unknown.

Lava and Ash: Lava can be thick or thin depending on it's temperature and composition. Thin lava flows easier from the volcano than thick lava.(DUH!) Eruptions are caused when pressure builds up. once it's high enough, it goes off with a huge blast. This blast shoots rock, lava, and ash. Guess which is the most deadly. Doo doo doo doo doo do do. Ready? If you guessed ash, then your right! Suprisingly, the ash is much more deadly. People can outrun the lava, it travels around 5 miles per hour. People can't outrun the ash cloud. once someone is caught in, they get burns that kill them at once. That isn't even needed. The ash sticks to the person's lungs and suffocats them. Less than inch of ash closes down an airport. Not a happy picture. What's worse, if there is an eruption big enough, the ash cloud can cover the entire Earth. Some scientists think this is what happened to the dinosaurs.