An invigoration of a tiny volcanotrying to ingrain its larger peers with an eruption seems like a flight of stairs of fondness , but it ’s really a hidden lesson in volcano geomorphology . The departure parallel the distinction between lilliputian - yet - enthusiastic clinker cone and intimidating stratovolcanoes .
https://gizmodo.com/watch-an-unexpectedly-charming-short-about-a-little-vol-1571270997
In the invigoration , a leash of monumental brown volcano burble smugly away to themselves , when a tiny blueish volcano of the same basic shape pop out to instill them with an high-spirited bang . It ’s an endearing animation of personified landscapes , but what about the geoscience ?
VOLCANOcredit : Julien Loth .
The shape and size of a volcano is directly related to its chemical makeup . Specifically , how much silica is in the molten magma ( yet - to - be - break out subterraneous lava ) directly impacts the fluid viscosity . That viscosity in turn curb how gas will or will not be trapped within the magma , thus how explosive the eruptions will be . The viscousness also affect how the lava will flow and the shapes it involve as it cool , shape the morphology of the full vent .
This is going to be a chip hand - wavy oversimplified , but oceanic plates produce scurvy - silica mafic magma , while continental scale produce high - silica felsic magma . Where an oceanic plate subducts under a continental crustal plate , the mafic magma from the melting oceanic plate pick up silica as it rises through the continental plate , and gets classified as a creatively - named medium magma .
The depleted - silica mafic magmas raise hot , runny lavas that do n’t trap much gas . They have blue-blooded , burbling eruption , formingbroad , rounded shield volcanoes . The classic example is theHawaiian Island range , each island a massive volcanobuilt fromcountless eruptions . Mauna Kea stretches more than 9,000 meters from its base on the sea base to its tiptop , yet it surely does n’t give off the impression of being taller than Everest . Part of that is because all but 4,000 meters hide below the waves , but a large chunk is because the vent squish so gently that no one would consider it an epic tidy sum .
https://gizmodo.com/eruption-burns-forest-on-hawaii-1562236210
https://gizmodo.com/the-life-and-death-of-a-volcanic-island-1554228926
https://gizmodo.com/volcano-as-garbage-disposal-1574965195
Mauna Kea is a massive shield volcano . Image quotation : Nula666
High - silica felsic magmas make tank , thicker lavas , a modest - viscousness gas - trap that erupts explosively . But if silica - racy magma are so explosive , why is n’t the center of every continent charge with explosive horror ? vent do n’t pop up just anywhere . It ’s a common misunderstanding that the mantle is an ocean of liquefied magma , but it is n’t . The mantle is shaping , ductile careen , but necessitate a snatch supernumerary to really melt . This bump at mid - ocean ridge where a reduction in pressure , or in subduction zones where added water supply message changes the melting temperature .
We already covered mid - ocean ridge , so what about the subduction zone ? That ’s where one architectonic photographic plate dives under another ( whether from being dragged by its own weight , or pushed by aloof ridges is a head open to argument ) . The mafic magma of the thawing home picks up silica as it rises through the felsic continental plate , producing intermediate magma . These erupt as crimson , explosivestratovolcanoeswith a classic conic shape like Mount Saint Helens , Mount Fuji , or Krakatoa .
Mount Fuji is a beautiful stratovolcano . effigy credit : Mount Fuji
The massive , chuckling brown volcanoes in the sketch are tall , beautiful conical volcano : stratovolcanoes . But what about the tiny blue vent with so much to prove ? It has the conelike structure of a stratovolcano , but not the size of it or explosive power . It ’s acinder cone , a small unconscionable hill of volcanic fragments . They cling to the venthole system of large volcano , make up cones of debris tens to hundreds of meters tall .
Capulin Mountain is a relatively towering clinker cone in New Mexico . range of a function credit : R.D. Miller / USGS
In the vitality , the small dispirited volcano trying so hard to shanghai its larger peers is a little cinder volcano , full of fragment and honest intentions without the mental ability for large - ordered series eruption . The hulk proportionate brown cones are stratovolcanoes , monsters capable of lethal , spectacular clap . From that perspective , I rather revalue that it ’s the clinker conoid that courteously ignite in effervescent bubbles , not the stratovolcanoes drenching the whole scene in ash , lava , and pyroclastic menstruation .
AnimationChemistry
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