In this lesson you will use the internet to research information on volcanoes and then write a report on your results.

Volcano Web

Introduction

A volcano is a location where magma, or hot melted rock from within a planet, reaches the surface. It may happen violently, in a massive supersonic explosion, or more quietly, as a sticky, slow lava flow.

Volcanoes have been a part of earth's history long before humans. Compare the history of human beings, a few million years in the making, to that of the Earth, over four billion years in the making.

Volcano Terminology

The study of volcanoes, or Volcanology includes many odd terms. How many of these do you know?

• caldera
• vesicularity
• pahoehoe
• rheology
• lahar

Volcanic Places in the USA

Listed below are two places in the United States that are considered "active" volcanic areas.

Mount St Helens

On May 18, 1980, after a long period of rest, this quiet mountain in Washington provided detailed observations on the mechanics of highly explosive eruptions.

Long Valley

Volcanic Places on Mars

Mars has its fair share of volcanic landforms, including the largest known volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons 

Research Project

Your mission is to find information and report on a volcano, other than the ones listed above, that has erupted in the last 100 years. Your reports must include:

1. Type of volcano
2. Geographic location
3. Name, distance, and population of nearest major city
4. Dates of most recent and most destructive eruptions.
5. Other events associated with the recent eruptions (earthquakes, floods, mudslides, etc)

Then, write a one page description on the major hazards to humans in the vicinity of this volcano. Speculate on what you would do if you were in charge of minimizing the risk to the population.

References

Use these references to start your research:

• Educational Resources from the USGS
• Alaska Volcano Observatory
• Cascades Volcano Observatory
• Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center