Facts About Valcano

1. The term “volcano” is from the Latin Volcanus or Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. The Romans first used the term to describe Mt. Etna, a volcanic mountain they believed was the forge of Vulcan.

2. The ancient Greeks thought that the god of Fire, Hephaestus, lived beneath Mt. Etna. The Titan god Prometheus is said to have stolen fire from Hephaestus’s volcano to give to humans.

3. Hundreds of years ago, the Aztecs of Mexico and the people of Nicaragua believed gods lived in lava lakes. They would sacrifice beautiful young girls to these powerful gods.

4. Well into the Middle Ages, many believed volcanoes were entrances into the fiery underworld.

5. During the past 400 years, nearly a quarter of a million people have been killed as a direct result of volcanic eruptions. Indirect aftereffects such as famine, climate change, and disease most likely have tripled that number

6. Many scientists believe that all the water on the earth was originally vented into the atmosphere by volcanoes.a maleo The unique Maelo bird incubates its eggs in warm volcanic soil

7. A species of bird called a maleo uses heat given out by warm volcanic sand to incubate its large eggs. When the chicks hatch, they burrow their way to the surface of the sand

8. The most dangerous volcano today is Popocatépetl, nicknamed El Popo, which is just 33 miles from Mexico City. El Popo is still active, sending thousands of tons of gas and ash into the air each year.

9. The myth of the lost city of Atlantis sinking beneath the waves may be based on the Greek island of Santorini, of which portions collapsed into the sea after a large volcanic eruption during the Bronze Age.

10. Volcanologists use a special electric thermometer called a “thermocouple” to take a volcano’s temperature. Lava is so hot that a glass thermometer would melt.

11. There are no active volcanoes in Australia because it sits in the middle of a tectonic plate

12. Highly volcanic areas have some of the most fertile farmland in the world. Volcanic eruptions bring nutrients such as potassium and phosphorus to the Earth’s soil. The weathering of volcanic rocks also releases nutrients

13. “Lava” derives from the Latin lavara, meaning “to wash,” and is magma that has erupted at the surface.e Lava can flow up to speeds of 62 miles per hour.

14. The material ejected from a volcano is called “pyroclastic flow” from the Greek pyro (fire) and I (broken). It includes small fragments of rock, frothy pumice, and large boulders. Pyroclastic flow can reach temperatures of 212° F and can rocket down the side of a mountain at 155 m.p.h.

15. Volcanoes form through subduction (when two tectonic plates smash against each other), mid-oceanic rift (when two plates drift apart), or in a hot spot (a weak spot in one of Earth’s plates).g Surtsey Surtsey, one of Earth’s newest islands, was dramatically formed in 1963 by underwater volcanic eruptions

16. In 1963, an undersea volcano created the newest land mass on Earth, Surtsey Island, which lies off the southwest coast of Iceland. Today Surtsey is about 1 sq. mile and is named after Surt, a fire giant from Norse mythology.

17. The worst volcanic disaster of the twentieth century is considered to be the eruption of Mt. Pelée in 1902 on the island of Martinique in the Caribbean which killed 30,121 people. Only two people survived: a shoemaker living on the edge of the island and a prisoner who had been locked in a dungeon cell with thick stone walls.

18. There are approximately 1,500 active volcanoes, not counting undersea volcanoes. Of these, only about 20-30 erupt in any one year.

19. Volcanologists measure the size of an eruption with the Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI), with 0 being the weakest and 8 the strongest. Eight is usually reserved for super eruptions, popularly called “supervolcanoes.”

20. The Lake Toba supervolcanic eruption nearly 75,000 years ago in Indonesia plunged earth into a volcanic winter (known as the Millennium Ice Age) and was responsible for the formation of sulfuric acid in the atmosphere.d St. Helens Mount St. Helens is North America’s most active volcano

21. The eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 had 500 times the power of an atomic bomb. Geologists considered this a moderate eruption.

22. The Pacific Ring of Fire is the boundary of the large Pacific plate which is slowly subducting under or grinding past other plates. Most of the world’s biggest volcanoes are concentrated here.

23. In A.D. 79, Vesuvius erupted violently, devastating the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Eyewitness accounts of the time, recent excavations, and the preserved remains tell the horrific story of the eruption.

24. In 1660, the people of Naples were shocked to find what looked like little black crosses raining down on them. While they thought it was proof that St. Januarius was looking out for them, the crosses were really twin pyroxene crystals which Mt. Vesuvius spewed out of its crater. Vesuvius last erupted in 1944

25. New ocean floor is created when two oceanic plates move apart and magma bubbles up to fill the rift. This is called a rift volcano. Through this process, the Atlantic Ocean is widening by 2 cm. per year, and the East Pacific Rise is widening by 20 cm. a year. In 10 million years, the East Pacific Rise will be 1,240 miles wider.a

26. Pele is the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes and was thought to live in the crater of the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii. She is said to have a terrible temper and will throw lava at anyone who angers her. Some people have been known to send back lava samples they have taken from the Hawaiian Volcanoes National Park because of the bad luck they associate with Pele.

27. The three main types of volcano shapes are shield, cinder cone, and stratovolcano. Stratovolcanoes, also called composite volcanoes, are the most common type of volcanoes and often have symmetrical steep slopes. Classic examples include Mount Rainer in Washington State and Mount Fuji in Japan.a

28. When the top of a volcano top collapses, it forms a caldera, which is Spanish for “kettle.” The largest caldera is the La Garita Caldera in Colorado which was formed 26-28 million years ago and was one of the largest eruptions—if not the largest—on Earth.g

29. About 20% of all volcanoes are under water.a kilauea black beaches The black sand beaches in Iceland and Hawaii are formed by grains of black volcanic glass 30. Some volcanic islands such as Iceland and Hawaii have black beaches. Their sand is made from basalt, an igneous rock formed when lava cools and has been broken down into sand particles.

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