Download - Chp 7.2 Volcanic Eruptions and Features
Chp 7.2 Volcanic Eruptions and Features
What controls volcanic eruptions?
• Composition of Magma– Based on percentage of silica and oxygen present in the
magma.– High Silica:
• Thicker and slower moving.• Usually thick and sticky.• Viscosity:
– Is a physical property that describes the material’s resistance to flow.
– Low Silica:• Low percentage of silica and more Fe and Mg.• Thin and runny.
• Dissolved Gases and Temperature– Higher temperature of magma, the more easily it
flows.– Gases: H2O(v), CO2, SO2, H2S– The more gases the greater the chance of an
explosive eruption.
Types of Magma and Lava
• Basaltic Magma and Lava– Low percentage of silica.– Low viscosity.– Much thinner, more fluid magma– Tend to pour from the vent and run down the sides
of the volcano in a non-explosive eruption.– Pahoehoe lava cools develops ropelike patterns.– Aa lava is stiff, and slow moving.– Underwater eruption forms bubble-like pillow lava.
• Granitic Magma and Lava– High percentage of silica.– High viscosity, flows slowly.– Sticky and lumpy.– Trap gases, builds up pressure and produces
explosive eruptions.
Types of Volcanoes
• Shield volcano:– Is a huge, gently sloping volcanic landform that is
mainly composed of basaltic lava.– Develop as layer upon layer of gently flowing
basaltic lava piles up.
• Cinder Cone Volcanoes– Is mainly composed of solid fragments known as Tephra.
– Includes fragments of volcanic rock or lava.– Explosive volcanic eruptions.– When lava erupts from the vent, it cools quickly in
the air.
• Composite Volcanoes– Is mainly composed of alternating layers of lava
and tephra.– Quiet and explosive volcanic eruptions due to the
composition of magma – Tall mountains.
Volcanoes in California
• Form at a convergent plate boundary – Part of a volcanic arc.– Form where the Juan de Fuca Plate subducts
beneath the N. American Plate
Intrusive Igneous Features
• Batholiths– Largest intrusive igneous features.– Magma slowly cools and solidifies before reaching
the surface.– Many kilometers in width and length and several
kilometers thick.
• Dikes and Sills– Magma squeezes into cracks in rocks below the
surface.– Magma that cuts across rock layers and hardens is
called dike.– Magma that is parallel to rock layers and hardens
is called sill.
• Volcanic Neck– Hardened magma inside the vent is eroded by
water and wind.– The cone is much softer than the igneous rock in
the vent, so it erodes first.
• Lava Domes– Rounded volcanic feature that forms when highly
viscous lava erupts from the vent.– Lava piles up.– When gases accumulate, pressure increases within
the lava dome, gas, lava and solid materials are ejected in the air.
• Lava Tubes– A hollow tube that forms when lava flows through
a channel, cools and hardens on the surface.– Often underground.– Magma flows to the sea.
• Caldera– Is a large, circular depression.– Forms when the top of the volcano collapses and
becomes wedged into the nearly empty magma chamber.
– The chamber becomes filled with water, forming lakes and landscapes.
– Usually the largest eruptions on Earth.