Large Volcanoes: List

What are volcanoes? Hot streams of molten lava, splashing out of the bowels of the Earth, and at the same time clouds of ash, hot steam. The spectacle, of course, is exciting, but where does it come from? What are the largest volcanoes on our planet? Where they are?

The origin and varieties of volcanoes

Under a thick layer of the earth's crust is magma - a molten substance of great temperature and under great pressure. The composition of magma contains minerals, vaporous water and gases. When the pressure gets too high, gases push magma up through the weak points of the earth's crust. The surface layer of the Earth rises in the form of a mountain, and eventually magma erupts outward.

The erupting magma is called lava, and the mountain hill with a hole is called a volcano. The eruption is accompanied by emissions of ash and steam. Lava moves at a speed of more than 40 km / h, with a temperature of about 1000 degrees Celsius. Volcanoes are divided into numerous types depending on the nature of the eruption and related phenomena. For example, Hawaiian, Plinian, Peleian and others.

As the lava flows out, it solidifies and overlays, creating the shape of a volcano. So, there are cone-shaped volcanoes, gentle, domed, strato- or layered, as well as complex ones. In addition, they are divided into active, sleeping and extinct, depending on the degree of activity of eruptions.

The largest volcanoes in the world

Around the world there are approximately 540 active volcanoes, the number of extinct even more. All of them are located mainly in the Pacific, East African, Mediterranean folded zones. The greatest activity is manifested in areas of South and Central America, Kamchatka, Japan, the Aleutian Islands, in Iceland.

In the Pacific belt alone, 330 active volcanoes are located. Large volcanoes are located in the Andes, on the Asian islands. In Africa, the highest is Kilimanjaro, located in Tanzania. This is a potentially active volcano that can wake up at any moment. Its height is 5895 meters.

Two world volcanic giants are located in Chile and Argentina. They are considered the highest on Earth. Ojos del Salado is extinct, its eruption occurred in 700 AD, although sometimes it emits water vapor and sulfur. The Argentine Ljulyayljako is considered acting, the last time he erupted only in 1877.

The largest world volcanoes are presented in the table.

Pacific Ring of Fire

The waters of the Pacific Ocean hide three lithospheric plates. Their outer edges go under the lithospheric plates of the continents. Around the perimeter of these joints is located the Pacific Ring of Fire - small and large volcanoes, most of which are active.

The ring of fire begins from Antarctica, passes through New Zealand, the Philippines, Japan, the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka, stretches along the Pacific coast of North and South America. In some places, the ring is broken, for example, near Vancouver Island and California.

Large volcanoes of the Pacific belt are located in the Andes (Orisabo, San Pedro, Misty, Cotopaxi), Sumatra (Kerinchi), Ross Island (Erebus), Java (Semeru). One of the most famous - Fuji - is located on the island of Honshu. In the Sunda Strait is the volcano Krakatau.

The volcanic origin has the Hawaiian Islands archipelago. The largest volcano is Mauna Loa with an absolute height of 4169 meters. By relative height, the mountain bypasses Everest and is considered the highest peak in the world, this value is 10,168 meters.

Mediterranean belt

The mountainous regions of Northwest Africa, southern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, Indochina, Tibet, Indonesia, and the Himalayas comprise the Mediterranean fold belt. Active geological processes take place here, one of the manifestations of which is volcanism.

The largest volcanoes of the Mediterranean belt are Vesuvius, Santorin (Aegean Sea) and Etna in Italy, Elbrus and Kazbek in the Caucasus, Ararat in Turkey. Italian Vesuvius consists of three peaks. The cities of Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabia, Oplontia suffered from his powerful eruption in the first century AD. In memory of this event, Karl Bryullov painted the famous painting "The Last Day of Pompeii."

Stratovolcano Ararat is the highest point in Turkey and the Armenian Highlands. His last eruption occurred in 1840. It was accompanied by an earthquake that completely destroyed the neighboring village and monastery. Ararat, like the Caucasian Kazbek, consists of two peaks that are separated by a saddle.

Large volcanoes of Russia (list)

In the Russian Federation, volcanoes are located in the Kuril, Kamchatka, Caucasus and Transbaikalia regions. They make up approximately 8.5% of all volcanoes in the world. Many of them are considered extinct, although the sudden eruptions of Bezymyanny in 1956 and the Academy of Sciences in 1997 proved the relativity of this term.

The largest volcanoes are in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. The highest in all of Eurasia (among existing ones) is Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4835 meters). His last eruption was recorded in 2013. In the Primorsky and Khabarovsk territories there are very small volcanoes. For example, the height of Baranovsky is 160 meters. Over the past decade, Berg (2005), Ebeko (2010), Chikurachki (2008), Kizimen (2013) and others have been active.

The largest volcanoes in Russia are presented in the table.

Conclusion

Volcanoes are the consequences of active processes that occur inside our planet. They are formed in hot spots of the earth's crust, where the crust does not withstand the onslaught of pressure and high temperatures. The consequences of a volcanic eruption can be quite serious, as they are accompanied by emissions of ash, gases, and sulfur into the atmosphere.

Earthquakes and faults are often associated with eruption phenomena. The flowing lava has such a high temperature that it instantly acts on biological organisms.

However, in addition to the destructive effect, volcanoes have the opposite effect. Lava, which has not come to the surface, can raise sedimentary rocks, forming mountains. And the result of the eruption of an underwater volcano in Iceland was the island of Surtsay.