Volcanoes Facts for Kids
Explosive facts about volcanoes and geology
The Galapagos Islands were formed by a volcanic hotspot beneath the Pacific tectonic plate. As the plate moved over the hotspot, new islands formed β the youngest and most active volcanoes are in the west.
Volcanic eruptions can produce their own thunder! The friction between ash particles in the eruption column creates static electricity, leading to volcanic lightning and accompanying thunder.
Olympus Mons on Mars is the tallest known volcano in the solar system, rising about 21.9 kilometres above the surrounding plains β nearly three times the height of Mount Everest.
The Ring of Fire is a horseshoe-shaped zone around the Pacific Ocean where about 90% of the world's earthquakes occur and approximately 75% of the world's active and dormant volcanoes are found.
The eruption of Toba in Sumatra about 74,000 years ago is thought to have caused a severe global cooling event. Some scientists believe it reduced the human population to just a few thousand individuals.
The Pacific Ring of Fire is home to about 75% of the world's volcanoes, stretching in a huge arc from New Zealand through Asia and across to the Americas. This region is so geologically active because several of the Earth's tectonic plates meet along its edges.
Mauna Loa in Hawaii is the world's largest active volcano, measured by volume. It rises about 9 kilometres above the ocean floor, making it taller than Mount Everest when measured from its base.
Olympus Mons on Mars is the largest known volcano in the solar system, standing about 22 kilometres high β nearly three times the height of Mount Everest. It is so wide that if you stood at its edge you would not be able to see the summit over the horizon.
Lava flows can travel many kilometres from a volcano's vent, moving at speeds ranging from a slow crawl to over 30 kilometres per hour depending on how runny the lava is. Basaltic lava from shield volcanoes is the fastest and most fluid type.
A major volcanic eruption can send ash and gas so high into the atmosphere that it circles the entire globe within weeks. The 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines temporarily cooled the planet's average temperature by about 0.5Β°C.