Volcanoes Facts for Kids
Explosive facts about volcanoes and geology
Monte Nuovo, near Naples in Italy, formed in just two days during a dramatic eruption in 1538, rising 133 metres above the ground and burying the ancient town of Tripergole. It is one of the best examples of how quickly a new volcanic feature can appear.
After large volcanic eruptions, tiny ash and aerosol particles in the upper atmosphere can scatter sunlight and produce spectacular red and orange sunsets around the world for months. The vivid sunsets following the 1883 Krakatoa eruption inspired artists and were observed globally.
The word 'geyser' comes from 'Geysir', the name of a famous geyser in Iceland, which itself comes from an Old Norse word meaning 'to gush'. Geysers form when underground water is superheated by volcanic activity and periodically erupts in spectacular jets of boiling water and steam.
In ancient Greek and Roman mythology, the eruptions of Mount Etna were explained as the breath and movement of the giant Enceladus, who was buried beneath the mountain as punishment for fighting against the gods. Today, Enceladus is also the name of one of Saturn's moons, which has its own geysers.
Mount Merapi in Indonesia is one of the world's most active and dangerous volcanoes, and nearly 100,000 people live on its fertile slopes. It erupts frequently and has a long history of causing deadly pyroclastic flows that reach villages close to its summit.
The Deccan Traps in India are the remains of one of the largest volcanic events in Earth's history, where enormous amounts of lava poured out over millions of years. This volcanic activity may have contributed to the mass extinction that killed the non-avian dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
Bright yellow sulphur crystals often form around volcanic vents and fumaroles, deposited by the sulphur-rich gases that stream out of the ground. Some volcanoes, like Ijen in Indonesia, have beautiful but dangerous craters filled with highly acidic sulphuric lakes.
Mauna Kea in Hawaii is the world's tallest mountain when measured from its base on the ocean floor, rising about 10,200 metres in total. Because much of it is underwater, only 4,205 metres show above sea level.
When undersea volcanoes erupt violently, they can create vast rafts of floating pumice that drift across the ocean surface for years. These pumice rafts have been spotted stretching for hundreds of kilometres in the Pacific and carry sea creatures with them as they travel.
Pliny the Younger wrote two detailed letters describing the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE, making them the oldest eyewitness account of a volcanic eruption that still exists. He described the eruption cloud as looking like a giant umbrella pine tree β now known as a Plinian eruption column.