By Ahmed Rabaah Naseem, 9B

Volcanoes are openings in the Earth’s crust through which hot magma, molten rock, and ash clouds come out when they erupt. They come in different shapes and sizes, which is dpendent on the type of lava found within the volcano’s underground chambers. Very hot, runny lava create ‘shield’ volcanoes. If the volcano contains thicker lava, a ‘cone’ volcano is produced.

Volcanoes get bigger over time, as the lava and molten rock cool down outside. The chamber of a volcano refers to the reservoir of magma beneath the volcano. A vent is the tube-like channel inside the volcano that allows the material inside to reach the surface in a volcanic eruption.

There are three types of volcanoes. Volcanoes that have erupted recently are referred to as active volcanoes; it is probable for these volcanoes to erupt again. Volcanoes that have not erupted for many centuries—but have a chance of doing so—are known as dormant volcanoes. Volcanoes that are not expected to erupt again are known as extinct volcanoes; these are ones that have not erupted in at least two thousand years.

Fun fact 1:

Some volcanic eruptions in the past have released so much material that the world’s climate was affected for a few years.

Fun fact 2:

A volcano thought to be extinct in India’s Barren islands erupted recently.

Fun fact 3:

There are over 1400 active volcanoes in the world and most of them are under the sea. Volcanoes are distributed across plate boundaries; one third of the world’s active volcanoes are found in ‘Ring of Fire’, located in the Pacific Ocean.