Lecture
A live image of Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park. (It only works during daylight in the Mountain Time zone.) While not a volcano in present day, Old Faithful is fed by a magma chamber beneath Yellowstone that can potentially create a catastrophic eruption known as a caldera-eruption. (Photo: USGS.) Click the image to learn more about Old Faithful.
You probably are not aware that volcanic eruptions occur regularly in Alaska and Hawaii! Why? Well, in these areas property is rarely harmed and people are rarely injured by the eruptions; so they don’t make the news. On the other hand, 100,000 people were killed by volcanic activity in the 20th century. However, before we get into how volcanoes become natural hazards, we’ll first learn how they work! This section is organized into three sections:
- Concepts: Volcanism, Volcano Origins, Locations of Activity, and Volcanic Hazards
- Types: Shield Volcanoes, Composite Volcanoes, Cinder, Dome Volcanoes, and Calderas
- Case Studies: Mt. Rainer, Washington, USA; Krakatoa, Indonesia; and Mt. St. Helens, Washington, USA.
You can click the tabs across the top of the page to access the three sections of the volcano lecture.