Volcanicity

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  • Volcanicity
    • Rock types
      • Intrusive
        • Igneous
        • Formed by the crystallization of magma below the surface of the earth
      • Extrusive
        • Igneous
        • Formed by crystallization above the earth
      • As the lava gets cooler it becomes more viscous
    • Types of volcano
      • The type of cone is dependent on:
        • Nature of the eruptions
        • The type of lava
        • The plate margin type
      • Shield volcanoes
        • Found in mid-ocean ridges, hot spots, rift valleys
        • Repeated, relatively frequent eruptions
        • Runny lava
        • Runny lava
        • Gently sloping cone
        • Basaltic
        • Eruptions gentle and predictable
        • e.g. Mauna Loa
        • Layers of solidified lava
      • Composite volcanoes
        • Found on land at destructive margins
        • Formed from layers of ash, tephra and lava
        • Relatively steep slopes
        • May have a secondary cone
        • Rock type is andestic
        • Explosions are explosive and unpredictable
        • e.g. Mt. Vesuvius
        • Very viscous lava
        • Lava erupted at very low temperatures
        • Lava has a high silica content
        • High volatile content - very explosive
        • Pyroclastic flows are common
      • Acid dome volcanoes
        • Found on continental crust at destructive margins
        • Lava is viscous and cannot flow far
        • Very steep convex sloped cones
          • Lava is viscous and cannot flow far
        • The rock type is rhyolitic
        • Eruptions are extremely explosive and unpredictable
        • e.g. Mt Pelee, Martinique
    • Magma types
      • Variations in magma include
        • Silica content - varies from 45% to 75%
        • Volatiles - gas content - h2o vapour, co2, so2, h2s
        • Temperature - from 1200 degrees c to 800 degrees c
      • Hawaiian Lava
        • Low viscosity
        • Erupted at a high temperature
        • Low silica content
        • High volatile content
        • Dark lava flows are the youngest
        • Light lava flows are the oldest
    • Volcanic landforms
      • Calderas
        • Found at destructive margins
        • The rock type is andestic
        • Explosions are unpredictable and violent
        • Gases build up below a blocked vent
          • This results in an eruption that destroys the top of the volcano
            • This leaves a massive crater that is often filled by a lake
        • e.g. Lake Taupo, New Zealand
      • Fissure eruptions
        • Found at constructive margins and rift valleys
        • Essentially long, thin cracks in the crust that allow lava to spill out
        • Rock type is basaltic
        • Eruptions are gentle and persistent
        • e.g. heimaey, iceland
        • Lava plateaux are formed where the basalt layers pour out from cracks in the earths surface
        • the lava is runny so flows a long way from the crack
          • It takes a long time to cool too
        • These structures are layered
      • Geysers
        • These require three elements
          • A water supply
          • A heat source
          • A proper underground water circulation suplly
        • e.g. Pohutu Geyser, NZ
      • Hot springs
        • Produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater
        • e.g. Yellowstone NP
      • Fumaroles
        • Formed when superheated water turns to steam as the pressure drops
          • When the steam mixes with sulphur gases it becomes a solfatara
        • e.g. Craters of the moon, NZ
      • Boiling mud pools
        • These form in high-temperature geothermal areas
        • The thickness of the mud changes with the seasons and the water table
        • The mud is very viscous, like slurry
        • Sometimes the mud is squirted out of the brim and creates a tiny mud volcano
        • Rotorua, NZ
      • Dykes
        • Forms when magma solidifies in a vertical crack or fissure in the rock
        • Normally they comprise of resistant material and form a wall like feature often in swarms
        • Occasionally the lava is the weaker material and is eroded leaving a ditch
      • Sills
        • A horizontal or gently inclined layer of solidified magma
      • Batholiths
        • These are large scale features which the other features may emanate from before it solidifies

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