TYPES OF VOLCANOES

The foundation of our unit, literally, is the structure of volcanoes. It is imperative to be able to distinguish the four main types of volcanoes. Here I have them grouped by the different subcategories, which makes it easier to compare volcanoes

STRUCTURE:

Shield-quietly sloping, domeshaped mountain

Cinder Cone-narrow base and steep sides

Stratovolcano-large coneshaped mountain

Caldera-composite with a collapsed crater

ERUPTION:

Shield-quiet lava flows

Cinder Cone-explosive eruptions

Stratovolcano-explosive eruptions

Caldera-most explosive

COMPOSITION:

Shield-basaltic

Cinder Cone-pyroclastic material

Stratovolcano-layers of rock particles

Caldera-layers of rock particles

EXAMPLE:

Shield-Mauna Loa, Hawaii

Cinder Cone-Paracutin, Mexico

Stratovolcano-Mt. Vesuvius, Italy

Caldera-Yellowstone Caldera, Wyoming

Types of Eruptions

There are 4 types of volcanic eruptions and let me tell you a little bit about each of them.

• Plinian eruptions are the most explosive and dangerous eruptions. Plinian eruptions are the eruptions that explode a large ash explosion into the air and are followed by viscous lava flows and the most dangerous pyroclastic flow. Pyroflastic flow occurs when the ash cloud becomes to dense to support itself so it collapses and rushes down the volcano destroying anything in its path. Yeah John Cusack you would be dead.



• Vulcanian eruptions are also dangerous but they just erupt lots of ash. Pyroclastic flows do occur but the amount of ash is not as great so therefor vulcanian eruptions are not quite as deadly as plinian eruptions.



• Strombolian eruptions shoot fairly viscous lava into the air and down the volcano.



• Hawaiin volcanoes like their name are based upon the volcanoes in Hawaii. The Hawaiin eruptions occur over a vent where lava is forced out, but the lava has a very high viscosity so the lava is slow moving and not very dangerous.

Deforestation Linked to Ancient Eruption

When one thinks of the hazards of volcanoes, what comes to mind are the immediate dangers of ash and lava. On an even bigger scale, volcanoes can even cause slight global cooling. What is often overlooked, however, is volcano eruptions effect on deforestation. A news article posted today cites how a volcano eruption has deforested central India, according to scientists. What is most interesting, is that the volcano to blame erupted 73,000 years ago. It was the volcano Toba that blocked solar radiation for six years and plummeted the world into an ice age. But it is just recently that scientists have linked this catastrophic eruption to deforestation in India. Toba ash was first discovered in 1980, and now new pollen analysis shows the widespread loss of ferns. This shows the dry vegetation after the eruption because ferns thrive in humid environments. It is important to remember the extreme long lasting effects that volcanic eruptions have.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/sciencemedicine/story/91511A4AF9C3F20F8625767E00032872?OpenDocument

Monday 11/30

Today, we learned that Ms. Meyer's hard drive had unfortunately crashed, so we had to re-submit our volcano quizzes so she could get the grades back she had lost. After that, we did some review in small groups for our test on volcanoes tomorrow, which will be (if memory serves correct) approximately 30 multiple choice questions with some short answer mixed in. Good luck to everybody!

Volcano Quiz review

We will review for the test tomorrow by reviewing the quiz we took earlier.

1. This type of volcano forms by a series of alternating lava flows and pyroclastic explosions
- Stratovolcano
2. A volcano that has not erupted for hundreds of years, but will again is called a _____
- Dormant volcano
3. Mt Saint Helens is a ____ volcano
- Strato
4. What characterizes a strombolian eruption?
-Lava sprays
5. What evidence suggests Kilauea's past eruptions were explosive?
-Tephra scattered far around it
6. What would either be a type of volcano or example or an actual volcano not made of basalt?
- Cinder Cone
7. Along what type of boundary would you not expect an active volcano?
-Transform
8. What combo of viscosity and magma type is associated with a composite volcano?
-High viscosity, rhyolitic
9. A gradually sloping volcano is a called a _____
-Shield

Historical Eruptions

Mt Vesuvius: Erupted 79 A.D. 3 Roman towns were destroyed, most notably Pompeii where people were almost frozen in time by the pyroclastic flow.

Krakatau: Erupted August 27,1883 On the Indonisian island of Krakatau, distroyed the island leaving a 960 ft deep crater in the ocean floor. It triggered tsunamis and distroyed numerous villages killing about 36,000 people

Mt. St. Helens: Erupted May 18th, 1980. Part of the Cascade

Mountains, its 1980 eruption was the only significant eruption on the continental U.S. causing billions of dollars in damage.

Predicting Eruptions

Warning Signs

Before an eruption, magma moves into the area beneath the volcano and collects in a magma chamber, or reservoir. As it comes closer to the surface, the magma releases gases. These events can offer valuable clues about the likelihood of an eruption. For example, the movement of magma produces small earthquakes and vibrations (seismicity). Magma gathering in a chamber causes slight swelling of the volcano's slopes. Gases released near the volcano can be measured for changes in quantity and makeup.

Monitoring Methods

A number of tools can be used to record these warning signs. Seismographs can detect small earthquakes, while tiltmeters and geodimeters can measure the subtle swelling of a volcano. Correlation spectrometers (COSPECS) can measure amounts of sulfur dioxide--a telltale gas that is released in increasing quantities before an eruption. Using these and other tools, it's possible to closely monitor activity at an awakening volcano.

The Problem of Prediction

Volcanologists are becoming very skilled at predicting the likelihood of an eruption. Still, a number of barriers remain. It's very difficult to pinpoint exactly when an eruption will happen. Often, moving magma doesn't result in an eruption, but instead cools below the surface. Monitoring potential eruptions is expensive. With many volcanoes erupting only every few hundred or thousand years, it's not possible to monitor every site. Volcanic eruptions don't occur without warning, however. If we set up monitoring devices, we should not be caught off guard by disastrous eruptions.

Volcano Quiz Answers

For my unit review I am posting the answers the volcano quiz that we took earlier.  Maybe some of these same questions will be on the test.

1.  A stratovolcano is formed by a series of alternating lava flows and pyroclastic eruptions.

2.  A volcano that has not erupted for hundreds of years but is expected to erupt again is considered dormant.

3. Mount St. Helens is an example of a composite, active volcano.

4. A strombolian eruption is characterized by lava sprays.

5. Tephra is evidence that Kilauea's past eruptions were once explosive.

6. An actual volcano not made of basalt would be a composite volcano because it is an explosive eruption and explosive eruptions have rhyolitic magma.

7. One would not find a volcano along a transform plate boundary.

8. A composite volcano typically has high viscosity, rhyolitic magma.

9.  Picture needed, but shows a volcano with a gentle slope created by lava build up, meaning a shield volcano.

10. The curse of Pele is a curse saying that if you take lava away from the Hawaiian Volcano National Park, you will have bad luck caused by the Goddess Pele.

The Danish?

As scientists debate the causes and effects of global warming, it is a fact that greenhouse gas emissions are going up and so are global temperatures. With people all over the world wondering what they can do to lower their personal emissions, the easiest way is to lower the amount of fossil fuel and coal power that they consume. Alternatives such as wind power and geothermal power have promising futures, although rarely seen in the United States. On the small Danish island of Samso, only 30 miles long and 15 mi wide, they have been given the title of completely energy self sufficient. This island uses 11 wind turbines to provide all of its electricity, and off shore turbines to power all public transportation. With their left over energy, they reinvest it to create new innovations. Samso is being used as an example of a green place and green economy. The manufacturing of turbines alone employs many people while other citizens are employed doing other environmentally friendly jobs. Maybe the U.S. could learn a few things from this tiny island and start doing something about global warming.

Volcanic Eruptions

Strombolian
Strombolian eruptions are named because of activity of Stromboli in Sicily. They are characterised by huge clots of molten lava bursting from the summit crater to form luminous arcs through the sky. Collecting on the flanks of the cone, lava clots combine to stream down the slopes in molten rivulets. The explosions are driven by bursts of gas slugs that rise faster than surrounding magma.
Vulcanian
Vulcanian eruptions are named after Vulcano, following Giuseppe Mercalli's observations of its 1888-1890 eruptions. Another example was the eruption of Parícutin in 1947. They are characterised by a dense cloud of ash-laden gas exploding from the crater and rising high above the peak. Steaming ash forms a whitish cloud near the upper level of the cone.
Hawaiian
Hawaiian eruptions may occur along fissures or fractures that serve as vents, such as during the eruption of Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii in 1950. Also, they can occur at a central vent, such as during the 1959 eruption in Kilauea Iki Crater of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii. In fissure-type eruptions, lava shoots from a fissure on the volcano's rift zone and feeds lava streams that flow downslope. In central-vent eruptions, a lava fountain is erupted to a height of several hundred meters or more. Such lava may collect in old pit craters to form lava lakes, or form cones, or feed radiating flows.
Plinian
Plinian eruptions are usually the most powerful, and involve the explosive ejection of relatively viscous lava. Large plinian eruptions — such as during 18 May 1980 at Mount St. Helens or, more recently, during 15 June 1991 at Pinatubo in the Philippines— can send ash and volcanic gas tens of kilometres into the atmosphere. The resulting ash fallout can affect large areas hundreds of miles downwind. Fast-moving pyroclastic surges and pyroclastic flows together with “nuées ardentes,” are often associated with plinian eruptions.

Volcanic Hazards

For my unit review post I decided to go through and describe why all the volcanic hazards are hazardous:

Pyroclasitc Flows- These are hazardous because it is all the ash and rock that exploded from the volcano in a land slide down the side traveling at speeds up to 700 mph and temperatures up to 1830 degrees Fahrenheit. They would be impossible to outrun and would incinerate you on contact.

Ash Cloud- An ash could appears after a volcano has erupted. After the volcano erupts a cloud of ash pours out and covers the sky. These are hazardous because it suffocates you if you breathe in the ash and it also can make it very cold since it covers up the sun.

Tephra- Tephra is the rock that is thrown from the volcano when it erupts and it is hazardous because it could hit you and possibly kill you.

Fires- When a volcano erupts magma usually erupts from it and lava flows down the side of the volcano. If this lava comes into contact with anything flamable, it will start a fire and possibly burn down cities.

Lahars- lahars are mud flows that come after the volcano because a side of the mountain collapses after it erupts. This is hazardous because they can crush buildings and such.

Lava- Lava is the magma of the volcano when it reaches the surfaces and explodes out of the volcano. This is hazardous because when it comes out it is at extremely high temperatures and depending on the viscosity it can travel fast potentially starting fires.
Volcanic Gases- Volcanic gases are the gases that escape from the volcano when it erupts. Depending on which gases they are they can either lower or raise the atmospheric temperature and this can be hazardous.
Water Pollution- Water pollution happens because when the volcano explodes ash rains down onto the land surrounding the volcano. If this ash falls into a water source it will pollute the water and then the people won’t have any fresh water to drink from.
Landslides- Landslides occur because when the volcano erupts material spills out sometimes creating a landslide if the volcano was a mountain. This could be dangerous because landslides could crush everything in their path and they are also very fast.
Disease- Diseases can occur from volcanoes because of lack of nutrition of clean water and also because when people breathe in the ash from the volcano it clogs up their lungs ultimately making them suffocate.
Tsunamis- Tsunamis can be caused by a volcano because when a volcano erupts it can cause earthquakes which can cause tsunamis or it can cause large masses of land to fall into a body of water which can also trigger a tsunami.

Black Holes May Form Galaxies

One of the most heavily debated questions in astrology these days is, which comes first; black holes that eat matter, or the galaxies around them? To this point, most theories stated that the galaxies were first. However, a team of scientists has been looking at the only black hole currently known to man that does not have a galaxy surrounding it. Studying it, they see that the areas neighboring it are developing stars at an incredible rate. This has sparked the theory that maybe black holes draw matter to them, thus helping in the formation of galaxies. Exacly how galaxies form is a point of serious controversy, and this solution to that problem is new and unique. Further research to support this must be done, but it is a very interesting thing to think about.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091130112413.htm

Scientists Debunk 2012 Rumor

Everybody knows about the "end of the world" theory regarding 2012, which has been made even more mainstream by the recent movie 2012. But due to widespread panic, NASA has started to post articles that say that the world will not end in 2012. The poles of the earth will not shift. According to them, the world will have a better chance of being destroyed by nuclear war, climate change, or an asteroid strike. Relieving, huh? At most, this movie is meant to be strictly entertainment, not some prediction for the future. Just because the Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012, there will not be some unforeseen destruction of Earth.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/editorials/story/962287.html

Review Virtual Volcano Activity

Inside a Volcano

1. Magma is stored inside the magma chamber.
2. The volcano erupts when the magma is buoyant compared to surronding rock. High pressure naturally pushed up magma through the central vent releasing lava.
3. Fissures and conduits are the secondary shifts that branch off of the central vent to release lava through vlocano's side walls.
4. In the illustration it is important to note that the ash layer would be beneath the harden lava layer.

Volcano Comparison Table

Volcano Type Viscosity level Gas level Description Danger Level Examples

Shield Low Effusive Low Hawaiian Islands

Cinder Cone Medium-low Debris, strombolian Low Sunset Crater, Paricutin

Stratovolcano High High Vulcanian/Plinian High Mt. Saint Helens, Mts. Vesuvius

How to Classify Volcanoes

A REVIEW OF HOW TO CLASSIFY VOLCANOES:

1.) History of the volcano's activity

Active: volcano has erupted within 200 years

Dormant: Volcano has not erupted in over 200 years but is expected to erupt again

Extinct: Volcano can no longer erupt-has lost magma source

2.) Volcano's explosiveness

Effusive vs Explosive

Effusive: non-explosive volcanoes; just produces lava flows

Explosive: forms ash clouds

3. Location of volcano

Subduction volcanoes: A oceanic plate goes under a continental pate.

These tend to be the most explosive

ex. Cascades

Volcanic Island Arcs: A oceanic plate goes under a lighter oceanic plate

ex. Indonesian islands

Rift Volcanoes: Volcanoes formed at divergent plate boundaries

ex. Icleand

Hot Spots: Not found near plate boundaries

ex. Hawaii

4. Volcano's shape/nature

Cinder Cone Volcano

ex. Sunset Crater

Composite/Stratovolcano

ex. Mt. Rainier

Shield Volcano

ex. Hawaiian Islands

Caldera Volcano

ex. Yellowstone

Yayyy you're now ready to classify volcanoes!!!

How Lava Viscosity and Pressure Change an Eruption

Low viscosity, low gas: Shield volcano, effusive eruption and lava that flows steadily and is runny,can flow very slowly.
Medium low viscosity, low gas: Cinder cone, minor eruption associated with building of these volcanoes, lava splatters around the rim of the volcano, lumps of lava shot out.
Medium high viscosity, low gas: Dome volcano, minor and uncommon eruption makes pancake like shapes of lava.
High viscosity, low gas: Dome volcano, similar to above, if the dome collapses then a pyroclastic flow can occur.
Low viscosity, high gas:Shield volcano, this is called a fire fountain, lava sprays out of the volcano.
Medium low viscosity, high gas: Cinder cone, strombolian eruption, series of explosions where lava sprays out and is relatively harmless.
Medium high viscosity, High gas: Stratovolcano, vulcanian eruption, loud series of explosions, ash clouds and debris are also present.
High viscosity, High gas: Stratovolcano, plinian eruption, most explosive type, ash clouds, pyroclastic flows and landslides are all associated with this type of eruption.


(Discovery Channel Website)


Website: http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/pompeii/interactive/interactive.html

Volcanoes-Unit Review

Parts of a Volcano:
-Central Vent: Opening from which lava flows
-Magma Chamber: Source of molten materials that flow to surface during eruption
-Fissure: Connects vents to magma chamber
-Caldera: Bowl-like depression at the top of a volcano, can be created either by collapse caused by empty magma reservoir or by volcano blowing its top off. Bodies of water often form in the caldera after eruption.

Types of Eruptions:
-Hawaiian: Lava streams
-Strombolian: Huge clots of molten lava burst from summit crater to form luminous arcs through the sky.
-Vulcanian: Dense cloud of ash-laden gas explodes and rises above peek.
-Plinian: Most powerful eruption, explosive ejection of viscous lava, ash and gas travel tens of miles into the air.

Types of Volcanoes:
-Cinder Cone Volcanoes: Simplest type of volcano; rare; eruption: lava cools very quickly and little rocks fall and build on sides of volcano.
-Example: Sunset Crator-Arizona
-Composite/Stratovolcanoes: Explosive and effusive eruptions; piroclastic flows and lava; magma-- high viscosity, flows slowly and hardens while sliding down volcano.
-Example: Mount Rainier-Washington
-Shield Volcanoes: Form by effusive eruptions of fluid, mafic lava; lava flow upon lava flow builds a broad, gently sloping volcanic shape; form on ocean floor over a hot spot; very wide and shallow.
-Example: Mauna Loa-Hawaii
-Calderas: Largest and most explosive volcanic eruptions; huge magma chamber; crater (depression) forms on top around the central vent; ponds and lakes accumulate in calderas after large explosions.
-Example: Yellowstone-Wyoming

Unit 5 Post

Hi guys!
Okay, so it looks like Jay, Nick, Claire, Brett, and Madeline still need to do a unit 5 post and the rest of you guys are done!  For the rest of you that did not, if you did one already, just point it out to me tomorrow after the test.  No need to do another one.  Good luck and email me questions if you have any when studying.

Supervolcanoes and Eruptions

After watching that movie on super eruptions in class I was curious to see what other super volcanoes there are out there and when they last erupted. Also I was curious to learn more about these super volcanoes. There are seven other known super volcanoes out there: Lake Taupo, New Zealand, Lake Toba, Sumatra Indonesia, Whakamaru, New Zealand, Yellowstone Caldera, Wyoming U.S., Island Park Caldera, Wyoming U.S., Kilgore Tuff, Idaho U.S., Blacktail Creek, Idaho U.S., and La Garita Caldera, Colorado U.S. After reading this list of all these super volcanoes I was extremely surprised to find how many are in the United States. The most recent eruption of a super volcano was 26,500 years ago and it was the eruption of Lake Taupo in New Zealand. The force of this eruption was said to be greater than the force of all the nuclear weapons combined created by man. After finding out that there are this many super volcanoes out there I am starting to get worried that one may erupt in my lifetime.

Volcano Review

Volcanoes and Climate Change (Last part of review sheet)

Volcanoes contribute to both the warming and cooling of the Earth.

Warming
CO2 emitted from the volcano adds to greenhouse gases. It absorbs infared radiation and heats the Earth.
Chlorine gases in the form of hydrochloric acid cause ozone depletion, which lets more radiation enter the Earth's atmosphere.

Cooling
Sulfur gases released from a volcanic eruption reflect some light back into space
Dust particles (ash clouds, etc) released from eruption also reflect some of the waves back to space.


Virtual Volcano Activity

Low Viscosity (both low and high gas) => Shield Volcano

Medium- low viscosity => Cinder Cone

High Gas (medium high and high viscosity) => Strato/ Composite Volcano


Picture from: http://mrsdlovesscience.com/greenhouse/greenhouse_effect.jpg

Parts of A Volcano and Difference of Magma Vs. Lava

Magma is the liquid material, composed of rock, found within the actual volcano.
Lava is basically magma outside of the volcano, on the surface of the earth.

The diagram to the right gives a pretty good indication of the various parts of a stratovolcano, though other volcanoes have similar figures. The main parts that we need to know are the Magma Chamber, Conduit/Fissure, Central Vent, and Crater.

The magma chamber is the magma reservoir in this diagram. It contains the majority of the active magma.

The fissure, or conduit, is the beginning of a tube like structure, central vent, in the center of the volcano. The conduit connects the magma chamber to the central vent. It is usually the primary point of release for magma.

Last but not least we have the crater which. in a more literal sense, could be the actual hole left after an explosion. However in the context of this diagram, it is merely the exit from which magma is released.

I think this is the picture Ms. Meyer used in our packet, so I hope that's alright that I use it. http://www2.edc.org/sciencequest/2001/SQ0110360/Inside.jpg

Is Doomsday Coming? Perhaps, but Not in 2012

Throughout this article Dennis Overbye, a New York Times author, responds to a public panic about the so called "end of the world" on December 21, 2012. He talks about a lot of different sources that have contributed to this panic and says that as far as the movie 2012 goes... there is nothing truthful about it. He says that the next major sunspot (solar storms like in the movie) will not happen until 2013 and they will be very moderate. NASA and CERN both said not to worry at all. Dennis Overbye talks about letters and emails he has received from people asking about 2012. He said that one woman asked if she should kill herself, her small child, and her unborn baby to avoid suffering when "the world ends". He said that he got many emails like this, but told the public not to worry. Science shows the world will not be ending in 2012. He also said that if people want to worry, scientists say they should be worrying about global climate change, asteroids, or a nuclear war. He also says that there are some true things that happened in the movie that could happen in real life sometime, such as quakes destroying Los Angeles or Yellowstone erupting, but they won't cause the world to end.

Types of Eruptions

Here is a list of the different types of volcanic eruptions and how to classify them

Hawaiian- These are fairly calm eruptions that consist of slow-moving lava streams. These streams can usually be outrun or even outwalked.

Strombolian- In these eruptions, clots of molten lava burst from the summit crater of the volcano to form luminous arcs that shoot through the sky.

Vulcanian: During this type of eruption, a dense cloud of ash-laden gas explodes and rises above the peak of the volcano

Plinian: These are the most powerful and dangerous eruptions. They consist of an explosive ejection of viscous lava, ash, and gas that travel tens of miles in the air.

Review of In Defense of Food

In "In Defense of Food," author Michael Pollan offers simple advice for anyone that wants to improve their health by improving their diet. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." However, according to Pollan, this may not be as easy as it seems. He states that for years, real food has been disappearing from grocery store shelves and replaced with substitutes, commonly referred to as nutrients. Many Americans are obsessed with eating healthy, sometimes to an unhealthy degree. By worrying too much about what they put into their bodies and heeding diets that have little, if any, scientific basis (like the Atkins diet), they are actually becoming unhealthier. The solution? The seven-word mantra. Pollan suggests that we start by consuming as much local and organic produce as possible. Because said produce does not have any added pesticides and are not transported cross-country, they still have maximum nutritional value, which makes them good to eat. In addition to eating smaller portions of real food, Pollan suggests that we as Americans take more time to enjoy said food, cook it ourselves, and to not get carried away with watching what we eat. All in all, this was a great book to read and very eye-opening in the sense that nobody really knows what a perfect diet consists of, but by eating real food and cutting down on junk, one will be set. Pollan can be sarcastic at times, but it falls in line with the points he makes. I highly recommend this book.

The Eruption of Mount St. Helens

On May 18th, 1980 the eruption of Mount St. Helens in southwest Washington disrupted the lives of thousands and changed more than 200 square miles of rich forest into a grey, lifeless landscape. Here are some facts about this historic eruption with the vocabulary we learned this past unit:

Height:MSH was 9,677 feet before the eruption and 8,363 feet after. 1,314 feet was removed by the May 18th eruption.

Debris Avalanche: The largest landslide in recorded history swept down the mountain at speeds of 70 to 150 miles per hour and buried the North Fork of the Toutle River under an average of 150 feet of debris. Some areas are covered by as much as 600 feet. In all, approximately 23 square miles of material was removed from the mountain.

Lateral Blast: The lateral blast swept out of the north side of MSH at 300 miles per hour creating a 230 square mile fan shaped area of devastation reaching a distance of 17 miles from the crater. With temperatures as high as 660 degrees F and the power of 24 megatons of thermal energy, it snapped 100 year old trees like toothpicks and stripped them of their bark.

Lahars: The snow on MSH that was not instantly flashed to steam by the heat, melted and formed large mudflows that destroyed 27 bridges, 200 homes, 185 miles of roadway, and 15 miles of railway.

Pyroclastic Flows: Pyroclastic flows rolled out of the crater for hours after the eruption. Covering 6 square miles, they sterilized the remaining soil with temperatures nearing 1,300 degrees F.

Ash: The massive ash cloud grew to 80,000 feet (18 kilometers) in 15 minutes and reached the east coast in 3 days. Although most of the ash fell within 300 miles of the mountain, finer ash circled the earth in 15 days and may continue to stay in the atmosphere for many years.

Deaths: 57 people were killed as a result of the eruption. Of these, 21 bodies were never recovered from the blast zone.

Lava Domes: The old lava dome rises 876 feet above the crater floor and is about 3,500 feet in diameter. there have been no dome building eruptions on this dome since October 1986. If the dome were to re-establish the growth pattern it had in the 1980's, it would take 200 years to rebuild MSH to its pre-1980 size. The new lava dome (as of 2/1/2005) rises 1363 feet above the 1980 crater floor and is approximately 1500 feel long and 500 feet wide. It has been nicknamed the "whaleback" because of it's distinctive shape.

Damage Estimates: $1.1 billion for timber, civil works and agricultural losses. This does not include money for personal property losses, the cost of ash clean-up, or the loss of tourism in the area immediately after the eruption.

Current Monitoring: MSH can't even twitch without scientist knowing about it. Seismic disturbances, gas emissions, temperature, elevation changes (deformation), water levels, sediment flow rates, and even magma movement are all carefully monitored.

Future Behavior: MSH is expected to continue erupting but no one knows for how long. Pyroclastic flows, lahars, ejection of ash and pumice, and even the possibility of lava flows may all lie somewhere in MSH's future.

Volcanos You Need to Know

Volcano - Location - Type
Mt. Rainier - Washington - Composite
Mt. St. Helens - Washington - Composite
Yellowstone - Idaho, Montana and Wyoming- Caldera
Mt. Vesuvius - Italy - Composite
Kilauea - Hawaii - Shield
Paricutin - Mexico - Cinder Cone
Sunset Crater - Arizona - Cinder Cone
Mt. Fuji - Japan - Composite
Mauna Loa - Hawaii- Shield

COP15: Climate Change Conference

"Adélie Penguin
In the last 25 years, the Adélie population has dropped 65% due to a loss of sea ice and increased competition for food among other penguin species."

Since 1995, there has been an annual in Conferences of the Parties (COP) to assess progress dealing with climate change. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was established legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, the United States included. This year COP will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark from December 7 to December 18. The overall goal this year is to establish a climate agreement from after 2012 when the Kyoto Protocol expires. Obama has will pledge to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emission about 17% below 2005 levels by 2020. "Though the carbon cap-and-trade bill remains up for debate in the Senate, and likely won't be acted on until next spring, the fact that the White House says it will bring emission targets to Copenhagen shows that it is confident that Congress will ultimately fall in line." Many people worry that the the Earth's oceans are hitting their carbon cap. This suggests that the level of carbon typically absorbed into the water is dwindling. Last year the ocean absorbed 2.3 billion tons of carbon,"without the action of the oceans, the CO2 we emit into the atmosphere would have flame-broiled the planet by now." "While the ocean is now absorbing more carbon in total than ever before, the waters are sucking up a smaller percentage of the CO2 emitted by humans. That could mean that there's a limit to the ocean's capacity — and that we might be hitting it." There are many consequences, ocean life can be injured specifically coral reefs which are home to many marine species. Also due to a climate change the water will warm. Unfortunately penguins are at risk too, with an overall rise in temperatures sea ice is melting reducing the are of the penguin's habitat. Concluding that the COP-15 is important and Obama's pledge to lower greenhouse gas emissions is crucial.


http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1929071_1929070_1941227,00.html#ixzz0YHj4BCQN
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1929071_1929070,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1938690_1988641,00.html

Unit Review: Volcanoes! (1-5 on review sheet)

Volcano Review Sheet

1. Historical Eruptions

-Mt. Vesuvius: The Mt.Vesuvius eruption of 79AD was the most famous.

This is the one that destroyed pompeii and neighboring cities. Casualties wer

e estimated at about 10,000-25,000 people. Most died from pyroclastic flows that preserved remains of people. Famous for "plinian" eruptions. First documented account of eruption by Pliny the younger.

-Mt. St. Helens: Famous for 1980 eruption. Killed 57 people. Most destructive eruption in US history. The eruption was a VEI 5, or plinian eruption. The north face of the volcano collapsed causing it to erupt in that direction.

-Krakatau: Most famous for the 1883 eruption which was considered the largest in human history. It caused global temperatures to fall by 1.2 degrees celsius for about 5 years afterwards. It also darkened skies worldwide and in

spired the background for "Scream" a painting by Edward Munch.

2. Magma vs. Lava

-Magma is molten material under the Earth's surface and lava is magma that has breached the Earth's surface.

3. Parts of a Volcano

-Central Vent: Is an opening from which lava flows

-Magma Chamber: Is the source of molten materials that flow to the surface during an eruption

-Conduit/Fissure: Is a tunnel that connects vents to the magma reservoir

-Caldera: Is a bowl like depression at the top of a volcano. It can be created by either a collapse caused by an empty magma reservoir or by the volcano blowing it's top off.

-Crater: Is a bowl-shaped geological feature at the top of a volcano.

4. Identifying and describing volcanoes

-Shield: formed by effusive eruptions of fluid, mafic lava. Form at the ocean floor over hot spots. have a gently sloping shape. Look like a big hill.

-Cinder Cones: Circular cone shape. Built from particles and blobs of congealed lava being ejected from a single vent. As the lava is blown into the air it breaks into small fragments and settles on the sides of the volcano causing it's shape.

-Stratovolcanoes/Composite: Has the classic volcano shape. Built from effusive eruptions that spew layers of tephra and felsic lava that settle on the sides of the volcano. They continue growing until the slope exceeds the threshold of stability and then it collapses.

-Calderas: Formed when magma is removed and the top of the volcano collapses forming a caldera. They are the largest and most explosive forms of volcanoes and contain lots of magma.

5. How Volcanoes Form

-Pacific Ring of Fire: The pacific ring of fire is along the subducting boundaries of the Pacific plate. Subduction volcanoes dominate this area.

-Subduction Volcanoes: Form when an oceanic plate goes under a continental plate. Examples are... Cascade range & Andes Mountains.

-Volcanic Island arcs: Form when an ocean plate goes under another lighter oceanic plate. Examples are... Japan, New Guinea & Aleutian Islands.

-Rift/Divergent Boundaries: form when two plates diverge. Hydrothermal vents form at mid ocean ridges and the magma heats the water to 400 degrees. Examples are... Great Rift Valley.

-Hot Spots: form over hot spots. Examples are... Hawaiian Islands, and Canary Islands.

Weekly Post: Volcano Unit-Super eruptions

So we all know that Yellowstone's eruptions are VEI 8, or supervolcanic, but I was wondering what other Super Volcanoes there are out there. So, I looked it up. Here's the recorded super eruptions.

1. Lake Taupo, New Zealand,-Oruanui eruption- 26,500 years ago.

2. Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia- 74,000 years ago.

3. Whakamaru North Island, NEw Zealand- 254,000 years ago.

4. Yellowstone, Wyoming, US- 640,000 years ago.

5. Island Park Caldera, Idaho/Whyoming, US- 2.1 million years ago.

6. Kilgore Tuff, Idaho, US- 4.5 million years ago.

7. Blacktail Creek, Idaho, US- 6.6 million years ago.

8. La Garita Caldera, Colorado, US- 27.8 million years ago.

I never thought of the US as a very volcanic place but over half of the recorded supervolcanic eruptions have happened here.

Tuesday! (11/24/09)

So on Tuesday in class we basically just finished up watching Super Volcano. Don't worry, in the end the good guys are saved and everything and their "walk to life" program saved millions, but due to the ash clouds most of the US is covered in snow because the temperatures have dropped so much. By Tuesday we need to all have our unit review done, our weekly post for the unit and study for our test on Tuesday.

Gas and viscosity

How does amount of gas and viscosity effect the shape and how explosive volcano is?

Shield volcanoes: because of the very low viscosity lava, shield volcanoes are almost always flat and has a very large surface area. their eruptio
ns are also not very violent and slow moving.


Stratovolcano or composite volcanoes: these volcanoes usually are very large and steep due to their very viscous magma. if this magma also has a high gas content then the eruption of the volcano is more violent.

Cinder cone: formed by a very low gas and low viscosity magma. these volcanoes are formed by the piling up of tephra




the reason why the gas content of the magma is so important s because it determines how much pressure is created in the magma chamber. over ti
me gas will build up and an eruption may occur, often being triggered by an earthquake




Think of a glass of water, if you blew a bubble through a straw, the bubble will make its way up and out. now imagine you have a milkshake if you did the same with that, you would probably have a face covered in chocolate. this happens because the milkshake is thicker and there is more energy required to move it, therefor a more powerful reaction.

Book Review - Fire in the Turtle House

This was a very eye-opening book about sea turtles and how humans and a disease that is fatal for most of the turtles that get it affects the population of the turtles. The disease is called fibropapilloma and it creates tumors of all shapes and colours all over the sea turtle. It usually starts at the eyes and then spreads all over. These tumors can make the turtle go blind and starve the turtle, but they can also grow inside the turtle's organs and kill them from the inside out. Most turtles will die from this disease, but some turtles are saved by having the tumors surgically removed and only if they don't have internal tumors. As well as talking about this disease, Davidson goes into other reasons, throughout history, why turtles are going extinct (all human-caused) as well as the causes and extinction of many other animal groups (also human-caused). He also talks about people famous in their line of work throughout the book - like George Balazs, the sea turtle activist (and essential saviour), and Steller (who found and documented Steller's Sea Cow, a species like the manatee that went extinct due to humans).

He does all of this in an informative, but sarcastic and entertaining manner so that you stay intrigued the whole way through. I learnt a lot about marine life conservation and how the population of the ocean affects the population on land. This book makes me want to go out and help the sea turtles - or at least see some sea turtles in real life. I have already recommended this book to my family and some friends, but I would definately recommend this book to anyone who is interested in marine animals or just animal conservation in general.

Siberian Tigers

According to research carried out by the Siberian Tiger Monitoring Programme, the last remaining population of Siberian Tigers is declining and will soon go extinct if nothing is done. Over the last 4 years, the amount of siberian tigers in the 16 monitoring sites has gone down from 500 tigers to just 56. The 500 in 2005 was a massive recovery from the 30 tigers they found in the late 1940s, but since then, the population has started to go down again - if we don't help them now, they'll go extinct. Researchers think that the reason there is such a massive decline is because of habitat loss and poaching. They also think it's possible that there may be more than 56 tigers living in the area, they just didn't come out last winter because the snow was so deep. Although the tigers are so close to extinction, people do believe that if we step up our conservation efforts, this species could be saved.

I realize this isn't very geoscience related, but I thought this was a very important issue.

Link to BBC news website (it won't let me copy-paste the link into my post).

Volcanoes Review

What Comes Out of a Volcano When it Erupts?

Pyroclastic Flow: Fast moving flows of hot gas and rock which travel down the sides of the volcano at speeds up to 700mph and can reach temperatures of 1000 degrees. Anything that gets in the way will be decimated.

Tephra: The material produced by a volcanic eruption; it's very light and porous because it's lava that hardened very quickly.

Lava: Molten rock

Ash: Microscopic rock that gathers in a plume above the volcano until it gets so dense that it comes down as a pyroclastic flow or like snow falling over everything and breaking all machinery it gets in. If too much ash is inhaled, it can suffocate the person.

Lightning: This doesn't come out of the volcano, but it is sometimes created by the clouds of ash.

Lahars: Landslides that are created by the volcano erupting and the materials that the volcano erupts; usually happen along river valleys.

Gases: mainly water vapour, CO2, SO2, HCl and HF (hydrogen flouride). These gases contribute to acid rain.

The World Without Us Book Review

First off I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in environment conservation. Although, it is a little on the long side its a far cry from a science textbook, and the 353 pages go by pretty quickly. However, if you're looking for the movie 2012 in a literary form, this might not be for you. In "The World Without Us", the author Alan Weisman explores what would happen to our world if humans were to suddenly disappear. The novel shows the massive effect that humans have on the environment, and how in merely a few days the earth would begin the process of self-healing. He uses the city of New York and the Panama Canal to show how humans restrain the flow of oceans, and how with one day of unsupervised rainfall in New York, Manhattan would be inaccessible. Weisman also travels to various parts of the world that are already almost completely void of humans, such as the area around the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe in Russia, and the piece of land that separates North and South Korea. He uses these areas to represent how our world will recover when we all have left. It was also extremely interesting how Weisman explored nuclear waste plants, and showed how the affects of these plants will be our legacy on earth for thousands of years. I've recommended this book to many people already and if you've ever wondered what our planet might look like if not for us then this just might be the book for you!

Types of Volcanoes

Cinder Cone Volcanoes: Basic volcano, rare. They are built from particles and blobs of lava that come from a single vent. The lava hardens into "cinders" and forms a circular cone.
Examples= Sunset Crater and Paricutin.

Composite/Stratovolcanoes: These build up from explosive/effusive eruptions. They are characterized by steep slopes and layers of tephra that alternate with layers of viscous felsic lava, which together create steep sided cones. These volcanoes grow until the slopes exceed the threshold of stability and collapse. Examples= Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Fuji, Mt. Rainer

Shield Volcanoes= These form by the effusive eruptions of fluid mafic lava. Lava flow upon flow slowly builds up the broad gently sloping volcanic shape. Examples= Mauna Loa, Hawaii.

Calderas: In these the largest and most effusive eruption eject tons of magma. When a large volume of magma is removed beneath a volcano the ground collapses into the empty space and forms a huge depression also known as a caldera. Example= Yellowstone.

Lava Flows

*Remember, the difference between lava and magma: magma is inside the volcano and lava is outside!*

Here are the types of lava flows:
(all are dependent on gas content and viscosity and the more silica magma has, the higher viscosity it will have)

-Felsic Magma (Rhyolitic): 70% silica and has highest gas content, coolest magma, very explosive eruptions
-Mafic Magma (Basaltic): 50% silica, very little dissolved gas, hottest magma, non-explosive eruptions
-Intermediate (Andesitic): 60% silica, in between felsic and mafic in color, undissolved gas, explosive eruptions at lower temperatures

Volcano Crisis Response Team

After watching "Supervolcano" I wondered who in "real life", exactly, helps people out if there is a devastating volcanic eruption? I found an article on the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP), established by USAID, which is the only volcano crisis response team in the world. When there is an eruption (and usually there are about 50 around the world each year), they send teams to help people in danger zones. They also monitor areas of potential risk and frequently send teams of scientists to assess hazards and create a volcanic forecast so that people in the area can take whatever steps are necessary before the eruption. In situations where it is not clear when the volcano will erupt, USAID helps create emergency evacuation plans and continue to monitor the volcano so that they can issue warnings. Especially since the world's growing population pushes people to live closer to volcanic zones, this monitoring work is becoming very important so communities can be warned before an eruption occurs.

http://geology.com/press-release/reducing-volcanic-disaster-risk/

Volcanic Hazards

So, I thought I would give a little overview on the different hazards that derive from volcanoes.

Pyroclastic Flows: a fast moving current of hot gas and rock (also known as tephra) that move down the mountain at speeds of around 700 km/hr, and have been known to reach 1,000 C. Despite what happens in Dante's Peak, it is not possible to outrun a pyroclastic flow.

Ash Cloud: the mushroom like cloud that immediately forms when ash and tephra is released from the volcano. Depending on the wind patterns, the ash cloud will spread, making it appear that it is night time, when it may be noon.

Tephra: the material produced by the volcanic eruption. Tephra is usually rhyolitic, and the bigger the eruption, the more viscus the magma is.

Fires: an example of a fire caused by a volcano is when hot lava mixes with trees or brush, catching the igniting the wood.

Lahars: a lahar is a mudflow or landslide composed of pyroclastic material and water.

Lava: molten lava that is expelled from a volcano during an eruption. Lava can be classified on a scale of how viscous it is - how easily it flows.

Volcanic Gases: a gas given off by volcanoes, active or dormant, and they can be very poisonous.

Water Pollution: water pollution occurs when the volcanic ash, and the ash cloud mix with various bodies of water.

Landslides: an earthquake can start a volcano, but an earthquake can also start a landslide which helps trigger the volcano.

Disease: disease is a large part of volcanic eruptions for many reasons. One is that you can absorb large amounts of radiation. Also, if you breath in the volcanic ash, the moisture of your throat and interior body mix with the ash forming a cement like substance that suffocates you.

Tsunamis: an earthquake can start a tsunami when it has used all of it's erupt-able magma, and forms a crater from an empty magma chamber. That crater then fills with water, and if it happens quick enough, it creates a tsunami.

Colombian Volcano Scare

On the 21st of November, 1000 people were evacuated and taken to nearby shelters in southern Colombia after the Galeras volcano, which is the most active in the country, erupted. Nobody was hurt, but roads were closed as a precautionary measure in addition to the evacuations. There was minor ashfall in some surrounding towns. The volcano has a history of destructiveness, however. In 1993, it erupted and killed 9 people. It causes approximately 19 earthquakes per year.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jGUmRXWf5g5_kl2HRByAMA1-XZLw

James Bond Running from a Pyroclastic Flow!!!!

James Bond Running from a Pyroclastic Flow!!!!

these scenes are part of dante's peak....... now we dont have to watch them in class!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTlFZE92vbY&feature=related

Supervolcano!

So since we're watching the movie about the supervolcano known as yellowstone I thought I would do my weekly post on another supervolcano, "Toba" which erupted on the island of Sumatra around 73,000 years ago. Scientists have just discovered that this eruption caused deforestation in much of central India, 3,000 miles away from the actual eruption. When this volcano erupted it sent 800 cubic kilometers of ash into the air, which created a crater (like Yellowstone) that is also the worlds biggest volcanic lake (pictured above). The ash that was sent into the air reflected sunlight off the earth creating a ice age that lasted around 1800 years, that dropped world temperatures as much as 28 degrees farenheit. The deforestation that the eruption of Toba caused may have forced our ancient ancestors to come up with new ways for survival that enabled them to eventually replace other ancient human species such as the neandertals.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091123142739.htm

Review

Parts of a Volcano:

Central Vent: Opening from which lava flows

Magma Chamber: source of molten materials that flow to surface during eruption

Conduit/Fissure: Connects vent to magma reservoir

Caldera: bowl-like depression at the top of a volcano, can be created either by collapse caused by empty magma reservoir or by volcano blowing its top off

Types of Eruptions:

Hawaiian: Lava Streams

Strombolian: Huge clots of molten lava burst from summit crater to form luminous arcs through sky

Vulcanian: Dense cloud of ash-laden gas explodes and rises above peak

Plinian: most powerful eruption, explosive ejection of viscous lava, ash and gas travel tens of miles into air (featured in picture)

Volcano Unit Review Thingamabob

TYPES OF VOLCANOS IN TERMS OF VISCOSITY AND GAS CONTENT

Low viscosity, low gas:

shield volcano= effusive eruption. It has runny lava. It is slower than walking

low viscosity, high gas:

shield volcano= hawaiian fire fountain. lava sprays in the air and sloshes around the vent

medium-low viscosity, low gas

cinder cone= building eruption, minor, little force, dense blobs, splatters rim


medium-low viscosity

cinder cone=strombolian, series of booming eruptions, marble/boulder size rock fragments; shapes the volcano

medium-high viscosity, low gas

dome= minor eruption, lava hard to flow, piles up in a dome shape, pancake shaped lava, no real flow

medium-high viscosity, high gas

stratovolcano=vulcanian eruption, cannon-like bursts, some lava flow

high viscosity, low gas

dome= slow eruption, thick magma, like toothpaste, small material ejected w/ little force, ash clouds, pyroclastic flow if dome collapses

high viscosity, high gas

stratovolcano= Plinian eruption, most explosive. Blows top, ash clouds, pyroclastic flow, lahar, landslide, debris, plume, lava flow, tephra

Lava on the Moon?

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/49845/title/Deep_hole_spotted_on_moon

The article I read for this weeks current events was about a possible skylight formed by a collapsed lava tube spotted on the moon. If this said skylight truly is a skylight, it would be the first ever to be found on the moon. Scientists say that this hole was most likely attached to a cavern that held flowing lava; and the notion of volcanic activity on the moon is not new.
Some evidence that this hole (which is 65 meters wide and somewhere between 80 and 88 meters deep) is in fact a skylight are that: craters made from meteors are no more than 15 meters deep, and that it is not a volcanic crater because it is not located near a transform fault line.
The picture above shows the skylight, taken from a satellite.
This article was short but good to read because it relates to our unit on volcanoes and some of the other physical features that result from the flow of magma beneath our Earth.

Volcanoes on Mars

Earth isn't the only planet in to solar system that has volcanoes, Mars has them too. Mars has the biggest volcano in the solar system, it is called Olympus Mons and is 340 miles in diameter and 4 miles high. The largest volcano in Earth is Mauna Loa which is 75 miles in diameter and 6 miles high. Another interesting thing is that Mars is about half the size of Earth so these volcanoes are huge. Most of the volcanoes on Mars are shield volcanoes. They have effusive eruptions and are like Hawaiian volcanoes, but they are up to 100x larger than ones on earth. There is another volcano on Mars that is not a shield volcano and is probably a strato volcano. It is called Alba Paterta. It is 930 miles in diameter and 4.3 miles high. It is thought to be similar to Mt. St. Helens on earth. Even though Mars has volcanoes they are all extinct because the core is solid like we learned in our magnetic field unit.

Scribe-Wednesday, November 18

Today, at the beginning of class we turned in the homework assignment from Tuesday night, and because not many people did it, instead of counting as a homework grade, it goes towards extra-credit on our quiz we took on Tuesday.  Then we continued watching "Inside the Volcano" which is a movie describing different well-known volcanoes and the effects that they have/had on surrounding civilizations.  Today we learned about Thera in Santorini, Mount Vesuvius in Italy, and Tambora in Indonesia (one of the many volcanoes located on the ring of fire). Also, the Google Earth lab we did in class on Tuesday is due on Monday at the end of the day if you have not already completed it.

Volcanic Lightning

So we all know that lightning happens in big storms, and Ms. Meyer told us of lightning during volcanic eruptions. I actually didn't think that the lightning during these eruptions was coming from the eruption itself. I thought there just happened to be a storm or something.

As depicted in this photograph, you can clearly see a giant plume of ash rising far above what appear to be clouds. Under those clouds is legit lightning mixing in with the fire/lava. I won't go into great detail about the physics behind lightning, but it is still one of the least known phenomenon, mind you that is regular lightning. Volcanic is on a whole different level. Anyways, lightning is formed when particles break down or collide. The positive and negative charges separate onto opposite ends creating the electric flow. When the said flow becomes to great for the air to handle you actually can see the electricity, lightning.

This is my favorite picture:
http://geology.com/articles/volcanic-lightning/

Volcanoes vs. Humans

So, since we were talking about volcanoes, I thought it would be suiting for my weekly post to be on the same topic. In class we also briefly talked about geo-thermal heating, which is hopefully the direction the world is going to head in in terms of greener life styles. Anyways, this article I found talks about whether humans produce more green house gases or if volcanoes produce more. Steve, from London, England originally asked the question, and according to Scientific American, humans produce more. Now, to take a step back, the question was does one volcanic eruption from a large volcano (ie. Mount St. Helens or Mount Pinatubo) or all of the waste humans have/will produce in their existance produce more green house gases. Now for the mathematical data: the worlds' volcanoes emit about 200 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per year, where as humans emit about 24 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year. This article also claims that volcanic emissions only produce about 1% of the green house gases compared to what todays humans produce. So here are the facts, you be the judge and decide if you think this is true or not.

11/18 Scribe

Hey guys!

So today in class we did a Google Earth lab. We looked up coordinates of specific places and then identified specific features in that area, for instance at 45.6N, 27.3W we labeled the mid-atlantic ridge, a rift valley and any transform faults that we could see. If anyone needs to make up this lab, we used google earth in lab 377 (the one with the dell computers). A lot of people still had some work to do, so the lab is due on Monday. Also today we took a quick quiz.

Leonid Meteor Shower

If your reading this, and it is tuesday the 17th of November, quick, go outside.  On tuesday, the Leonid meteor shower will begin.  Experts expect that in North America, we will see as many as 40 meteors an hour, while in  Asia, they could see as many as 250 meteors an hour.  These meteors are debris from the comet known as Tempel-Tuttle.  Every 33 years, the comet comes into the inner solar system, leaving a trail of debris in it's path.  Earth is about to cross paths with that debris, thus the meteor shower.  This is predicted to be a larger than normal meteor shower. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity you do not want to miss.  If you can, make it to a dark location for optimal viewing, but that will be tough for most of us since it is a school night...

070810_meteor_shower1.jpg 320×240 pixels

Volcano notes and MOVIE!!

So today in class we finished up the volcano notes packet for our quiz tomorrow!!! We went over how volcanoes form.

Here is what I got down:
-Subduction Volcanoes: form from oceanic plate under continental, tend to be most explosive
-Ex: Andes, parts of the Ring of Fire
-Volcanic Island Arcs: Oceanic plate under oceanic plate, upcoming magma more readily reach surface means greater concentration of volcanoes
-Rift Volcanoes: Divergent plate boundaries, oceanic rift
-Ex: Great Rift Valley in East Africa, hydrothermal vents
-Hot Spots:Weak crack in middle of plate
-Ex: Hawaii

After finishing up the notes we watched a movie to kind of wrap up the volcano section. Feel free to ask Ms. Meyer to watch it, it's from the History channel!!!

AltaRock Geothermal Gets New Boost

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/altarock-geothermal-gets-new-boost/
-------------------

In this article, it says that the Department of Energy will pay appx. $25,000,000 to enhance a "geothermal demonstration project in Oregon." This is all part of the $338,000,000 boost for geothermal research energy thingies. This project is being developed by AltaRock Energy Inc, (see above picture that says Altarock on it). They unfortunately had to stop their geothermal shenanigans in California because of "drilling problems" (Lorinc 1).

This large amount of money is to go towards research near a volcano in Oregon. It is called the Newberry Project. Also, AltaRock has received money from the DOE before.

They hope to tap into more efficient geothermal energy, an energy source they say is a "bottomless storehouse of energy in the earth’s core." However, the cash money comes into play because it "it involves drilling to depths of well over 10,000 feet and then injecting cold water to create networks of small fractures in the hot rock." (Lorinc 1). All this is very complicated, but could solve many of our energy problems currently.

The volcano in Oregon that the company was drilling in was said to have a lot of warmth, but not enough water to fund a geothermal plant. They need to be very careful though because the volcano is extremely potent and has "erupted 25 times in the past 10,000 years" (Lorinc 1).

I hope geothermal energy catches on. Now, I can't quite say that I am an expert, but any sort of means of energy that is clean and reknewable and seemingly bountiful, is something I support. I hope they figure out how to harness this energy without blowing up the planet. And then maybe we can figure out how to get inside our planet and all it's gooey rock goodness.