What are volcanoes, and how do they arise?

Volcanoes have long been disturbing the consciousness of man. The very name "volcano" comes from the name of the ancient Roman fire god Vulcan. The Romans believed that the ever-smoking fire-breathing summits are the forges of a formidable deity in which he forges his weapons. However, a similar opinion was shared by other peoples of the time. And what are the volcanoes in the modern view?

To answer this question, it is necessary to briefly repeat the structure of our planet. If you remember the school course of physics, geography and geology, then under the solid crust of the Earth is hidden molten magma and a core that prevents our planet from cooling down. The tectonic plates, which form the crust, slowly drift across the ocean of molten rock, and as a result of their collisions geological faults are formed at the interface of the joints, forming new mountain chains and ... volcanoes. The places of magma release to the surface and turn over time into majestic fire-breathing mountains, which is, for example, Erebus volcano.

However, "over time" is not the expression. The fact is that at the first eruption, the lava flows form the outer cone of the volcano almost instantaneously. If you thought about what volcanoes are, then you almost certainly have in mind the outer part of it. It is this mountain, which has a specific and easily recognizable form. However, it is more appropriate to call the "volcano" precisely the fault in the earth's crust, through which the molten magma flows to the surface. And do not assume that such a phenomenon can be observed only on the surface of the Earth. According to scientists, volcanoes are much larger on the ocean floor: this circumstance is associated with some features of its geological structure, besides it has a huge pressure of water layers.

It is considered that if such mountains do not serve "signs of life" for a long time, they can be called "extinct volcanoes". In most cases this is true, but do not assume that the extinct = dead. As practice shows, it is these neighbors that pose the greatest threat to all those who live next to them.

In particular, almost 6 thousand years ago, most of the Mediterranean population of those years died or was forced to relocate. It happened after the volcano Etna, which had been silent for many hundreds of years, suddenly awakened. The consequences were so devastating that the traces of tsunami alone that arose after the eruption are found thousands of kilometers from the hearth.

By the way, when asking yourself the question of what volcanoes are, do not limit yourself to the Earth. As recent studies show, on Mars in the old days there was active volcanic activity. In particular, Olympus, located on the red planet, in height is ... 26 kilometers! This is due to the peculiarities of gravity. It allows the lava to rise to an astounding height. In addition, volcanic activity is observed on other planets of the solar system.

We hope that after reading this article you do not have any questions about what volcanoes are!