Large Volcanoes: List

What are volcanoes? Hot streams of molten lava, spilling out from the bowels of the Earth, and at the same time clouds of ash, hot steam. The spectacle, of course, exciting, but where does it come from? What large volcanoes exist on our planet? Where are they located?

Origin and varieties of volcanoes

Under a thick layer of the earth's crust there is magma - a molten substance of enormous temperature and under great pressure. The composition of the magma contains minerals, vaporous water and gases. When the pressure becomes too high, gases pushes the magma upward through the weak points of the earth's crust. The surface layer of the Earth rises in the form of a mountain, and in the end magma breaks out.

The erupting magma is called lava, and the mountainous hill with a hole is a volcano. The eruption is accompanied by the release of ash and vapor. Lava moves at a speed of more than 40 km / h, with a temperature of about 1000 degrees Celsius. Depending on the nature of the eruption and accompanying phenomena, volcanoes are divided into numerous types. For example, Hawaiian, Plinian, Peleic and others.

As the flow out, the lava freezes and is superimposed by layers, creating the shape of a volcano. So, there are volcanoes of conical shape, gently sloping, domed, stratified or layered, and also of complex shape. In addition, they are divided into active, dormant and extinct, depending on the degree of activity of the eruptions.

Large volcanoes of the world

There are approximately 540 active volcanoes around the world , the number of extinct even more. All of them are located mainly in the Pacific, East African, Mediterranean folded zones. The greatest activity is manifested in the regions of South and Central America, Kamchatka, Japan, Aleutian Islands, Iceland.

Only in the Pacific belt there are 330 active volcanoes. Large volcanoes are in the Andes, on the Asian islands. In Africa, the highest is Kilimanjaro, located in Tanzania. This is a potentially active volcano that can wake up at any moment. Its height is 5895 meters.

Two world volcanic giant are located on the territory of Chile and Argentina. They are considered to be the highest on Earth. Ojos del Salado is extinct, its eruption occurred in 700 AD, although it sometimes throws away steam and sulfur. Argentine Ljuljajljako is considered operating, last time it erupted only in 1877.

The largest world volcanoes are represented in the table.

Fiery Ring of the Pacific

The waters of the Pacific hide three lithospheric plates. Their outer edges go under the lithospheric plates of the continents. Across the perimeter of these junctions is the Pacific Fire Ring - small and large volcanoes, most of which are active.

The fire ring starts from Antarctica, passes through New Zealand, the Philippine Islands, Japan, the Kuriles, Kamchatka, stretches across the Pacific coast of the Americas. In some places, the ring is torn, for example near Vancouver Island and California.

Large volcanoes of the Pacific belt are located in the Andes (Orizabo, San Pedro, Misti, Cotopaxi), Sumatra (Kerinci), Ross Island (Erebus), Java (Semer). One of the most famous - Fujiyama - is located on the island of Honshu. In the Sunda Strait is the volcano Krakatau.

Volcanic origin is the archipelago of the Hawaiian Islands. The largest volcano is Mauna Loa with an absolute altitude of 4,169 meters. According to the relative altitude, the mountain bypasses Mount Everest and is considered the highest peak of the world, this value is 10 168 meters.

Mediterranean belt

The mountainous regions of North-West Africa, southern Europe, the Mediterranean, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, Indochina, Tibet, Indonesia and the Himalayas constitute the Mediterranean folded belt. There are active geological processes, one of the manifestations of which is volcanism.

The largest volcanoes of the Mediterranean belt are Vesuvius, Santorini (Aegean Sea) and Etna in Italy, Elbrus and Kazbek in the Caucasus, Ararat in Turkey. The Italian Vesuvius consists of three peaks. From its powerful eruption in the first century of our era, the cities of Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabia, Oplontia suffered. In memory of this event Karl Bryullov wrote the famous painting "The Last Day of Pompeii".

Stratovulkan Ararat is the highest point of Turkey and the Armenian Highland. His last eruption occurred in 1840. It was accompanied by an earthquake completely destroying the neighboring village and monastery. Ararat, like the Caucasian Kazbek, consists of two peaks that separate the saddle.

Large volcanoes of Russia (list)

On the territory of the Russian Federation, volcanoes are located in the Kurile, Kamchatka, the Caucasus and Transbaikal regions. They make up about 8.5% of all volcanoes in the world. Many of them are considered extinct, although the sudden eruptions of Nameless in 1956 and the Academy of Sciences in 1997 proved the relativity of this term.

The largest volcanoes are in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. The highest in all Eurasia (among the active ones) is Klyuchevskaya Sopka (4835 meters). The last eruption was recorded in 2013. In the Primorsky and Khabarovsk regions there are very small volcanoes. For example, the height of Baranowski is 160 meters. In the past decade, Berg (2005), Ebeko (2010), Chikurachki (2008), Kizimen (2013), and others have been active in the last decade.

The largest volcanoes of Russia are represented in the table.

Conclusion

Volcanoes are the consequences of active processes that occur inside our planet. They are formed in hot spots of the earth's crust, where the bark does not withstand the onslaught of pressure and high temperatures. The consequences of a volcanic eruption can be quite serious, as they are accompanied by emissions of ash, gases, sulfur into the atmosphere.

The accompanying phenomena of the eruption are often earthquakes and faults. The flowing lava has such a high temperature that it immediately acts on biological organisms.

However, in addition to the destructive effect of volcanoes and have the opposite effect. Lava, which did not come to the surface, can raise sedimentary rocks, forming mountains. A consequence of the eruption of the underwater volcano in Iceland was the island Surtsey.