Volcano

Question 1

What is a Crater

Answer 1

A funnel shaped hollow at the top of the volcano cone.

Question 2

What is a Magma chamber

Answer 2

A store of molten rock, deep below the Earths surface.

Question 3

What is a Lahar

Answer 3

A fast flowing river of lava, mud, ash and melted snow and ice

Question 4

Pyroclastic flow

Answer 4

Clouds of super-heated gas, ash and steam that travel over 120mph

Question 5

What is the main vent

Answer 5

When a volcano erupts magma from below the Earths surface it rises up through the main vent

Question 6

How is a secondary vent formed

Answer 6

A secondary vent forms if the main vent is blocked and magma is forced to the surface by another route

Question 7

What is a volcanic bomb

Answer 7

lumps of molten rock that solidify as they fall

Question 8

What is an active volcano?

Answer 8

A volcano that has erupted recently and is likely to erupt again in the near future

Question 9

What is a dormant volcano?

Answer 9

A volcano that has not erupted for hundreds of thousands of years but may still erupt in the future

Question 10

What is an extinct volcano?

Answer 10

A volcano that has not erupted in the past few thousand years and is not expected to do so in the future

Question 11

What are the characteristics of a shield volcano?

Answer 11

• Shield volcanoes are usually found at constructive margins or over a hotspot
• They have gently sloping slides because the lava is thin and runny so it moves far before it solidifies
• Eruptions tend to be often or continuous and mostly gentle
  e.g. Kilauea, Hawaii

Question 12

What are the characteristics of a composite volcano?

Answer 12

• Composite volcanoes are made up of alternating layers of lava and ash
• They are usually found at destructive margins
• Eruptions are infrequent but mostly violent and can include volcanic bombs
• They steep sided as the thick and heavy lava doesn’t flow very far before it cools
  e.g. Mt Etna