Tuesday, February 15, 2011

The types of volcanoes in Hawaii

By volcano activity
Active Volcanoes: Active volcano is dangerous as active volcano is volcano that had erupt recently.
Currently, there are 2 active volcanoes in Hawaii, known as Mauna Loa and Kilauea. 
The video of Volcano Kilauea erupting:


Dormant Volcanoes: Not so safe, and not so dangerous as dormant volcano had not erupt for a long time but it shows signs of possible eruption in the future.

Extinct Volcanoes: Safe as it had not erupt for a thousand of years and it lost traces of volcanic activity.

By the structure of volcanoes:
Shield
Strato




The Big Island is made up of Five Shield Volcanoes: Kohala, Mauna Kea, Hualalai, Mauna Loa, and Kilauea. The difference between a Shield Volcano and the more common Strato Volcano is the way that the Volcanoes are formed.
Sheild Volcanoes lava is of a lower viscosity, meaning that it is thinner and more fluid. This makes the eruptions less volatile, as pressure does not build up as much. Or  shield volcano looks like a soldier's shield, and that is how it got its name. It's slopes are made by liquid basalt lava that pushes up from a vent under the ground. Shield volcanoes do not have sharp steep slopes. They are the largest volcanoes on Earth.
Stratovolcanoes have steep sides with cones that stick out like huge bumps. They are built up when eruptions of viscous lava, tephra, and pyroclastic flows happen. It takes thousands of years for the pressure to build up enough in stratovolcanoes to cause an eruption. More than one kind of magma builds up in stratovolcanoes. They are basalt, andesite, dacite, and rhyolite magma. All of those magmas cause explosive eruptions except basalt magma. There are a lot of different vents around stratovolcanoes. Some of the vents are cinder cones and domes low on the sides of the volcano. Sometimes stratovolcanoes are called composite cones.
The slopes of a Sheild Volcano are long and Broad. The pictures below illustrate this pretty clearly. All Volcanoes in Hawaii are Sheild Volcanoes. Below the pictures are some links with more info on sheild volcanoes and strato volcanoe.


  Strato volcano in Hawaii:


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