The Eruption Of Kilauea Volcano

Assess the extent to which primary rather than secondary impacts are the more serious effects arising from volcanic eruptions. (30 marks)

analyse the factors that cause differences in the hazards posed by volcanoes around the world (40 marks)

Kilauea is a volcano in the Hawaiian Islands it is one of the five shield volcanoes in the Hawaiian language Kilauea means spewing or spreading. Mt St. Helens is an active stratovolcano in Washington it is named after British diplomat lord st Helens.

Kilauea is one of the most active volcanoes on Earth, and it is the youngest. Kilauea stands just under 4,200 feet tall above sea level at its highest point.

The basic theory of plate tectonics says that all volcanic activity should occur between lithosphere plates (Physical Geology). However, the Hawaiian Islands bend this rule by being located directly in the middle of the Pacific plate. The Hawaiian volcanoes are known as intraplate volcanoes. This may not seem possible because it disrupts the rule of plate tectonics, but there’s the exception of a hot spot. T. Wilson suggested that the Pacific plate moved in the northwestward direction over a melting spot deep within the mantle, and this hot spot remained relatively stationary and supplied magma to the moving Pacific plate to form the Hawaiian Island chain (Volcanoes in the Sea). In order to prove this suggestion, the structure of the Hawaiian Islands must be in line with a hot spot origin. This will be

Analyse the factors that causes differences in the hazards posed by volcanoes around the world (40 marks)

A human factor that would cause differences in the hazards posed by volcanoes is settlement, which includes where people chose to live in relation to a volcano. For example, in Indonesia many people settle near Mount Merapi because of the rich and fertile soil favoured for farming. As Indonesia is a poor country many people rely on subsistence farming, therefore are willing to risk everything by settling beside a volcano. Furthermore, in the last eruption in 2010 360,000 people were displaced from their homes, meaning not only did they lose their home but also their livelihood; hundreds also lost their lives. Therefore, the hazards posed could have been minimalised if people chose to settle elsewhere.

Many people go to Hawaii for a nice relaxing vacation, not knowing they’re right next to one of the five most active volcanos in the world,Kilauea. Kilauea had killed over 400 people in a single eruption. Kilauea is formed on a hotspot,or a place of significant activity or danger,this is one of the reasons Kilauea is so active. Kilauea has had many small eruptions, but the last large eruption lasted 30 years and was from 1983 to 2013. Kilauea may seem like any other regular volcano but it is much more dangerous.

The mauna loa is located on the south central part of hawaii. The mauna loa is one of the five volcanoes that form the island of hawaii. The mauna loa is considered the largest volcano on Earth. It is estimated that mauna loa is about 600,000-1,000,000 years old and is about 13,678 ft tall above sea level and about 56,000 ft front the seafloor to the top. The mauna loa was created as the pacific tectonic plate moved over the hawaii hot spot just like all volcanoes in hawaii. The lava produced in the mauna loa is silica-poor and it is very fluid.The lava is also considered non-explosive.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD was a pyroclastic event discussed in greater detail over the course of this essay.

Ash plumes and steam rose into the bright blue sky as the underground earthquake shook the land and rattled windows all across the eighteen mile town. As the jet circled the island, in view of lovely beaches and emerald water, looming over this lush paradise was the screaming volcano. Volcanos erupt when the pressure inside of them becomes so great that the magma surges up and forces its way out. An exploding volcano can rip apart a mountain in just seconds, when the eruption is over, a landscape is changed forever. The united states is home to more volcanos than any other country except Indonesia, and Japan. The majority of these volcanoes are in Alaska. Until recently, there was no way to predict when a volcano would blow, although volcanoes give off many warning signs before they erupt. Including smaller earthquakes beneath the volcano, slight inflation, or swelling. The rising magma eventually causes the solid rock to break, sending earthquake signals. Most volcanoes give warning signs beginning weeks or months before they blow (Lindop).

This is only a general overview of the inner workings of volcanoes and their eruptions. For more infomation, visit Volcano World -- The Premier Source of Volcano Info on the Web.

Volcanic eruptions are a constant issue. There are around 50 -70 eruptions every year with some volcanoes erupting more than once. Around 35 people die every year from volcanic eruptions along with an average cost of damage of 98,992,000. I believe that with a little math that these numbers can go down. Issues with volcano causing so much death is more of the debris that comes out of it if we could estimate the distant that this debris could travel then we would simply need to change the areas that we build cities and how far we would need to evacuate in a sudden emergency. This will include the ideas of projectile motion, angular projectile motion, Geometrical estimations. For this example, I will be using the volcano Mount Vesuvius. This volcano is known best for the destruction of Pompeii and villages that surrounded it. This eruption works the best due to the easily known eruption and the easily measurable distances from Pompeii to the center of Mount Vesuvius.

Volcanoes and Earthquakes are two of the most intriguing natural disasters that can occur on earth. Unlike hurricanes and tornadoes, they can awaken at almost any point in time throughout the year. These two natural disasters are also different from others because they occur on the layers of the earth itself. Volcanoes, while large to us, are actually small, conical patches of earth that spurt and ooze hot molten lava from the core, and can destroy areas of land triple their size. Earthquakes, on the other hand, are severe jolts felt on land due to the movement of earths tectonic plates. Some may describe earthquakes as being similar to riding a bike down a flight of stairs. The impact of an earthquakes can take down even the largest buildings and strongest structures. All natural disasters can have damaging effects on land, some more than others, and all can be measured or predicted in different ways. Although earthquakes and volcanoes are similar to each other, the two are still very comparable. A few of these similarities and differences include the cause of their occurrence, and how their occurrence impacts the environment.

On the 15th June of 1991, the second largest volcanic eruption of the twentieth century took place on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, 90 km northwest of the capital city Manila. It was also, by far, the largest eruption to affect a densely populated area. Mount Pinatubo, a stratovolcano, is part of a chain of volcanoes along the Luzon arc on the west coast (refer map). The arc of volcanoes is due to the subduction of the Manila trench to the west. The mountain has a very huge eruptive history. It was known to be thermally active and had been explored as possible geothermal energy resource by the Philippine National Oil Company. Mount Pinatubo is among the highest peaks in west-central Luzon. Its