Hi all ... I write this from Kadlec Hospital as I watch my sweet daughter sleep. She had an abscess in her throat and we went to the ER. They decided to remove her tonsils so I am sleeping here with her tonight. Hopefully we will go home tomorrow afternoon sometime. I am so sorry about having to cancel class. :( I will see you on Wednesday for sure!!
How do Volcanologists use maps?
Volcanoes can be exciting and fascinating, but also very dangerous. Understanding what a volcano can do is the first step in mitigating volcanic hazards, but it is important to remember that even if scientists have studied a volcano for decades, they do not necessarily know everything it is capable of. Volcanoes are natural systems, and always have some element of unpredictability.
Volcanologists are always working to understand how volcanic hazards behave, and what can be done to avoid them. Collecting and analyzing samples of lava and deadly gases are just a couple tools in the volcanologist’s box; here are some of the other—safer—ways they study volcanoes:
Measure seismic activity: Earthquakes are an early warning sign that something is going on underground with a volcano. The rumblings can be difficult to interpret, but an increase in activity often presages an eruption.
Measure ground movements: Scientists often set up sensitive tiltmeters that can detect the tiniest changes in the shape of a volcano’s surface. Before an eruption, the volcano may start to bulge as magma accumulates closer to the surface. Before Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, the north side of the volcano visible bulged, but more often this deformation is detectable only with sophisticated equipment.
Take the volcano’s temperature: If a volcanologist wants to see how hot a volcano has become and which lava flows are newer (and hotter), there’s no need to get up close. A thermal imaging camera on an airplane or satellite can take a picture and identify the hot spots.
Check on its geophysical properties: Minute changes in the electrical conductivity, magnetic field and even gravity around a volcano can indicate that something is brewing beneath the surface.
Map it in three dimensions: A 3-D map of all the nooks and crannies on the surface of a volcano can help scientists make predictions about where the lava will flow and who is most in danger in the event of an eruption.
Study the volcano’s past: Scientists examine geologic deposits to learn about past eruptions, which can give important clues to what a volcano may do in the future
Watch: Volcano 101 | National Geographic (3 min)
Watch: Inside A Volcano (4.35)
Look at this site and notice that it highlights the ten most famous volcanoes.
Each of you choose one volcano, do a little
research and tell us three important facts about it.
You have two worksheets that will be due on Wednesday:
- Famous Volcanoes Latitude and Longitude practice worksheet. Disregard the directions on the worksheet. You only need to locate these top ten volcanoes on the map.
- Road Maps worksheet
I chose to research Mauna Loa which is a volcano in Hawaii. It is the largest active volcano in the world. Mauna Loa is a shield volcano with slow moving lava. The most recent eruption was twenty-three days long, from March 24 to April 15, 1984.
ReplyDeleteI chose to research Eyjafjallajökull because it has a very awesome name. The mountain consists of a volcano completely covered by an ice cap. It erupted on April 14, 2010. Because of the ash clouds from this eruptions, millions of people could not fly out because it was too dangerous.
ReplyDeleteAlso, here is a video of an Icelander showing how to pronounce Eyjafjallajökull.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hSo_ND41-6g
LOVE the video with the pronunciation!
DeleteThe video with the Icelander is funny!!
DeleteI decided to research Mount Pinatubo, which is in the Philippines. Mount Pinatubo was the second largest eruption in the 20th century. On June 15th 1991, it erupted and over 800 people were killed.
ReplyDeleteI chose the Cotopaxi volcano in Ecuador. it is the second highest summit in Ecuador at 19,374 feet. its last eruption started in august 2015 and lasted till January of 2016. its is a composite volcano which means it is made up of many layers of: lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to research Mount St. Helen's in the Cascade Mountains. Mt. Helen's erupted in 1980 making a mark in history on the western coast. The mountain blew its top more than 1300ft all the way down to 6300ft and is currently dormant. The main eruption blew the side off the mountain killing around 57 civilians. Mt. Saint Helen's has been the most active in 4000 years in the Cascade Mountains than any other.
ReplyDeleteI chose Krakatoa, which is a volcanic island in Indonesia. It had been dormant for about 200 years previous to it's eruption, and when it erupted in August, 1883, it created huge tidal waves that drowned 36,000 people. In the end, only 1/3 of the island remained after the eruption.
ReplyDeleteI chose Mount Etna in Sicily. It is the biggest volcano in Italy, and it is two and a half times as tall as Vesuvius. it is a very active volcano and erupted not long ago in 2014.
ReplyDeleteI chose Mount Vesuvius because it is one of the most famous volcanoes in history. No one was warned that it was going to erupt near Naples, Italy. Huge quantities of ash rained down on the city of Pompeii. The city and most everyone that lived in it were buried.
ReplyDelete