I suppose I either read or was told, somewhere in early childhood, that volcanoes go *boom* and explode, which for some reason just stuck and I never bothered to re-check. (thinking back on it, I was probably being told about Pompeii, where it did kinda go *boom*)
With footage of Mauna Loa all over the place..that does not look like what kid-me thought a volcanic eruption did.
Do different types of volcanoes erupt differently? Do none erupt like kid-me was told they do?
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So, a volcano is a basically a vent or opening in the Earth’s surface. When pressure builds up beneath the surface, magma (molten rock) is forced upward and eventually reaches the surface, where it erupts through the opening i.e a volcano. This pressure can be caused by a variety of factors, including tectonic activity (the movement of the Earth’s plates), the release of gases from the magma, and the weight of overlying rock. As magma rises, it creates pressure that can eventually lead to an eruption.
This process can happen in a couple of different ways, depending on the type of volcano and the composition of the magma. Some volcanoes erupt explosively, sending ash and lava high into the air, while others erupt more gently, producing lava flows that move slowly down the sides of the volcano. In either case, eruptions are generally caused by the build-up of pressure beneath the Earth’s surface, which eventually leads to the release of magma through the volcano.
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