Volcanoes

A volcano is an opening or break in a planet's surface or crust. This allows magma, also known as lava, to gush out of the opening along with ash and gasses to pour out from underneath. Volcanoes are usually found in places where tectonic plates are colliding with one another. The most commonly used description of a volcano is a "conical" mountain, allowing magma and harmful gasses to flow from a crater at it's peak. The structure and activity of a volcano all depend on many different factors according to scientists. Many different planets and moons also have volcanoes on their surfaces, such as the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

There are many different types of volcanoes, but there are six main types. A shield volcano is wide and shaped like a shield, go figure. Shield volcanoes do not normally catastrophically explode. A composite volcano is a volcano that just builds on its self. Every time one erupts the ash settles on the old rock and the lava hardens over the top of the last layer, making the volcano to grow with each eruption. The next is a supervolcano, this is a very large volcano that can cause problems all over the world. Eruptions this strong can effect the global temperature for many years to come. A submarine volcano is a volcano mostly found on the ocean floor. Some are even located in more shallow waters and only some are active, but not all.

Another type of volcano is a subglacial volcano. These are volcanoes that form underneath glaciers and are more commonly found in Iceland or other arctic areas. The last type is a mud volcano, this is formations created by geo-excreted liquids and gases. There are many volcanoes of different varieties all over the world. One of the most famous is in Japan, called Mount Fuji. Although it is not currently erupting, it is still known for its enormous eruption in 1707.