Researched by Alex

A giant 1,000 ft. volcano is erupting, a red hot column of lava spews from the gigantic crater. Ash covers miles of space in a very short time. Red hot rocks burst from the top and in the meantime  more lava spews from the side and then as suddenly as it started, it stopped and the city  is black, and white with ash.     
                                 

What are They?
A volcano is a mountain that has a hole or a crater at the top. The word volcano means two things it is ether a hole in the ground that shoots hot rocks, lava and gas or a mountain made of hot rocks, lava and gas.

                                     Causes
Volcanoes are caused when molten rock called magma builds up in the chamber below the volcano. The pressure in the chamber forces the magma up through the vent in the volcano and out of the volcano as Lava.


Types of Volcanoes
Different volcanoes are caused by accumulation of materials erupting through openings in the earth's surface. There are three types of volcanoes:   cinder cone, strato, and shield.     
Types of Volcanic Eruptions
There are three main types of  volcanic eruptions. There is Hawaiian, strombolian, and planing.
Hawaiian: some lava shoots up from the main vent while some come out of the gently sloping sides.  The thin runny lava may run for many many miles. the eruptive column is mostly low and the ash falls close to a volcano.
Strombolian: these eruptions are more violent than Hawaiian ones, and the heavy rock material that is throne out builds cones with steeper sides. The ash in the eruptive column ma be blown several miles away from the volcano.
Plinian: these eruptions are very violent and produce an eruptive column over twelve feet high. The fine material in the cloud may fall to the ground over six hundred miles away from the eruption. There are no lava flows, but sometimes the eruptive column may collapses to form a nu'ee ardente, a red hot cloud of ash and gas that rushes over the land devours every thing in its path.                                                                       

Locations
Volcanoes can be found on every continent. Though they can be found every where, most of them are under the ocean. This is the list  of where most volcanoes that  are on land are located:
       Africa                                             Europe
       Antarctica                                      North America
       Asia                                                South America
       Australia and New Zealand         Central America

                     (to see more about volcano locations click here).

To hear what happens when a volcano erupts, click here

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