Answering the Big Question: What causes a volcano to erupt?
What causes a volcano to erupt? Is it because of the buoyancy of the magma, the pressure built inside the magma plate, or a gigantic mixture of baking soda and vinegar? Let’s find the answer to the question in this blog!
Recently, thousands of people have fled their homes near a Philippine volcano after an eruption sent ash and steam hundreds of meters into the sky. This incident of the volcanic eruption in the Philippines has certainly sent shivers down our spine, but it is more than what meets our eyes.
A volcanic eruption is quite a sight to behold. It can be mesmerizing as well as furious depending on the intensity of eruption and flow of the larva. For years, scientists have been trying to study the nature of volcanic eruptions and what causes a volcano to erupt. However, they are yet to predict a volcanic eruption.
Before we explain how or what causes a volcano to erupt, let us understand a few terminologies and facts that are associated with volcanic eruptions.
Definition of a volcano and volcanic eruption
1. Volcano:
Basically, volcanoes are openings or vents where lava, tephra, and steam erupt out onto the earth’s surface.
2. Magma and Lava:
Magma is the molten rock that is trapped beneath the earth’s surface. When this molten rock makes it to the surface and keeps flowing like a liquid, it is known as Lava.
3. Tephra:
Tephra is the rock fragments and particles that are ejected by a volcanic eruption.
4. Tectonic Plates:
A tectonic plate is a massive and irregularly shaped slab of solid rock composed of continental and oceanic lithosphere. Also called lithosphere plates, these plates can vary in size. Some of these can be as big as a few hundred to thousands of kilometers, while others can be as huge and wide as the distance between the Pacific and Antarctic plates. Tectonic plates also vary in thickness, ranging from less than 15 km for young oceanic lithosphere to about 200 km or more for ancient continental lithosphere.
Now that we are familiar with the terms associated with volcanic eruptions, let’s see what causes a volcano to erupt.