The other side of Nature – A Destructive Force
A Natural Disaster Enigma
I don't know about you, but Volcanoes intrigue me yet at the same time can send a shiver down my spine (the paradox of these beasts). You only have to hear the word Pompei to grasp the level of their power, the destruction of an entire city, and other horrifying stories.
We can't control them and we are at their mercy. But when they are quiet, we want to climb them, be thrilled by their bizarre striking features, and quench our desire to know more about them (ignoring the hidden, unpredictable danger they hold within).
For Millennia's they have played havoc with humanity. Causing hundreds of thousands of deaths, they have obliterated villages, dwellings, buildings, and other human-made establishments.
Yet many of us still go back for more, visiting them time and time again. We continue to restore or build new villages underneath these ominous mountains.
Volcanos taunt us as they can choose to sit dormant for thousands of years, and then without warning, they teach us a lesson about complacency; they suddenly erupt, as they shed havoc and destruction in their path. Almost as if they are laughing, they destroy entire forests and encourage other disasters to join them. Tsunamis, earthquakes, avalanches, and flash floods follow gladly in their footsteps. And if that's not enough, they often get the last laugh, add 'salt to the wound' ejecting suffocating ash sometimes thick enough to strangle plant life, animals, and humans – a terrible death.
So what is it that lures us to defy our sense of safety that is so important to us?
As is the case so often, my curiosity got the better of me. So I decided to explore Volcanoes' world (from a distance, of course) to understand a little more about these ominous hills of nature born from the depths of our planet.
Science tells us that Volcanoes are mountains or hills formed when hot molten rock, from deep below our planet's interior (magma), emerges from cracks in the Earth's thin outer coating and rises towards the Earth's exterior. The mountain has previously had lava flowing out from a magma chamber below it, under the ground.
The Volcano erupts when it can take no more. The pressure builds so high it flushes out thick flowing magma, pushing it through holes and vents to get to the Earth's surface, breaking through the Earth's crust.
As part of this cycle, once the magma has erupted from the Volcano, it develops lava. During the eruption, alongside its lava, it expels with a great force many materials, including ash, toxic gases, and hot, broken rock fragments, from its magma chamber. Referred to as The Pyroclastic Flow, the lethal cloud of rock fragments and hot gases streams from the Volcano at a phenomenal speed, flowing tens of meters per second; it is extravagantly destructive. Without hesitation, it wipes out everything in its path as its flow-spill is typically more than 800 degrees Celsius. It's the deadliest of all volcano phenomena.
The Volcanoes Existence
Mind-Boggling and Forever Unpredictable – a Volcano has three main phases; Active, Dormant, and Extinct. Meaning an active one has recently erupted or regularly erupts and may erupt again in the future. The dormant Volcano is one that has not erupted for many years but may still have some activity deep inside, so there is a possibility it could erupt again. And finally, our extinct Volcano is considered by science to no longer be active (usually when it has laid dormant for more than 10,000 years). But note the word considered, which does not mean we know for sure.
So let's not be fooled; volcanos have a way of forever keeping us guessing as some might only erupt for a few days or weeks and never do so again. In comparison, others can erupt thousands of times over millions of years.
The Volcano - Part Two
Volcanoes
and Mankind Interactions
Truths and Encounters
The Famed Ring of Fire
Famous and Deadly Volcanoes
Home-land Australia
Until our next
encounter, please take care and stay safe.
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