Ultimate VolcanoQuestion Sheet
NAME: ______DATE: ______
1)In what way have volcanoes helped to make our world what it is today? What do volcanoes release?
2)There are risks to those who study volcanoes. What do volcanologists call the fast moving eruptions of super heated gases and ash?
3)How many scientists have been killed in the past 60 years?
4)On average, how many volcanoes erupt each year?
5)Where do most volcanic eruptions occur? Where is this zone located?
6)What to volcanologists call molten rock?
7)What characteristic of magma determines whether an eruption will be explosive or less violent?
8)What does VEI stand for? What does a high VEI number mean?
9)Kilauea is a volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii.
a)What is its VEI rating? ______
b)What type of volcano is it? ______
c)What type of magma does it contain? ______
d)What is a "hot spot"?
e)What are lava fountains and how high do they soar above Kilauea?
f)Why aren't the eruptions from Kilauea explosive?
g)How long has Kilauea been continuously erupting? ______
h)Does the lava flow quickly or slowly? ______
i)What is the name of the Polynesian Goddess of Kilauea? ______
10)The Caribbean island volcano known as Soufriere Hills oin Montserrat holds a much more dangerous type of volcano.
a)When did it erupt: ______
b)What is its VEI rating: ______
c)What type of volcano is it? ______
d)What is its most dangerous feature: ______
e)In 1995, how long had it been since its last eruption? ______
f)How high do the ash clouds rise above the volcano? ______
g)How high was the ash cloud in the massive 1997 eruption? ______
h)How hot is the super heated gas and ash that race down its sides: ______
i)How fast does the super-heated gas travel? ______
j)What are the lethal clouds of super-heated gases called?
______
k)How many people were killed in the massive eruptions there? ______
l)This volcano occurs due to subduction of the North and South American plates beneath the Caribbean plate. What is the magma like at this volcano?
m)What does a stratovolcano look like?
n)What are the mudslides made of water and pyroclastic debris called? ______
11)In 1980, on the North West Coast of the US (just below Canada) another volcano erupted.
a)What was the name of the volcano? ______
b)What was its VEI rating? ______
c)What type of volcano is it? ______
d)What was so dangerous about this volcano? ______
e)For how long, in 1980, had Mt. St. Helens been dormant? ______
f)When the side of the volcano blew, how fast did the land slide move? ______
g)How strong was the blast from the erupting magma that came out of the side of the volcano?
______megatonnes______X the nuclear blast at Hiroshima
h)How fast was the blast travelling between the valleys? ______
i)How high into the sky does the ash cloud rise? ______
j)Did the eruption only travel laterally? ______
k)How hot were the pyroclastic flows? ______How fast were they? _____
l)How long was did the eruption last? ______
m)How much shorter was Mt. St. Helens after the eruption? ______
n)How many square kilometers were destroyed? ______
o)Why didn't people close to the eruption (6-60 miles) hear it?
p)In 2004, what has been developing at the top of the volcano? ______
q)What are volcanologists using to monitor the rising lava dome?
r)How quickly is the lava dome growing? ______
s)How many people died due to the Mt. St. Helens eruption? ______
12)Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines began erupting in 1991 to devastating effects.
a)What is its VEI rating: ______
b)What type of volcano is it? ______
c)What key factors made it so deadly? ______
d)In 1991, how long had the volcano been dormant? ______
e)How high into the sky did the debris soar? ______
f)What caused the vertical lightning storm? ______
g)Why didn't people go out and sweep the volcanic ash off their roofs? What problem did this cause?
h)What happens when water mixes with volcanic ash? Bad time for a typhoon!
i)What are lahars? What are they made of?
j)How long did the eruption last? ______
k)How many people died? ______
l)Why didn't more people die? ______
m)What effect did the eruption have on the rest of the planet? How?
n)How many lahars followed in the months after the eruption? ______
o)How many people died in Bacalor? What happened to the town?
p)Why is the lake that has formed in the caldera a problem?
13)Volcanologists predict that someday a super volcano will erupt.
a)What would the VEI rating of a supervolcano be: ______
b)What type of volcano creates a super eruption? ______
c)What key factors will cause it to be so dangerous? ______
d)How many people were killed with Vesuvius erupted in 79AD? ______
e) When was the last time Vesuvius erupted? ______
f)Just outside Naples, Italy, is the caldera of an ancient volcano called Campi Flegrei. How many people live within the caldera? ______
g)How hot are the steam vents in the caldera? ______
h)How much larger was the Campi Flegrei's last eruption than 1991 at Mt. Pinatubo?
i)How tall are the cliffs that were created by pyroclastic flows during the last eruption of Campi Flegrei?
j)How fast would the pyroclastic flows travel from a future super eruption at Campi Flegrei? What will happen to Naples in this event? How many people will die?
k)What will happen to Rome?
l)What will happen to all the rest of the planet?