10 Interesting Facts About Volcanoes

A volcanic eruption is both destructive and beautiful at the same time. Today, there are about 1500 active volcanoes on our planet only on land (scientists believe that there are no less of them at the bottom of the oceans).

But, thank God, no more than 20-30 of them erupt every year. The very word “volcano”, as you know, comes from the name of the ancient Roman god of fire.

According to historians, over the past four centuries alone, at least a quarter of a million people have died during volcanic eruptions, and almost three times as many lives have been claimed by the short-term climate changes caused by them and the crop failures and famine associated with this phenomenon.

Many terrible eyewitness accounts of the most terrible eruptions in the history of mankind have come down to us from time immemorial: let us recall, for example, the death of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD. after the long “dozing” Vesuvius suddenly woke up.

By the way, according to some legends, the legendary Atlantis also sank as a result of a volcanic cataclysm (most likely, it was destroyed by the Santorini volcano in 1600-1700 BC).

Nevertheless, today more than 300 million people live literally “in the shadow” of still active volcanoes (including in the area of ​​​​the most dangerous volcano on our planet, Popocatepetl, located just 33 km from the capital of Mexico, Mexico City; the largest volcano Ojos del Salado, which is located on the border of Argentina and Chile, the most active volcano Kilauea in Hawaii, etc.).

We bring you 10 interesting facts about volcanoes that you might not know.

10 There are no active volcanoes in Australia.

Yes, indeed, Australia is the only continent on our planet where all the volcanoes have long “fallen asleep”. Even in Antarctica there is an active volcano – Erebus, which, by the way, erupts almost continuously. (Probably, this is a very impressive sight – red-hot lava in the midst of eternal snow!)

How did it happen that Australia, located very close to the Ring of Fire of the Pacific Ocean (the area where 75% of active volcanoes are located today) turned out to be so “inactive”? The fact is that it very successfully settled just in the center of a huge tectonic plate, while all volcanoes are formed at the junction of such plates, “pressing” on each other.

9. Lava during an eruption can move at speeds up to 90-100 km/h

Some ignorant people are sincerely surprised when they learn about the many victims of the next volcanic eruption. After all, the flow of lava, it would seem, is barely crawling. How is it possible not to have time to run away from him?

Well, firstly, the main number of victims happens not because of hot lava, but because of the suffocating gases released by the volcano during the eruption, thick ash and literally falling on the heads of the so-called “volcanic bombs”.

And secondly, the speed of the lava flow can reach 90-100 km / h, and its temperature can exceed 500º C. So, if you, unfortunately, find yourself in its path, then you have little chance of surviving.

But there is a creature that uses the property of lava to keep warm for a long time – this is the Indonesian maleo bird, which lays its eggs in volcanic sand.

8. The black beaches of Iceland and Hawaii owe their appearance to volcanoes

Many inhabited islands and peninsulas on Earth (both large and small) are of volcanic origin.

This includes both most of the individual islands and entire archipelagos of the Pacific Ring of Fire (for example, the Kuriles, Hawaii, New Guinea, New Zealand, etc.), as well as land areas located in completely different parts of the world (Iceland, Canaries, Azores islands, etc.).

Accordingly, the sand on these islands has a peculiar – volcanic – composition. In fact, it is well-crushed basalt (slowly solidified lava) or obsidian volcanic glass ground into small crumbs (quickly solidified lava).

Hence its rich black color. By the way, those who were in Russian Kamchatka could also admire the black beaches.

7. At the top of the Kelimutu volcano (Indonesia) there are three lakes that change color

In Indonesia, on the island of Flores, there is a very popular volcano among tourists, Kelimutu. Why is it so attractive to travelers? The fact that in the three craters of this volcano there are 3 very interesting lakes: they regularly change color from turquoise to bright green, brown, red or even black.

The key to this phenomenon is that various volcanic minerals are dissolved in the water of these lakes, which react to gases rising from the volcano, changing their color.

But local residents, of course, have a special opinion on this matter: they believe that the souls of the dead live in the lakes, and the color of the water depends on whether they are angry, happy or sad.

6. The “newest” land on Earth – the volcanic island of Surtsey

The southernmost point of Iceland, the island of Surtsey, is indeed a land surface that arose a little over 55 years ago. On November 14, 1963, an underwater volcano erupted at this site.

It continued right up to June 1967, resulting in a “newborn” island measuring 2,7 km² (although by 2000 its area had decreased to 1,5 km² as a result of erosion and washing out by waves).

It got its name in honor of Surt, the head of the fiery giant clan from Scandinavian mythology. By the way, Surtsey is the only island on the planet on which, almost from the moment of its appearance, regular scientific research has been carried out: scientists have been observing how living organisms gradually appear on it (from bacteria, mosses and lichens, to spiders, beetles and birds).

5. At the beginning of the XNUMXth century, the Mont Pele volcano killed the entire population of the city of Saint-Pierre on the island of Martinique.

On the morning of May 8, 1902, a catastrophe occurred that claimed twice as many lives as the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. (in Pompeii and Herculaneum then about 16 thousand people died).

The volcano Montagne-Pele (or Mont-Pele) literally wiped out the whole city of Saint-Pierre in a matter of minutes, releasing a hot cloud of gases, almost vaporous (sprayed) lava and ash.

People died mainly from instantaneous and terrible burns. Of the 30 population of the city, from 3 to 5 people survived (according to various sources): a port loader who was sitting in an underground prison at that moment, a shoemaker who lived on the very outskirts of Saint-Pierre, and three more who were outside the city (including girl hiding in the grotto). All of them received severe burns.

Of the 17 ships that were in the harbor, only the Roddam (smoking and with broken masts) got out to sea. Soon the list of victims was replenished with another 2 thousand rescuers, sailors and engineers who sailed to Martinique to help possible survivors.

Judging by many testimonies, such a terrible scale of the tragedy could have been avoided if people had been allowed to evacuate in time.

But just on May 10, elections were scheduled in Saint-Pierre, and the governor of the island ordered not to let frightened residents out of the city (Mon-Pele had been giving the first signs of a future eruption since the beginning of April), assuring them that there was no particular danger.

As a result, he himself died (along with his wife and children), and the family of the American consul, and a special commission created in order to prove that Mont Pele is completely harmless.

4. Almost all of Iceland is heated by the energy of volcanoes.

Iceland was once considered a very harsh land. Still would! After all, this island of volcanic origin, moreover, has a very inhospitable climate – it is difficult to grow even the most meager crop here.

But, of course, over time, the Icelanders realized that they were not so unlucky: literally under their feet they have a real natural “central heating”.

There are about 200 very active volcanoes and about 600 geothermal sources on the island – these are ready-made (and really inexhaustible) energy reserves!

Therefore, since the 1970s, geothermal stations have been built in Iceland, which currently heat more than 90% of the residential buildings of the island (primarily, of course, its most populated city, the capital of the country, Reykjavik), as well as Keflavik International Airport, etc.

3. On the island of Lanzarote (Canaries) there is a restaurant where food is cooked right in the volcano

Would you like to try food cooked right in an active volcano? Then you need to visit Lanzarote, one of the Canary Islands.

In 1970, an unusual El Diablo restaurant was built on one of the island’s volcanoes, designed by architect Cesar Manrique, where food is cooked not with gas or electricity, but using only natural volcanic heat.

Right above one of the holes, in the depth of which the “contents” of the volcano smolder at a temperature of 400-500º C, a grill grate was installed on which a delicious steak is cooked in just a few minutes (and we are not talking about chicken or fish yet!).

Moreover, any visitor can observe the process. In addition, the surrounding “Martian” landscapes are visible through the glass walls of the restaurant.

2. Due to the fault of the Huaynaputina volcano (South America), 1600 million people died in Russia in 3

It would seem – where is South America, and where is Russia? Between us and Peru – 12,5 thousand kilometers. How can one single volcano cause a catastrophe on the opposite side of the globe?!

As it turns out, this is possible. After the Huaynaputina volcano in the southern part of Peru threw a huge amount of ash into the atmosphere on February 19, 1600, it became sharply cold all over the planet (this “effect” persisted for two whole years!).

The summer of 1600 was the coldest in 500 years – scientists called this phenomenon the Little Ice Age. Throughout Eurasia in 1601-1603. catastrophic crop failures were observed: gardens bloomed (or froze) late, cereals did not ripen, etc.

In Russia, due to a terrible famine, 127 thousand people were buried in Moscow alone. According to one hypothesis, this was, among other things, the cause of the events that were called the Time of Troubles.

1. Frankenstein was “born” thanks to the Tambora volcano (Indonesia).

A similar catastrophe with consequences in the form of a global cooling (by 2-3 ° C) was arranged in 1815 by another volcano – Tambora, located on the island of Sumbawa in Indonesia.

As a result of a powerful eruption (which reached 7 points out of 8 possible), a huge amount of ash again appeared in the earth’s atmosphere, for which reason the summer of 1816 turned out to be very cold.

And at a time when ordinary people were experiencing all the delights of the impending threat of famine, the aristocrats also felt “tremendous inconvenience” – due to the fact that they could not arrange their usual walks in nature.

And so one young company vacationing in a villa in Switzerland (which included George Gordon Byron, John Polidori, Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley) out of boredom made a bet: who of them would write the scariest story.

The result of the bet was Dr. Frankenstein, invented by Mary Shelley, and the monster he created from pieces of different bodies. (By the way, John Polidori wrote the story “Vampire”, which became the first work of fiction about these immortal creatures, so fashionable in our time).