What are volcanoes?

The Earth is made of three parts – Crust, mantle and core. The crust is the outer layer of the earth. It is about 5-70 km thick. This is the part we can see and live on. The mantle is the second layer under the crust. It is about 2,890 km thick. The innermost layer is called the core. It is mostly made of iron.

Between the Earth’s crust and mantle is a substance called magma which is made of molten rock and gases. When pressure in the molten rocks builds up, it escapes through fissures (narrow cracks in the earth’s crust) in the form of a volcano. Volcanoes are mostly formed by the movement of tectonic plates.

There are about 1,500 potentially active volcanoes in the world today. Many of these are positioned along the Pacific Ring of Fire, a horseshoe-shaped belt that extends around 40,000 km along South America, North America, the Bering Strait, Japan, Indonesia and New Zealand.

Volcanoes can be destructive but they are also of great use to us. Their explosive force brings minerals from deep within the earth to the surface. Geothermal energy is being harnessed from the internal heat of volcanoes. Volcanoes are therefore a productive force of nature.

Picture Credit : Google

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *