Download Answering: What Happens When A Volcano Erupts?

Answering: What Happens When A Volcano Erupts?
What happens when a volcano erupts? Volcano produces severe damage to humans, land,
air, water, and any item that comes in its way when liquid magma is flowing with a rapid speed.
High quantities of ash and gases are released when a volcano erupts. Thick layers of ash are
deposited on the mountains. Violent mudslides may also occur. Continue reading about volcano
effects...
Volcano Effects
Volcanoes can produce devastating effects in the environment that may persist for long
durations. Early warning signals may assist in the reduction of these effects. The major effects
caused by volcanoes are described below:
Changes In The Air
Some volcanoes erupt quietly; others violently shoot gas, steam and ash into the air. After a
volcano erupts, gases are released into the atmosphere. These gases include water vapor, as
well as carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen gas and
methane. All these gases may produce acid rain in a high concentration. The gases in the air
may cause closing of the air traffic in the airspace around, and above the volcano. With the
passage of time, the winds can carry the volcanic gases around a large area. The ash elements
obstruct the air traffic, and create breathing complications in the near vicinity. The ash particles
produce a layer that is hard to remove. In combination with water, the ash develops into a mud
like mass.
Landscape Changes
All volcanoes produce significant landscape changes after their eruption. New earth is produced
after the volcano eruption, discharging extremely hot lava from within the earth. The liquid
magma runs down along the volcano sides till it is cooled and stops flowing. As this flow
develops, all things that come in the lava path are destroyed, including animals, plants,
buildings, and roads. New rock is formed as the lava is cooled. The weathering effects,
including rain and winds, transform lava into soil.
Changes To The Water
Rivers and streams near erupting volcanoes suffer the effects of ash, hot gases and lava. After
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Answering: What Happens When A Volcano Erupts?
a volcano erupts, the debris expelled by the volcano affects waterways in a number of ways.
Streams and rivers form a very basic part of the hydrologic cycle to disperse water through a
drainage basin toward the sea. Volcanoes disrupt this process by blocking stream and river bed
flows, re-routing courses, and contaminating the water supply with dangerous gases and
particles. Fine ash can be carried away easily by water, but it takes time to restore a waterway
after an eruption.
Consequence On Animals And Plants
Animals can live with little enduring effect caused by the ash deposition, unless the ash is
deposited on the food sources. The foremost danger from a volcano is the damage caused to
the surroundings. Ash rapidly pollutes water that is an essential requirement for all animals. If
uncontaminated water supply becomes unavailable, the wild animals shift to safer areas. Trees
and plants are also affected by the generation of heat due to volcano eruption, and deposit of
sediments. However, the unburned trees soon recover, and generally continue to grow after the
washing of ash.
These were volcano effects that cause changes in our environment. In this article we found out
what happens when a volcano erupts and the consequences of a volcano. If you want to learn
what a volcano is, click here
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