National Geographic Kids Readers: Erupt!. Joan Galat Marie

Chapter 3: Volcano Detectives 30

       25 More Hot Facts About Volcanoes 44

       Volcano Facts Roundup 46

       Index 48

      Heavy ashfall can

       make it impossible

       to breathe.

      The powdery ash that

       volcanoes eject can float

       around the world.

      Mount St. Helens, in Washington State,

       U.S.A., caused the largest landslide

       known on Earth when it erupted.

      Magma flows to Earth’s

       surface because it is lighter

       than the solid rock around it.

      Lava can reach 2,000 degrees

       Fahrenheit—four times hotter

       than your kitchen oven!

      An umbrella won’t help! Lava blown

       from a volcano hardens into solid rock

       in the air, and the pieces fall like rain.

      In the United States alone, 80 volcanoes have

       erupted once or more in the past 500 years.

      The heat from lava causes the

       plants it buries to release

       gases and explode.

      Volcanoes can change the weather.

      Mount St. Helens

       destroyed eight bridges

       when it erupted.

      When lava reaches the

       ocean, it cools rapidly.

       It breaks down to form

       black sand beaches.

      A volcanic eruption can

       blow apart a mountain.

      Lava that cools into rough

       pieces is called aa (AH-ah).

      Ash in the sky can make day

       as dark as night.

      Most lava moves slow enough

       for people to escape it.

      When it explodes from a volcano, runny lava

       may form cow-pie “bombs” that splat

       into rough pancake shapes.

      When the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull erupted

       in 2010, ash forced airports as far away as mainland

       Europe to shut down for almost a week.

      Water warmed by

       volcanoes is used to

       heat homes in Iceland.

      Rich volcanic soil

       is excellent for

       growing crops.

      Volcanoes eject bombs—

      semi-molten pieces of lava—

      and solid lava chunks called blocks.

      A pyroclastic flow is a fast-moving mix of hot gas, ash, and rock that can destroy everything in its path.

      A volcano

       can flatten

       a forest.

      Lava that hardens into a smooth,

       ropy surface is called pahoehoe

       (paw-HOE-EE-hoe-ee).

      Volcanic bombs and blocks can be as

       small as your fist or as big as a house.

      Earth’s largest land volcano, Mauna Loa

       in Hawaii, U.S.A., is more than 10 miles high

       from its base on the seafloor to its top.

      CHAPTER 1

      Besides Stromboli,

       a volcano erupts

       somewhere on Earth

       EVERY WEEK.

      Stromboli has been spewing

       gas and spitting molten rock

       for more than 2,000 years! It is one of

       Earth’s most active volcanoes. Full

       eruptions can occur from only minutes

       to hours apart.

      Volcanoes begin deep