Facts

Lightning commonly occurs in sync with volcanic eruptions. The intense electrical activity associated with volcanic eruptions can trigger lightning strikes, creating a spectacular and potentially hazardous phenomenon. But how come?

As the ash from a volcano rises, it builds static electricity the same way clouds do. It interacts with the weather system which allows lightning to strike.

The Pacific Ring of Fire is a string of volcanoes where the Pacific Ocean seafloor is subducting under the continents. It brings water causing volcanic eruptions from stratovolcanoes.

75% of the world’s volcanoes are in the Ring of Fire. This includes the deadliest volcanoes in the United States, Japan, and the Philippines. Indonesia is the most volcanically active country on the Ring of Fire.

Volcanoes are areas inside the planet that make their way to the surface. They create new land like in Hawaii. They are not only creators of land but also powerful forces of geological change, shaping the Earth’s surface over millions of years.

Continents would be smaller if it wasn’t for volcanoes. The majority of Earth’s surface is. volcanic rock All ocean seafloor is created by basalt coming out at mid-ocean ridges.

Volcanoes created much of the water we drink and the air we breathe. Degassing is the process that water existed inside the rocks that made up the Earth itself.

Because Earth’s interior contains minerals with hydrogen and oxygen, volcanoes continually degas releasing H2O as water vapor.

It’s a little-known fact that the Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii is taller than Mount Everest. This is because most of the Mauna Loa is below the ocean surface.

From sea level base to its summit, it’s 9,170 meters in height. That’s 300+ meters higher than Mount Everest. Mauna Loa has also been very active erupting 33 times since 1832.

On Mars, the largest volcano is Olympus Mons. But not only on  Mars, but it’s also the largest in the whole solar system. Olympus Mons formed billions of years ago.

Mars didn’t have plate tectonics. And it didn’t have surface geology like Earth. But it did have a period of active degassing where huge amounts of gases like water and carbon dioxide were ejected out from the interior of Mars.

A cinder cone volcano “Paricutin” appeared out of nowhere in a cornfield in Mexico. It baffled scientists and became a popular tourist destination for volcanologists to study.

During 9 years of volcanic activity, it left a 420-meter tall cone without erupting ever again. It’s now become one of the 7 natural wonders of the world.