Southern volcanoes of the planet. The largest and most dangerous volcanoes in the world

Vesuvius is an amazing volcano. Firstly, the leader in popularity, breaking all records of recognition, secondly, a long-liver (he declared himself even before ancient times and the famous Pompeii), thirdly, perhaps, one of the prolific volcanic eruptions and, fourth, the most unpredictable. Not a single scientist even dares to guess when Vesuvius will once again begin to “be naughty.” Only strong eruptions during the entire period of his “professional activity” were recorded in the amount of 80, and we are tired of counting the mediocre and weak ones. At the same time, Vesuvius is clearly not planning to retire. At its top, tourists can safely bake eggs - the soil temperature is so high.

This is probably why the “anniversaries of pranks” of this world-famous volcano, which lives in sunny Italy near Naples, can be celebrated almost every month. Which is exactly what we are doing, dedicating our TOP 10 most famous volcanoes in the world to one of the dates of the eruption of Vesuvius.

Place 10. The most difficult to pronounce. I don’t know how big and powerful the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull is compared to Vesuvius, but it is reliably known that in 2010 it caused a lot of trouble for air carriers. Due to the wild amount of volcanic ash and steam, some flights were canceled and airport operations in Glasgow, Birmingham, London, Liverpool, Belfast Dublin, Stockholm and Oslo were stopped. But even this was not enough for the Icelandic volcano. He created incredible amount problems for many announcers, who probably trained long and hard to pronounce his name in one breath.


Place 9. The coldest. Surprisingly, but true: volcanoes are the most tenacious creatures, found almost everywhere. It would seem that such a “hot little thing” cannot live at minus fifty, but no! Volcanoes also live peacefully at the South Pole and in Antarctica. The highest of the Antarctic volcanoes is Mount Sidley, “tall” at 4285 meters. By the way, it is also the most inaccessible volcano. People conquered it only in 1990.


Place 8. The most legendary. Two volcanoes are competing for the title of the most legendary. One of them is the Mexican Popocatepetl, who last went to work in 2007, and the other is the European Elbrus. According to legend, Popocatepetl arose from... strong love. The daughter of the Aztec ruler Iztaccihuatl fell in love with the simple warrior Popocatepetl. However, the pope was against this unequal alliance and sent the young man to war, after which he spread a rumor about his imminent death. The daughter, unable to withstand the blow, committed suicide, and when the alive and unharmed Popocatepetl found out about this, he decided that life without a sweetheart is not life. And he followed his beloved into another world. The gods, amazed by the power of the love of the young people, decided to turn them into rocks so that they would remain next to each other forever. Well, on the top of Elbrus, myths and legends alternately settled either genies or the famous bird Simurgh, or even left the chained Prometheus there.


Place 7. Most religious. Etna is a fertile volcano, like Vesuvius. The eruptions alone exceeded almost two hundred. Almost every 150 years, Etna wakes up from hunger and begins to eat nearby cities. However, people adore her not for her bloodthirstiness, but for her respect for believers and her healing gift. There are several known facts of miraculous healing of patients who visited Etna, and after in 1928 a stream of hot lava froze in reverence before a Catholic procession, the Sicilians made Etna one of the symbols of the island. This volcano is also famous for its blues festivals that take place during its sleep.


Place 6. The fastest. Volcanoes are usually unpredictable, but sometimes scientists manage to find out in advance about an impending eruption. However, as in the parable of the boy and the wolves, some residents of nearby towns do not believe such predictions. And in vain. So on November 13, 1985, the Colombian volcano Nevado del Ruiz completely destroyed the city of Armero, located 50 kilometers from the “hot thing” with a height of 5400 meters. At the same time, everything about everything at the volcano took... only 10 minutes! The death toll exceeded 20 thousand people. But scientists warned...


Place 5. The most fabulous. Remember the fairy tale about the “Frog Princess”? To defeat Koshchei the Immortal, Ivan Tsarevich had to get a needle that was in an egg, an egg in a duck, a duck in a hare, a hare in a chest, and a chest in a tree. It is precisely according to the principle of “thing within a thing” that the Russian volcano Krenitsyn is built. He is "registered" on Kuril Islands and is considered the largest in area, as it is located in Lake Koltsevoye (diameter about 7 kilometers), which is located in another, more ancient, crater. So you can admire its beauty only from a helicopter. By the way, the volcano got its name in honor of the Russian navigator Pyotr Kuzmich Krenitsyn.


Place 4. The most influential. Indonesia is often called the land of volcanoes. It was here that the most influential of them was born - Krakatoa, who blew up the world on August 15, 1883. Its eruption caused a shock wave that went around 7 times Earth, and a giant tsunami that wiped out 295 cities and towns in Java and Sumatra. As a result of his activities, more than 36 thousand people died, and hundreds of thousands were left homeless. Volcanic dust from Krakatoa surrounded the planet in a cloud, turning sunrises and sunsets a royal purple. Many scientists believe that it was this eruption that affected the ecology of the Earth.


Place 3. The most famous of the new arrivals. By the way, today Vesuvius is far from the only popular volcano. It was pushed by the Russian Plosky Tolbachik, which began to erupt in November 2012. Since then, scientists from all over the world and simply curious tourists have flocked to it in droves. Also Kamchatka volcano gave the world new copper minerals - melanotallite, ponomarevite, piipit, fedotovite, kamchatkite, klyuchevskite, alumoklyuchevskite and, of course, tolbachite.


Place 2. The highest. Well, how can it be in the TOP 10 without the highest?! It is rightfully the South American active volcano with the name Llullaillaco, which is funny for Russians. Its absolute height is 6739 meters, relative height is almost 2.5 kilometers. It would seem that that's all. Ah, no! Llullaillaco is known for its perpetual ice cap, borderland state (located on the border of Chile and Argentina), dry neighbor (Atacama Desert) and archaeological finds. In 1999, the mummified bodies of three children, believed to have been sacrificed 500 years ago, were discovered at the top of the volcano.


Place 1. The most romantic. Don't go to a fortune teller here! Without words, it is clear that Mount Fuji will be recognized as the most romantic, sophisticated, attractive, gentle and charming. Countless haiku, drawings, paintings and photographs are dedicated to her. Scientists consider Fuji to be an active volcano, although weakly active (the last eruption was recorded in 1707-1708). By the way, among the countless drawings of this beauty, there is not a single one that depicts the eruption itself. Fuji's neighbors include not only a Shinto temple, a weather station and a post office, but also the gloomy Aokigahara suicide forest, located right at the foot of the volcano. But such proximity does not bother Fujiyama at all. The Japanese believe that the forest only adds a flair of mystery and mysticism to their favorite, attracting tourists from all countries. However, this does not prevent residents of the Land of the Rising Sun from placing warning signs with telephone numbers of psychologists throughout Aokigahara. Yes, just in case.

Earth is a hot planet. Beneath the thin crust is a core of hot magma. In some places, through cracks in the earth's crust, the heat of the earth's core breaks out, bringing lava, gases and ash to the surface. Over time, at the sites of such emissions, huge masses of ejected matter accumulate and special geological forms are formed - volcanoes.

The largest volcanoes are those that formed particularly large cones, although not necessarily the tallest, and therefore had a particularly large crater or were active for a very long time. Those that continue to act are dangerous for humans. Fortunately, the largest terrestrial volcano, Tamu Massif, discovered in 2013, has long been extinct, otherwise its eruption would have been disastrous for all life on our planet.

Volcanoes are considered active if they are known to have erupted within the last 10 thousand years or have shown signs of volcanic activity, such as emissions of gases and water vapor. The presence of volcanic activity means that a given volcano may begin to erupt again, and therefore requires careful monitoring by volcanologists. There are currently 627 such volcanoes. 4 out of 5 largest volcanoes planets are located in the area Pacific Ocean(these are parts of the “Ring of Fire” of Pacific volcanoes and seismic zones), and 1 in Africa.

It is located in the central part of the Kamchatka Peninsula, has a volume of 480 cubic kilometers and is the largest of active volcanoes Kamchatka, as well as the second highest ( 3613 m above sea level), after Klyuchevskaya Sopka. The top of the Ichinskaya Sopka is covered with eternal glaciers.

This is the youngest among the largest active volcanoes, its age is estimated at 10-15 thousand years. Its cone has a complex structure: the base is of a shield type, on top of which is the cone of a younger stratovolcano. Last eruption was recorded in 1740, since then volcanic activity has been weak: small amounts of high-temperature water vapor and volcanic gases are released.

The Galapagos Islands, like the Hawaiian Islands, arose as a result volcanic activity. Most big volcano Sierra Negra (“black mountain”) 580 cc. kilometers is located on the island of Isabela. This is a shield volcano, tall 1,124 m above sea level, and its crater has a diameter 11 km.

The last eruption of Sierra Negra occurred in 2005. Then the volcano released such an amount of gases and ash that the volcanic cloud reached a height of 7 kilometers or more.

Volume – more 3,200 cu.m. kilometers. The second largest volcano on the island of Hawaii. His highest point – 4,205 m above sea level. But if you count from the foot, which is under water, then its height reaches 10,203 m, which makes Mauna Kea the most high mountain on the ground. (For comparison, Everest has a height of 4,150 m from its base to its summit). Unlike its neighbor Mauna Loa, it is a stratovolcano, and its viscous lava has formed steep slopes. The last eruption occurred 4,500 years ago, and since then the state of the volcano has been considered “normal” on the danger scale.

Among the aborigines, “White Mountain” (as the name is translated) was considered sacred. Only the highest leaders had the right to climb to its top. The natives collected fruits and hunted in the dense forests on the slopes of the mountain, and made tools and weapons from volcanic basalt.

The altitude, dry climate and constant wind force make the summit of Mauna Kea one of the best areas on Earth for astronomical observations. Since 1964, 13 telescopes have been installed here. Observations are made at all frequencies, from visible light to radio waves, and Mauna Kea Astronomy Park is one of the largest in the world. However, protests against its location in a unique ecological zone and in a place sacred to indigenous people continue.

Cone volume – 4,800 cubic kilometers. This volcano erupted with thick and viscous lava, which led to the formation of an almost regular steep cone. This type is called a stratovolcano. highest mountain African continent ( 5,895 m above sea level), located in East Africa, between Kenya and northern Tanzania. In Swahili its name means " white mountain": the top of this gigantic two-headed cone, the only one in the equatorial zone of the Earth, is covered eternal ice. Many rivers originate in its glaciers, including the Nile, the greatest river in Africa. In recent decades, they have been melting faster and steadily decreasing.

Europeans discovered this volcano in 1848, since then no activity has been recorded, but Aboriginal legends speak of its eruption about 200 years ago. In 2003, it was discovered that there was molten lava beneath one of its two peaks, with its upper level rising just 400 meters from the surface. Gas emissions, landslides and rock shifts also occur.

The largest active volcano on Earth is located on the island of Hawaii. This volcano is of the shield type: wide, with sloping slopes. Such volcanoes are formed as a result of a long eruption of liquid, flowing lava. The volume of its cone is approximately 75,000 cubic kilometers, of which 84% are under water. Actually, the island itself appeared as a result of eruptions of this and its neighboring volcanoes.

In the Aboriginal language its name means "long mountain". Its mass is so enormous that the earth’s crust at its location bends inward for several kilometers.

Mauna Loa is one of the most active volcanoes. Its last eruption occurred in 1984, and since then it has gradually shown more signs of activity and is considered highly likely to erupt again in the foreseeable future.

All tourists and travelers are interested in learning about the largest volcano in the world. A volcano is a formation on the surface of the Earth from which magma emerges, forming lava, rocks and volcanic gases. On our planet there is great amount such formations. Some of them are considered active because they were active during the historical period.

Many of the volcanoes are extinct and dormant. The latter include those whose eruption is already unlikely, while the former have the possibility of activity. Some volcanoes reach incredible sizes and are distinguished by their extraordinary power and beauty.

Of course, active volcanoes are of great interest to all travelers. They are extremely beautiful and fascinate with their danger of eruption at any moment. Having once seen such a phenomenon, a person receives a lot of incredible impressions that remain in memory for a lifetime. Llullaillaco is considered the highest active volcano in the world. It is located in Argentina in the Peruvian Andes. The height of its peak is 6739 m. The last eruption occurred in 1877.

At the top of this volcano there is eternal glaciation. It is formed in the shape of a cone. This natural formation has been considered an archaeological site since 1999, as human mummies were found on its top. These were the children of the Incas. There is a possibility that they were sacrificed about 500 years ago.

Mauna Loa Volcano

In terms of volume, Mauna Loa is considered the largest active volcano. The height of its peak is 4169 m, and its volume is estimated at 75,000 km. It is located on the island of Hawaii in the USA. The last time an eruption occurred was relatively recent - in 1984.

This volcano, more precisely, its peak and southeastern slope, is part of the national park Hawaiian volcanoes. This park is included in the famous List World Heritage UNESCO. Mauna Loa is home to animals and plants called endemics. This means that they have a small habitat. Very often, such animals are considered rare and are therefore listed in the Red Book.

Dangerous volcano Merapi

The most dangerous volcano in the world is Merapi. It is located in Indonesia on the island of Java. Major eruptions occur every 7 years. Small eruptions occur twice a year. Many settlements were destroyed by this mountain. Back in 1006, he wiped out the Javanese-Indian kingdom from the face of the Earth, and in 1673 one of the most destructive eruptions occurred. It immediately destroyed several cities and villages that were located at the foot.

In 1930, the volcano also caused major destruction. This eruption killed 1,300 people. After 44 years, Merapi destroyed 2 villages, and a year later - another village, 5 bridges, killing 29 people. Moreover, the eruptions overtook many scientists and tourists. The last activity of the Merapi volcano was recorded in 2010. This time, about 350 thousand people were initially evacuated. Some residents did return. Among them, 353 people died, caught in the flow of volcanic gases, ash and stones.

Volcano with the most powerful eruption in history

This is an active volcano, which demonstrated its most powerful eruption in the 19th century. The volcano is located in Indonesia. Now its height is 813 m. Before its famous eruption in 1883, it was much higher. Moreover, he was one big Island. During the strongest volcanic activity, the main part of the island was destroyed.

The roar from the eruption was heard even 5,000 km from the volcano itself. The volcanic edifice spread over 500 km. The ash rose 30 km, and the gas-ash column - 70 km. Scientists estimated the force of the explosion at 6 points. The result of such a strong eruption was 37,000 deaths and 300 villages destroyed.

There are a lot of different volcanoes in the world, which differ either in their height, or volume, or actions. Some of them are the most dangerous or the oldest. Scientists have not yet compiled an accurate list of volcanoes by their size or degree of danger. Each of them is interesting and unique in its own way. There are volcanoes that are known to every traveler and tourist. The most popular of them are Vesuvius, Fuji, Etna. These are the active volcanoes of the world.

Vesuvius has been attracting tourists for many years. Those who visit Naples usually don't miss the opportunity to admire and even climb it famous volcano. Previously, it was possible to climb the mountain using a funicular, and then a regular ski lift. However, the transport was destroyed by subsequent eruptions. They did not restore it, so this moment The mountain can only be climbed on foot along a hiking trail.

Mount Fuji is located Japanese island Honshu. He is popular tourist place. Residents consider it sacred. The mountain is also a place of religious pilgrimage for Buddhist and Shinto cults. A temple was built on its top. In addition, there is a weather station and even a post office. Scientists believe that Fuji is a weakly active volcano, since the last eruptions occurred at the beginning of the 18th century.

A popular volcano located in Italy is. It has many craters, and from time to time lava erupts from at least one of them. Sometimes Etna's actions are destructive in relation to nearby settlements, but despite this, new residents do not stop settling here. At the foot of the mountain there is very fertile soil, which allows you to grow a variety of vegetables and fruits.

Tourists have the opportunity to visit this extraordinary mountain. You should climb it on foot. You can get to the tourist base by bus. For souvenir lovers, there are shops on the mountain itself where you can buy some kind of souvenir or even a popular 70-proof liqueur.

All these and many other volcanoes are extremely beautiful and interesting for residents, travelers and tourists. Each mountain has its own history. Before climbing any volcano, it is necessary to find out accurate information about its activity and the possibility of eruption, since such natural formations can begin their actions at any time. Therefore, having decided to admire extraordinary beauty volcanoes, protect yourself from accidents.

Volcanoes are geological formations on the surface of the Earth where magma emerges as lava. These mountains exist not only on Earth, but also on other planets. Thus, the Olympus volcano on Mars reaches a height of several tens of kilometers. Such formations are dangerous not only due to lava, but also due to their release into the atmosphere. large number dust and ash.

Eruption Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull made a lot of noise in 2010. Although it was not the most destructive in terms of strength, its proximity to Europe led to the impact of emissions on transport system mainland. However, history knows many other cases of the destructive effects of volcanoes. Let's talk about ten of the most famous and large-scale of them.

Vesuvius, Italy.

On August 24, 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying not only the well-known city of Pompeii, but also the cities of Stabiae and Herculaneum. The ashes even reached Egypt and Syria. It would be a mistake to believe that the disaster destroyed Pompeii alive; out of a population of 20 thousand, only 2 thousand died. Among the victims was the famous scientist Pliny the Elder, who approached the volcano on a ship in order to explore it and thereby found himself practically at the epicenter of the disaster. During the excavations of Pompeii, it was discovered that under a multi-meter layer of ash, the life of the city froze at the time of the disaster - objects remained in their places, houses with furniture, people and animals were found. Today, Vesuvius remains the only active volcano on the continental part of Europe; in total, more than 80 of its eruptions are known, the very first happened supposedly 9 thousand years ago, and the last occurred in 1944. Then the cities of Massa and San Sebastiano were destroyed, and 57 people died. Naples is located 15 kilometers from Vesuvius, and the height of the mountain is 1281 meters. Tambora, Sumbawa Island. The cataclysm on this Indonesian island occurred on April 5, 1815. This is the largest in number dead people and by volume of ejected material in modern history

eruption The disaster associated with the eruption and the ensuing famine killed 92 thousand people. In addition, the Tambora culture, which Europeans had only become acquainted with shortly before, completely disappeared from the face of the earth. The volcano lived for 10 days, decreasing in height by 1400 meters during this time. Ashes hid an area within a radius of 500 kilometers from the sun for 3 days. According to the British authorities, in those days in Indonesia it was impossible to see anything at arm's length. Most of the island of Sumbawa was covered with a meter-thick layer of ash, under the weight of which even stone houses crumbled. 150-180 cubic kilometers of gases and pyroclassics were released into the atmosphere. The volcano therefore had a strong impact on the climate of the entire planet - the ash clouds did not transmit the rays of the Sun well, which led to a noticeable drop in temperature. 1816 became known as the “year without summer”; in Europe and America the snow melted only in June, and the first frosts appeared in August. The result was widespread crop failure and famine. 27 thousand years ago, a strong volcanic eruption occurred on one of the islands, surpassing even Tambora in strength. Geologists consider this cataclysm to be the last of such force in the history of the planet. As a result of the work of the supervolcano, Lake Taupo was formed, which today is the object of attention of tourists, as it is very beautiful. The last eruption of the giant took place in 180 AD. The ash and blast wave destroyed half of all life on the North Island, and about 100 cubic kilometers of tectonic matter entered the atmosphere. The eruption speed was 700 km/h. The ash that rose into the sky colored sunsets and sunrises around the world with crimson, which was reflected in ancient Roman and Chinese chronicles.

Krakatoa, Indonesia. The volcano, located between the islands of Sumatra and Java, produced the largest explosion of its kind in modern history on August 27, 1883. During the cataclysm, a tsunami up to 30 meters high occurred, which simply washed away 295 villages and towns, killing about 37 thousand people. The roar from the explosion was heard on 8% of the entire surface of the planet, and pieces of lava were thrown into the air to an unprecedented height of 55 kilometers. The wind blew the volcanic ash so far that 10 days later it was discovered at a distance of 5,330 kilometers from the scene of the events. The island mountain then split into 3 small parts. The wave from the explosion circled the earth 7 to 11 times; geologists believe that the explosion was 200 thousand times stronger than the nuclear strike on Hiroshima. Krakatoa had awakened before, for example, in 535, its activity noticeably changed the climate of the planet, and perhaps it was then that the islands of Java and Sumatra separated. On the site of a volcano destroyed in 1883 during an underwater eruption in 1927, a new volcano, Anak Krakatoa, who is still quite active today. Its height is now 300 meters due to new activities.

Santorini, Greece. About one and a half thousand years BC, a volcanic eruption occurred on the island of Thera, which put an end to the entire Cretan civilization. Sulfur covered all the fields, making further agriculture unthinkable. According to some versions, Fera is the same Atlantis described by Plato. Someone believes that the eruption of Santorini entered the chronicles as a pillar of fire seen by Moses, and the parting of the sea is nothing more than the consequences of the island of Thera going under water. However, the Vulcan continued its activity; in 1886, its eruption lasted a whole year, while pieces of lava flew straight out of the sea and rose to a height of 500 meters. The result is several new islands nearby.

Etna, Sicily.

About 200 eruptions of this Italian volcano are known. Among them there were quite powerful ones, for example, in 1169, about 15 thousand people died during the cataclysm. Today Etna remains an active volcano with a height of 3329 meters, waking up approximately once every 150 years and destroying one of the nearby villages. Why don't people leave the slopes of the mountain? The fact is that hardened lava helps the soil become more fertile, which is why the Sicilians settle here. In 1928, a miracle also happened - a stream of hot lava stopped in front of a Catholic procession. This inspired the believers so much that in 1930 a chapel was erected on this site; 30 years later the lava stopped in front of it. The Italians protect these places, so in 1981 the local government created a nature reserve around Etna. Interestingly, the calm volcano even hosts a blues music festival. Etna is quite large, exceeding the size of Vesuvius by 2.5 times. The volcano has from 200 to 400 side craters, lava erupts from one of them every three months. The volcanic eruption on the island began in April 1902, and on May 8, a whole cloud of vapor, gases and hot lava hit the city of Saint-Pierre, located 8 kilometers away. A few minutes later he was gone, and of the 17 ships that were in the harbor at that moment, only one managed to survive. The ship "Roddam" escaped from the clutches of the elements with broken masts, smoking and littered with ash. Of the 28 thousand people who inhabited the city, two were saved, one of them was named Opost Siparis, and he was sentenced to death. He was saved by the thick stone walls of the prison. The prisoner was subsequently pardoned by the governor, spending the rest of his life traveling around the world telling stories about what happened. The force of the impact was such that a monument in the square, weighing several tons, was thrown aside, and the heat was such that even bottles melted. It is interesting that there was no direct outpouring of liquid lava; the impact was caused by vapors, gases and sprayed lava. Subsequently, a sharp lava plug 375 meters high emerged from the crater of the volcano. It also turned out that the seabed near Martinique dropped several hundred meters. The city of Saint-Pierre, by the way, became famous for the fact that Napoleon’s wife, Josephine Beauharnais, was born there.

Nevado del Ruiz, Colombia. The 5,400-meter-high volcano, located in the Andes, burst out lava flows on November 13, 1985, and the main impact fell on the city of Armero, located 50 kilometers away. It only took 10 minutes for the lava to destroy it. The death toll exceeded 21 thousand people, and in total at that time about 29 thousand lived in Armero. It’s sad, but no one listened to the information from volcanologists about the impending eruption, since the information from specialists was repeatedly not confirmed.

Pinatubo, Philippines. Until June 12, 1991, the volcano was considered extinct for 611 years. The first signs of activity appeared in April and Philippine authorities managed to evacuate all residents within a radius of 20 kilometers. The eruption itself claimed the lives of 875 people, while a US naval base and an American strategic airbase located 18 kilometers from Pinatubo were destroyed. The ejected ash covered an area of ​​the sky of 125,000 km2. The consequences of the disaster were a general drop in temperature by half a degree and a reduction in the ozone layer, due to which a very large ozone hole formed over Antarctica. The height of the volcano before the eruption was 1486 meters, and after - 1745 meters. At the site of Pinatubo, a crater with a diameter of 2.5 kilometers formed. Today, tremors regularly occur in this area, preventing any construction within a radius of tens of kilometers.

Katmai, Alaska. The eruption of this volcano on June 6, 1912 was one of the largest in the 20th century. The height of the ash column was 20 kilometers, and the sound reached the capital of Alaska, the city of Juneau, located 1,200 kilometers away. At a distance of 4 kilometers from the epicenter, the ash layer reached 20 meters. The summer in Alaska turned out to be very cold, as the rays could not break through the cloud. After all, thirty billion tons were released into the air rocks ! A lake with a diameter of 1.5 kilometers formed in the crater itself, and it became the main attraction of the lake formed here in 1980. National Park

and Katmai Nature Reserve. Today the height of this active volcano is 2047 meters, and the last known eruption occurred in 1921. Volcanoes

- geological formations on the surface of the earth's crust through which magma emerges. The name comes from the Roman god of fire - Vulcan. Today there are more than 1,000 active volcanoes on the planet. Next, we will introduce you to the classification of volcanoes, tell you where most of them are located and which are considered the highest and most famous.

Volcanoes: interesting facts There is a large classification of volcanoes. So that's it volcanoes of the world
are divided into 3 types:
By type (shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes, cinder cones, domes);
By location (sub-deer, terrestrial, underwater);

By activity (extinct, dormant, active).
Each volcano consists of the following parts:
Main crater;
Side crater;


Vent. Some volcanoes do not emit lava. There are also mud volcanoes

Where are the volcanoes of the world?

Most volcanoes are located in the Andes, Indonesia, Iceland, Hawaii and Kamchatka. However, they are not located randomly, but in strictly defined zones:
Most of the volcanoes are located in an area called the Pacific Volcanic Ring of Fire: in the Andes, Cordillera, Kamchatka, as well as the Philippines and New Zealand. Almost everything is located here active volcanoes of the terrestrial world - 328 out of 540.
Another location zone is the Mediterranean Fold Belt, which includes the Mediterranean Sea (Santorini, Etna, Vesuvius) and extends to Indonesia, where almost all the powerful eruptions of the world took place: Tambora in 1815 and Krakatoa in 1883.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, forming entire volcanic islands. Vivid examples: Canary Islands, Iceland.

Active volcanoes of the world

Most of the active volcanoes are located in the above zones. Volcanoes often erupt in Iceland, and the tallest volcano in Europe, Etna, periodically reminds itself. Others that are especially widely known:
Popocatepetl, located near Mexico City;
Vesuvius;
Mauna Loa;
Nyiragongo (DR Congo), famous for its huge lake boiling lava located in the crater.

Extinct volcanoes of the world

Volcanoes often end active eruptions. Some of them are considered extinct, others are considered dormant. Extinct volcanoes of the world located throughout the planet, including in the Andes, where the highest volcano in the world is located - (6893 meters), as well as the mountain of volcanic origin Aconcagua ( main peak South America).

Often extinct volcanoes used as observatories, for example, Mauna Kea on Hawaiian Islands, in the crater of which 13 telescopes are installed. By the way, it is Mauna Kea that is recognized as the highest volcano in general; if you count the underwater part, its height is 10,205 meters.

The most famous volcanoes in the world

Everyone has heard stories about terrible eruptions that destroyed entire cities and destroyed islands. Here we will talk about:
Vesuvius, this small volcano in Italy (1281 m) destroyed the city of Pompeii. This moment is even captured in Bryullov’s painting “The Last Day of Pompeii.”
Etna – highest volcano in Europe, which periodically erupts. The last eruption took place in May 2015.
Krakatoa is a volcano in Indonesia, the eruption of which in 1883 was equivalent to an explosion of 10,000 atomic bombs. Now in its place rises a new volcano - Anak Krakatau.
Tambora. In 1815, the most powerful eruption of our time took place, which resulted in a volcanic winter (air pollution with ash), and 1816 became a year without summer.
Santorini, which destroyed the Minoan civilization and destroyed the whole island in the Mediterranean Sea.
Mont Pelée in Martinique, which destroyed the port of Saint-Pierre in a matter of minutes. 36,000 people died
The Yellowstone Caldera is a potential supervolcano whose eruption could change the map of the world.
Kilimanjaro is the highest point in Africa.

 

It might be useful to read: