Born of fire LUMPS OF LAVA, COOL CRATER LAKES AND MASSIVE

MOUNTAINS ARE JUST A FEW OF THE WAYS VOLCANIC

Shallow
d Explosive events
Volcanoes new and ol Lava lava volcanic eruptions,
shields
Some of the world’s most famous
Australia’s mainland volcanoes
are no longer active:
d around 6000 years
everywhere such as those from Indonesia’s
Krakatoa and Mount
haped stratovolcanoes.
Unlike the tall stratovolcanoes,
shield volcanoes have a
the last volcanic eruption occ urre Vesuvius in Italy, were of con e-s
Australia. Most of the many layers called strata flattened dome-like shape
ago at Mount Gambier in South When a volcano erupts it spews out steam, These volcanoes are made up of
in from Queensland exp losive eruptions. The and can span hundreds of
continent’s volcanoes are in a cha ash clouds, sulfur, lava and solidified and are characterised by their
rs ago completely kilometres across. This is
cha in of con tinental alm ost 200 0 yea
to Victoria – the longest rocks called volcanic bombs. When some eruption of Vesuvius because they erupt runny lava
acti vity covered and Herculaneum.
volcanoes in the wor ld! The ir of these materials mix together, they can wiped out the towns of Pompeii
mill ions of years ago. which can quickly flow over
large areas of land with lava form a pyroclastic flow that moves very large areas. Eruptions are
quickly down the slope of the volcano, relatively calm compared to
wiping out everything in its path. other volcano types. Mount
Warning in New South Wales
is a remnant of the Tweed
shield volcano, which was
once over 100 km in diameter.

Magma maze
Magma chambers are large pools of
melted rock below the volcanic cone.

Eroding
over time
Once the source of heat that fed a volcano Super soils
has gone, a plug of hard volcanic rock
remains. Crater lakes form when water Have you ever noticed that lush
fills the depression left by an old volcanic green forests are often found near
caldera (a crater formed by a volcanic old volcanoes? This is because fallen
collapse or explosion). volcanic ash helps form rich fertile
soil. The powdery consistency of
this soil helps to hold water in the
ground, making it ideal for farming.

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