SCIENCE

TYPES OF VOLCANOES AND VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

The Philippines is located along the Pacific Ring of Fire as a result it is a home to more than a hundred
volcanoes.

There are 24 active volcanoes in the Philippines

Taal has 47 craters
Mayon has one crater
Volcanoes in the Philippines
Taal in Batangas
Mayon in Albay
Kanlaon in Negros Island
Hibok-Hibok in Camiguin
Pinatubo in Zambales

Volcano
● a vent, hill or mountain from which molten or hot rocks with gaseous material have been ejected.
● also defined as craters, depressions, hills or mountains formed from the ejected materials
accumulated on the earth’s surface.
● has three external parts; a summit, slope and base.
● Summit - an opening which may either be a crater or a caldera.
● Crater - a funnel-shaped opening at the top of a volcano
● Caldera - formed when a part of the wall collapses following an explosive eruption.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) have adapted a system by
which Philippine volcanoes can be classified as active or inactive.

Active volcano has a record of eruption within the last 600 years or has erupted 10,000 years ago

Inactive volcano has no record of eruption for the last 10,000 years

Volcanologist have been able to classify them according to their landforms and eruptive patterns.

Types of Volcanoes
Shield Volcano
● formed from the accumulation of lava that oozes out from the volcano.
● non-viscous lava can flow freely, a broad, slightly domed structure that resembles a warrior’s
shield is formed.
● Mauna Loa Volcano in Hawaii.

Cinder Cones
● built from ejected lava fragments.
● have steep slope, wide crater
● most abundant of the three major volcano types.
● Paricutin Volcano in Mexico.

Composite Volcano or Stratovolcanoes

● large, nearly perfect sloped structure formed from alternate solidification of both lava and
pyroclastic deposits.
● Mayon Volcano in Albay

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VOLCANIC ERUPTION
Their various types of eruptions depend on the following factors:
● magma’s temperature,
● chemical composition (SiO2)
● amount of dissolved gases

Viscosity is the property of the material’s resistance to flow. It is also described as the liquid’s thickness
and stickiness. The more viscous and thicker the material is, the greater is its resistance to flow.

How each factor affects the viscosity of magma?

● As the temperature of magma increases, its viscosity decreases.
● As the temperature of magma decreases, its viscosity increases.
● As lava flows down the slope, its temperature begins to decrease and starts to harden, and its ability to
flow decreases and eventually stops.

How the composition of magma affects its viscosity?

● Lava with less silica content has low viscosity that it can travel great distance forming a thin sheet.
● Lava with high silica content is too viscous to travel far, and tends to breakup as it flows.
● Gas (mainly water vapor), dissolved in magma, tends to increase its ability to flow.
● The loss of gases makes magma more viscous forming a dome or a columnar
● Lava with low amount of gas and high silica content is very viscous and does not flow out at all as it rises,
forming a columnar plug in the vent.
● Lava with low amount of gas as it rises has high viscosity that it piles up at a vent resulting in a dome.
● Magmas with high viscosity are those with low gas content, high silica content, and low temperature, thus,
have low mobility or slow in flowing.
● magmas with low viscosity are those with high gas content, low silica content, and high temperature.

Types of Volcanic Eruptions

Phreatic or Hydrothermal
● It happens when the hot rocks come in contact with water.
● It is called a stream-driven eruption, short-lived,characterized by ash columns
● Bulusan Volcano in Sorsogon (2016)

Phreatomagmatic
● A violent eruption due to the contact between water and magma.
● A large column of very fine ash and high-speed and sideway emission of pyroclastics called base surges
are observed
● Taal Volcano in Batangas (2020)

Strombolian
● Bursting of huge clots, lava from the volcano's summit crater was displayed forming a luminous arc from
the sky.
● It is also described as a periodic weak to violent eruption characterized by fountain lava.
● Irazu volcano in Costa Rica (1965)

Vulcanian
● tall eruption columns that reach up to 20 km high with pyroclastic flow and ashfall tephra
● Paricutin Volcano in Mexico

Plinian
● The most powerful and deadliest type of eruption.
● It ejects excessive amount of ashes and pyroclastics
● Mt. Saint Helen (1960)
● Pinatubo Volcano in Zambales (1991)

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VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
Why does the Philippines have many volcanoes?
The Philippines sits on tectonic setting ideal to volcanism and earthquake activity. It is situated at the
boundaries of two tectonic plates - the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasian Plate - both of which
subduct or dive beneath the archipelago along the deep trenches along its east and west seaboard

Volcanic Eruption
● Occurs when hot materials from the earth’s interior are thrown out of a volcano.
● Lava, rocks, dust, and gas compounds are some of these “ejecta”.
● Eruptions can come from side branches or from the top of the volcano.
● Some are quiet outflows of hot lava.

What forms a volcano?

● Volcanoes are formed when magma (liquid rock) trapped underneath the Earth’s crust rises to the surface
and escapes through cracks.
● The space for the magma to leave is very small and, as it travels, pressure builds, meaning it escapes
violently when released.
● This escaping liquid rock becomes lava, which solidifies as it travels. Layers of lava build up over time,
creating volcanoes.

What triggers an eruption?

● Tectonic plates are key. They are large pieces of the Earth’s crust which can move towards, away from, or
alongside one another.
● Moving tectonic plates can cause earthquakes, which then create fissures (these are weaknesses or small
tears in the Earth’s crust). When fissures appear, the magma beneath the surface has an opportunity to
escape.

What happens during an eruption?

● Eruptions vary depending on the type of volcano and the different types of tectonic boundary
● At destructive boundaries - where tectonic plates are moving towards each other - you’ll find composite
volcanoes.
● Composite volcanoes have very sticky and thick lava, which can make them very explosive when they
erupt: gas bubbles that are trapped in the magma chamber find it hard to escape through the viscous rock.

How do volcanoes erupt?

● Deep within the Earth it is so hot that some rocks slowly melt and become a thick flowing
substance called magma.
● Magma that has erupted is called lava.
● The magma blasts into the air and breaks apart into pieces called tephra. Tephra can range in
size from tiny particles of ash to house-size boulders.

What causes a volcano to erupt?

● The movement of tectonic plates.
● When the plates move away from each other allows magma to rise and fill the gap, which can
cause a gentle explosion of thin lava of temperatures between 800 to 1,200C.
● A decrease in external pressure can trigger an eruption as it may minimize the volcano's ability to
hold back by increasing the pressure inside the magma chamber. This kind of eruption can be
caused by natural events such as typhoons

Mudflows
● powerful rivers of mud that can move faster than people can walk or run.
● occur when rain falls through ash-carrying clouds or when rivers are close to stream channels.

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ENERGY FROM VOLCANOES
Geothermal energy
● Thermal energy inside the earth
● Geo means earth, thermal means heat
● The heat from the Earth’s interior
● The heat of the Earth warms up water which is trapped in rock formations beneath its surface.
● The energy of steam from beneath the earth’s surface.
● Movement of the earth’s crust causes cracks to be formed, letting very hot molten rock (magma)
from the deeper portions of the earth to work up close to the surface.
● As the magma rises, it transfers heat to the layers of rock above and around it
● If there is water trapped in the rock layers, steam is produced
● The steam may be used to operate turbines, which can generate electricity.
● The production of electricity from geothermal energy is cheaper than the electricity production
using natural gas, coal, and hydropower.

Philippines ranks second in the world’s production of geothermal energy, 14.4% of the country’s total
power generation is produced from geothermal energy.

Geothermal Power Plants

● The heat from deep inside the Earth is used to produce steam to generate electricity.
● Power plants are built near a group of geysers, hotsprings, or volcanic activity.
● Geothermal hot waters can be used for many applications that require heat.
● Used in order to generate electricity by the use of geothermal energy

Geothermal Heat Pumps

● Use the heat coming from close to the Earth’s surface to heat water or provide heat for buildings.
● Heat pump is an electrical device that extracts heat from one place and transfers it to another. It
transfers heat by circulating a substance called a refrigerant through a cycle of evaporation and
condensation. A compressor pumps refrigerant between two heat exchanger coils.
● They concentrate naturally existing heat, rather than by producing heat through the combustion
of fossil fuels.
● Used for space heating and cooling, as well as water heating.

Steps in Generating Electricity from a Geothermal Energy

1. Wells are drilled deep into the earth to pump steam of hot water to the surface
2. When the water reaches the surface, the drop in pressure causes the water to turn into steam
3. The steam spins a turbine, which is connected to a generator that produces electricity
4. Cooling tower cools the steam which it condenses back to water
5. The cooled water is pumped back into the earth to begging the process again

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Advantages
1. Environmentally Friendly
● Low carbon footprint
● Minimal pollution

2. Renewable
● It will last until the Earth is destroyed by the sun in around 5 billion years.
● Naturally replenished, may it be both renewable and sustainable.

3. Huge Potential
● Worldwide Energy consumption is currently around 15 terawatts, which is far from the total
potential energy available from geothermal sources.
● It is currently estimated that geothermal power plants could provide between 0.0035 and 2
terawatts of power.

4. Suitable/Stable
● Reliable source of energy as compared to other renewable resources such as wind and solar
power.
● The resource is always available to be tapped into, unlike the wind or solar energy.

5. Heating and Cooling

● Effective use of geothermal for electricity generation requires water temperatures of over150
degree Celsius to drive turbines.

6. Reliable
● Easy to calculate since it does not fluctuate in the same way as other energy sources, such as
solar and wind.

7. No fuel Required
● Naturally occurring resource

8. Ravid Evolution
● New technologies are being created to improve the energy process.

Disadvantages
1. Location Restricted
2. Environmental Side Effects
3. Earthquakes
4. High Costs
5. Sustainability

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FACTORS AFFECTING CLIMATE CHANGE
Weather
● Day-to-day temperature
● Varies from time to time
● Change within minutes or hours

Climate
● A pattern of weather in a certain area over a long period of time.
● Average weather over many years in one place
● January- Coldest Temperature
● May- Warmest Temperature

According to Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration

(PAGASA) the climate of the Philippines is tropical and maritime, which is characterized by relatively
high temperature, high humidity and abundant rainfall.

Factors Affecting Climate

Latitude
● The measurement of distance north and south of the equator.
● Imaginary lines that form circles around the Earth’s east - west regions parallel to the equator.
● Influences the climate of a region because different latitudes receive different amounts of solar
radiation.
● The sun’s rays strike vertically in places near the equator which makes the temperature in these
areas higher.
● As the latitude increases, the smaller the angle of the sun’s rays striking the surface.
● Moving north or south from the equator brings a cooler climate.
● The closer the place is to the equator,the warmer the climate is; the farther the place is from the
equator, the colder the climate is.

Altitude
● Refers to the elevation of a place above sea level.
● Affect the air temperature
● For every 1000 m, there is a drop of 6.50C. At higher elevation, there is less air.
● The air molecules are farther apart, thus making the air less dense.
● The air molecules are farther apart, thus making the air less dense.
● The decrease in temperature due to the decrease in air pressure.
● The air temperature decreases as the altitude increases. Places With higher elevations have
colder climates.

Bodies of Water
● Water heats and cools more slowly than land. Therefore, in the summer, the coastal regions will
stay cooler and in winter warmer.
● Land absorbs heat faster than water. At the same time, land releases heat faster compared to
water.
● Places without a body of water nearby tend to have higher temperature during daytime.
● Places that are near the ocean have moderate climate as the body of water regulates the
temperature.
● The temperature of water rises more slowly than that of land.

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Topography

● One side is facing the wing and has low temperature.

● Clouds are forming here due to the condensation of water vapor. This formation of clouds
develops to become rain.
● On the other side of the mountain, there is no cloud formation. The temperature is high and
precipitation does not happen. This results in the formation of a dry and warm region.
● The area in which the wind blows is called the windward side. As it moves up, the water vapor
condenses and forms clouds.
● The air moves down towards the opposite region called leeward side. The cold air mass starts to
absorb heat and becomes warm and dry.
● The dry region on the leeward side is called rain shadow.

Ocean Currents

● Land areas also absorb some sunlight, and the atmosphere helps to retain heat that would
otherwise quickly radiate into space after sunset.
● In the Northern Hemisphere, the current flows in a clockwise direction.
● In the Southern hemisphere, the current flows counterclockwise direction.
● These clockwise and counterclockwise of ocean currents are caused by the Coriolis effect.
● Ocean currents that flow away from the equator carries warm water.
● Cold currents that travel from the poles toward the equator carry cold water.

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CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate Change
● The global phenomenon of climate transformation characterised by the changes in the usual
climate of the planet (temperature, precipitation,and wind)
● A broad range of global phenomena created predominantly by burning fossil fuels, which add
heat-trapping gases to Earth’s atmosphere.
● Refers to the increasing changes in the measures of climate over a long period of time

Global Warming1
● Aspect of climate change.
● It is the rise in global temperatures due mainly to the increasing concentrations of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere.

Greenhouse Gases
● Gases in the Earth’s atmosphere that trap heat.
● They let sunlight pass through the atmosphere,but they prevent the heat that the sunlight brings
from leaving the atmosphere.

Types of Greenhouse Gases

1. Water Vapor
● Blocks heat from escaping, so it gets warmer which causes even more water to evaporate.
● Once this process happens, it can happen again more easily.

2. Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

● Released when burning fossil fuels like coal and oil.
● It’s the most important contributor to human-caused global warming.

3. Methane (CH4)
● Traps a lot of heat
● Second most important contributor to human-caused global warming

4. Ozone
● Can be formed by burning gas in cars and factories.

5. Nitrous Oxide (N2O)

● Released by some types of factories,power plants and some fertilizer.
● It damages the protective ozone layer.
● A powerful greenhouse gas.

6. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
● Damage the ozone layer
● Most common sources are refrigerants

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Effects of Climate Change
1. Temperatures will continue to rise

2. Frost-free season (and Growing season) will lengthen

3. Extreme Weather
● As the Earth’s atmosphere heats up, it collects, retains, and drops more water, changing weather
patterns and making wet areas wetter and dry areas drier.

4. Rising Seas
● The Arctic is heating twice as fast as any other place on the planet.

5. Warmer, more acidic oceans

● The Earth’s oceans absorb between one-quarter and one-third of our fossil fuel emissions and
are now 30 percent more acidic than they were in preindustrial times.

6. El Niño and La Niña

● Opposite phases of what is known as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.
● The ENSO cycle is a scientific term that describes the fluctuations in temperature between the
ocean and atmosphere in the east-central Equatorial Pacific (approximately between the
International Date Line And 120 degrees West).
La Niña
● Cold phase
● Represent Periods of below-average sea surface temperatures across the east-central
Equatorial Pacific.
● Winter temperatures are warmer than normal in theSoutheast and cooler than normal in the
Northwest.

El Niño
● Warm phase
● The large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate interaction linked to aperiodic warming in sea surface
temperatures across the central and east-central Equatorial Pacific
● The presence of El Niño can significantly influence weather patterns, ocean conditions, and
marine fisheries across large portions of the globe for an extended period of time.

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CONSTELLATION
Star- a massive ball of plasma that emits light throughout the universe.

Five Characteristics of Stars

1. Brightness (Luminosity and Magnitude)
Luminosity
● Amount of light that a star radiates
● Size of the star and its surface temperature define luminosity
Apparent Magnitude
● its perceived brightness
● Size and distance
Absolute Magnitude- true brightness

Color
● Depends on surface temperature
● Cooler stars tend to be redder in color
● Hotter stars have a bluer appearance.
● Stars in the mid-ranges are white or yellow, such as sun.

Surface Temperature
● Astronomers measure a star's temperature on the Kelvin scale.
● Zero degrees on the Kelvin scale is theoretically absolute and is equal to -273.15 degrees
Celsius.
● The coolest, reddest stars are approximately 2,500 K,
● The hottest stars canreach temperature up to 50,000 K.
● Sun is about 5,500 K.

Size
● Astronomers measure the size of a given star in terms of sun's radius.
● A star that measure 1 solar radius would be the same size as sun.
● The star Rigel, which is much larger than our sun, measures 78 solar radii.

Mass
● A star's mass is also measured in terms of our own sun, with 1 equal to the size of sun.
● Rigel, which is much larger than our sun, has a mass of 3.5 solar masses.
● Two stars of a similar size may not necessarily have the same mass, as stars can vary greatly in
density.

Constellations
● A constellation is any group of stars forming a recognizable pattern
● Modern astronomers divide the sky into eighty-eight constellations with defined boundaries

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Patterns in Sky
● The naked eye can see 2000 to 3000 stars.
● The patterns of stars seen in the sky are usually called constellations, although more accurately,
a group of stars that forms a pattern in the sky is called an asterism. Astronomers use the term
constellation to refer to an area of the sky.
● The International Astronomical Union (IAU) divides the sky into 88 official constellations with
exact boundaries, so that every place in the sky belongs within a constellation.
● Most of the constellations in the Northern Hemisphere are based on the constellations invented
by the ancient Greeks
● Most in the Southern Hemisphere are based on names given to them by seventeenth century
European explorers.

Apparent Movement of the Stars through the Night

● There are some subtle movements, as we orbit the sun over the course of the year.
● Parallax- where we measure how much a star moves while we orbit around the sun and use that
information to calculate the distance to that star.
● In the Northern Hemisphere, every star in the sky circles around theNorth Star (Polaris).
● In the Southern Hemisphere, there is a similar pattern. The stars appear to rotate around a point
directly above the South Pole. The only difference is that there isn't a south star.
● Circumpolar Constellations- appear to move in circle around the night sky.

Polaris
● The North Star or Pole Star
● Famous for holding nearly still in our sky while the entire northern sky moves around it.

Different Star Patterns throughout the Year

● Ecliptic- circular path
● The zodiac is the group (belt) of constellations that fall along the plane of the ecliptic.
● There are 13 astronomical zodiac constellations: Capricornus, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries,Taurus,
Gemini, Cancer, Leo,Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, and Ophiuchus.

Winter Season- Canis Major, Cetus, Eridanus, Gemini, Perseus, Taurus, and Orion
Summer- Aquila, Cygnus, Hercules, Lyra, Ophiuchus, Sagittarius, and Scorpius
Spring- Bootes, Cancer, Crater, Hydra, Leo, and Virgo
Autumn- Andromeda, Aquarius, Capricornus, Pegasus and Pisces

How early people used the constellations

● They were drawn to two bright stars that always could be seen circling the North Pole.The
Egyptians referred to those stars as "the indestructibles."
● In the 4th century B.C., Aristotle of Stagira Knew the Earth was round because of eclipses
observed when Earth passed between the Moon and the Sun.
● In the 3rd century B.C.,Eratosthenes understood correctly that meant Earth's surface is curved.
He calculated correctly that Earth is a ball about 25,000 miles around.
● Calendars and Ancient Sailors
● Ptolemy used old calculations by Hipparchus to understand planetary motion.
● "Star-finders" or astrolabes were created by Arab astronomers to solve complicated astronomy
problems.

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Philippine Constellations
Tala- goddess of the stars
Mayari- goddess of the moon
Hanan- goddess of the morning
Daughters of Bathala

Apolaki- god of the sun

Son of Analogay and Dumakulem

Our ancestors somehow practiced following the star movements as a sign of good harvest, fishing,
hunting, and other activities in the tribe. It’s either a good or bad when something is changing in the
night sky.

Moroporo- sea navigation

Balatik- beginning of the planting season

Tres Marias (The Three Marias)

Magbangal in Bukidnon, Seretar in Teduray,
Balatik is composed of perfectly aligned and evenly spaced stars which act as the belt of the
constellation of Orion. In Palawan and Ibaloi however, “Balatik” is seen as both the sword and belt of
Orion. It signifies the start of planting and setting of traps to protect the crops from animals.

Mapolon in Tagalog
San Apon in Ibaloi
Kufukufu in Teduray
In western, it is known as the star cluster Pleiades (The Seven Sisters) located in the constellation of
Taurus. Tagalogs consulted this star cluster to know the shifting of time and season. It implies the start of
the planting season.

Lepu by the “Matigsalug Manobo” of Bukidnon- In the western equivalent, it is known as the
constellation of Aquila. It signifies the time to clean or clear the fields while waiting for the harvest time.

Talang Batugan (Lazy), named for its characteristics of slow motion, large size, and low brightness and
usually known as a guiding star for shepherds.

In Bicol “Pogot”used as a sign for fishing and incoming storms, “Soag” is a four-star that resemble a
four-sided figure, which signals the beginning of nighttime, and “Torong”consisting of three stars that
show an approaching storm.

“Sipat” and “Tudong” are mentioned in a ritual known as “kentan” conducted by ethnic groups in the
Cordillera to bless rice seedlings. “Binabbais”, another star named by the people of Cordillera, is heard
in prayers chanted during their ritual sacrifice of a chicken.

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