Engels talk

Volcanoes
1# A volcano and its past
A volcano is an opening or a crack in the surface of a planet.
Out of the planet comes lava and ash through the crack.
A volcano is dangerous for people because the lava is so hot it can let woods burn and stone
smelt. And if we exactly know when a eruption comes then we can take refuge before it
erupts. But we dont really know when it erupts. We have equipment to see when there is
vibration. And when theres too much vibration there can come a eruption but when we see
that theres too much vibration then its too late for everyone to flee. The ancient Romans
called the volcanoes vulcano because of their fire god Vulcan.

2# how comes a volcano on a planet.

In the begin of the lifetime of the earth it was a planet where the whole surface was molten.
But when it solidified the whole earth became solid. Then it rained for a long time and the
lower parts of the world became oceans. It couldnt rain before because it was too hot on the
surface but when it cooled off it rained. Under the hard surface there was still liquid lava
present and this was still moving. Therefore the surface cracked and plates started to form.
The plates are the continents of the earth and they move along and against each other. Those
plates are called continental plates. A volcano comes when 2 continental plates collide and
push each other up and a mountain is created. Because of the plates moving against each other
there are a lot of earthquakes on the edges of the plates. Gasses and molten material from
beneath the surface want to go up because the moving of the plates creates a lot of pressure.
When the pressure of the magma and gasses on the mountain becomes to high the mountain
erupts and it will be called a volcano. After it has erupted it will form a crater. Because the top
of the mountain has been blasted away.

3# Where do volcanoes come.

Volcanoes can come around continental plates on every planet that has a molten core. Earth
has a molten core but mars for example too. On mars there are also volcanoes and those are
even bigger then the ones on earth. A well known volcano is Vesuvius. Vesuvius lies near
Pompeii in Italy. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. and it rained stones and ash for 3 days and the
town Pompeii was completely destroyed. After that Pompeii has been covered with ash and
lava for 17 centuries. When we unearthed the cities we founded a lot of buildings and people
that are still standing or sitting in its original position but now in stone. Because of that, we
now have a lot of information about the ancient Romans.
A Roman writer Plinius was on a visit at his uncles in Pompeii, exactly at the moment the
volcano burst out. In his dairy he wrote the following: The floor of the room lay full of ash so
the doors of the chambers couldnt be opened. The house trembled and shook by the strength
of the eruption. It was day, but it remained dark. We decided to leave. To protect ourselves
against the falling stones we bound cushions on our heads.
Most of the volcanoes on earth can be found at the ring of fire. This is a ring of volcanoes on
several islands circling the edge of a continental plate. The pacific ocean is in the middle of
this plate and this is why it is called the pacific plate. Some of these islands with a lot of
volcanoes are New-Zealand, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Alaska, the west coast of Canada,
the west coast of the U.S.A., Central America and South America. Of all the volcanoes in the
ring, there are 128 active and 65 dangerous. Because the Netherlands is not near the edge of a
plate we have no volcanoes in the Netherlands and also no strong earthquakes.