Volcano 40 Marker

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Analyse the factors that cause differences in the hazards posed by volcanoes around the world (40 marks) June 2013 Volcanoes are forms of major extrusive activity and are openings in the Earth’s crust where molten rock and gases reach the surface. The eruption of volcanoes throws out lava, rocks, ash and gases in various proportions. How hazardous a volcano is, depends on a variety of human and physical factors that work in conjunction to determine the level of damage a volcano can have on the human population. The location of a volcano is a large variable which determines the nature of its eruption. Volcanoes are found mainly in three locations, at constructive and destructive plate margins and at hotspots. The most dangerous volcanoes occur at destructive, convergent plate margins. Here one plate subducts beneath the other, and as it descends, friction, increasing pressure, and heat from the asthenosphere and mantle melt the plate to form an acidic magma chamber. The magma at these boundaries is andesitic and rhyolitic, meaning that they have a high viscosity. Because of this the lava is resistant to flow and often forms blockages in vents. Pressure builds up because of the lava blockages and trapped gases, therefore these eruptions are very violent and dangerous. These eruptions usually involve pyroclastics and ash, which are hazards both on a local and a global scale. An example of a volcano at a destructive plate boundary is Mt St Helens in Washington, USA. At constructive plate boundaries, the lava is generally basaltic and therefore has low viscosity, meaning that it flows easily and gases can escape easily. This means that these eruptions are less violent than destructive eruptions, however they do occur more frequently but are not explosive, so are effusive. A good example is the Mid Atlantic ridge, where there is constant volcanic activity below the
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