Both earthquakes and volcanoes are surface expressions of heat within the Earth's interior. The lava that erupts from a volcano has its origin within the Earth's mantle. At depths of approximately 75-250 km mantle rocks can melt, generating magmas that rise to the surface and erupt.

A quick tour of volcanoes of the world would show us that there are two fundamentally different behaviors that occur when volcanoes erupt. We'll tour two volcanic mountain ranges, Hawaii and the Cascades to explore these differences. Click along the menu on the left side of this screen to tour the different volcanic mountain ranges.

Photo, lava going into the sea at night

 

 

Discovery Topics > Hawaiian Volcanoes <