Volcanoes

  The earth is made up of plates, sort of like a jig saw puzzle.  Volcanoes are formed by one plate getting pushed under another plate.   Pressure builds up creating heat so hot it turns the minerals to liquid creating a chamber of melted rock called magma.

  The gas of the chamber builds up pushing the magma up until it explodes out of the earth.  The hot magma, now called lava bursts out, it hardens over time and makes the volcano higher and higher each time it erupts creating islands or mountains. 

  The ash that comes out of the volcano makes really good fertilizer for plants and farmers to plant their crops.

  The biggest Volcano in the world is Mauna Loa in Hawaii.

  The most Volcanoes in the world are in a circle around the Pacific Ocean called the Ring of Fire.

  The closest active volcano to where I live is Mount St. Helens Washington.

Links about Volcanoes:

• Animation about Volcanoes savage earth.

• How Volcanoes work

• Interesting facts on volcanoes

• Volcano live webcams of active volcanoes

• Update on Current Volcanic activity loads google.earth

Picture painted by Ishtar, with help from Athena.
Animation created by Ishtar, with help from Mum.