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How and Why Volcanoes Erupt

Living Mountains

How and Why Volcanoes Erupt

by Jacques Kornprobst and Christine Laverne

Only $19.99
With Kornprobst's lucid prose and Laverne's 46 vivid watercolors, readers can see and understand the workings of different types of volcanoes. Written for a general audience, this book gives a deeper understanding of some of the most powerful forces humans have ever witnessed. This 7 1/2" x 9 1/2" paperback has 101 pages that are packed with detailed information about these mysterious fire mountains. See table of contents below.

Living Mountains: How and Why Volcanoes Erupt
Table of Contents

CONSTRUCTING VOLCANOES
1
Simple and Complex Volcanoes
1
Lavas
2
    Fluid Lavas: Flows and Lava Lakes
3
    Pahoehoe Flows, 'A'a Flows, and Ropy Lavas
3
    Lava Tunnels
4
    Columnar Jointing
5
    Viscous Lavas: Domes and Petaloid Flows
8
    Simple Domes, Complex Domes, and Cryptodomes
9
    Prismatic Columns in Viscous Lava
11
Volcanic Ejecta
11
    Bombs, Lapilli, and Ash
11
    Inclusions and Xenoliths
12
    Pyroclastic Formations
12
    Ignimbrites
14
Why Explosive Eruptions Occur
15
    Volcanic Gases
15
    Gas Expansion
16
    Strombolian Eruptions and Lava Fountains
17
    Plinian Eruptions
20
    Pelean Eruptions
20
    Surges
23
    When Rising Magma Meets Groundwater
23
Carbonic Eruptions
26
    Percolation of Carbon Dioxide through Earth's Crust
26
    Disruption of Deep Aquifer Layers
26
    Overturn of Water in Crater Lakes
27
The Effects of Volcanic Eruptions on Climate
28
Repose Period of a Volcano and Fumarolic Activity
29
Submarine Volcanoes: Eruptions beneath the Sea
29
    Hyaloclastites
30
    Pillow Lavas and Lava Ponds
30
    Black Smokers
33
Volcanic Collapse
34
    Lahars
34
    Flank Slides
35
    Calderas
36
WHERE MAGMA ORIGINATES
38
The Earth's Concentric Structure
38
Partial Melting of Rocks
40
    Migration of a Melt
42
    Formation of Magma Chambers
42
The Conditions of Partial Melting
43
Mantle Convection and Plate Tectonics
44
    Seafloor Spreading
45
    Subduction
47
Mantle Upwelling: Partial Melting due to Reduced Pressure
47
    Formation of the Oceanic Crust
48
    Hot Spot Volcanism
49
Subduction: Partial Melting due to the Addition of Water
51
Magma Pooling: Partial Melting due to Increased Temperature
53
VOLCANIC ROCK DIVERSITY
55
Cooling History
55
    Obsidian
56
    Microlitic and Doleritic Textures
57
    Aphyric versus Porphyritic Texture
58
Chemical Diversity
59
    Differences in Source Material and Degree of Partial Melting
60
    Magma Mixing and Contamination
61
    Bimodal Volcanism
61
    Magma Mixing or Hybridization
61
    Contamination
62
    Magmatic Differentiation by Fractional Crystallization
62
    Crystallization in a Magma Chamber
64
    Unraveling a Lava's History
67
    Trace Elements
67
    Isotopic Ratios
69
DATING VOLCANIC EVENTS
72
History
72
Relative Chronology
73
Absolute Chronology
74
    Carbon-14 Dating
74
    Potassium-Argon Dating
75
    Thermoluminescence
76
PREDICTING VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS
78
Estimating the Threat
78
Precursors of Eruptions
79
    Seismic Precursors
79
    Inflation of Volcanoes
80
    Tilt Meters
80
    Displacement Meters
80
    Electronic Distance Meters
81
    Spatial Altimetry
81
    Thermal and Chemical Precursors
82
    Magnetic Precursors
83
Volcano Surveillance Networks
83
Glossary
89
Index
95


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