Geology Forum for Geologists

⚒️🔥 Volcanic materials 🔥⚒️

When volcanoes erupt, solid rock debris, molten materials (magma) and gases come out.

♦️️ rock debris:
As a result of volcanic eruptions, solid rock debris of various types and sizes usually emerges in the initial period of a volcanic eruption. The rock debris is derived from the hardened crust that is extracted from the walls of the neck as a result of the strong and violent push of lava and gaseous materials emanating from magma. Rock debris is composed of materials of different sizes, including rock blocks, shells and embers, sand and volcanic dust.

♦️️ Gases:
Water vapor gases emerge from volcanoes during their activity, and it emanates in great quantities, forming huge clouds in which dust and other gases mix with it. These vapors condense, causing heavy rains to fall in the vicinity of the volcano. The explosions and rain are accompanied by the occurrence of electric lights that arise from the friction of volcanic ash granules with each other and as a result of air disturbances, except for the extremely hot water fumes, the volcano emits multiple gases, the most important of which are hydrogen, chlorine, sulfur compounds, nitrogen compounds, carbon compounds and oxygen.

♦️️ Lava:
They are liquid masses ejected by volcanoes, with a temperature between 800°C and 1200°C. The lava emanates from the crater of the volcano, as well as through the cracks and fractures in the sides of the volcanic cone, those fractures that are created by the explosions and the pressure of the magma masses.
Light lava:
This is characterized by the bone of its viscosity, and therefore it is slow flowing, like the lava that emanated from the Pelly volcano (in the Martinique Islands in the Caribbean) in 1902. It was so thick and sticky that it was unable to move, and it began to accumulate and rise, forming a tower above the crater, with a height of about 300 meters. Then, soon after that, it was broken and shattered as a result of the explosions caused by the exit of gases.
⚒ Dark heavy lava:
It is basaltic lava, and it is characterized by being highly liquid and mobile, and it flows in the form of streams on the slopes of the volcano, and when this lava emerges through large fractures, it spreads over huge areas forming spacious plateaus, such as the Abyssinian Plateau and the Deccan Plateau in India and the Columbia Plateau in North America.

🔥️ Volcanic materials

🔹️Volcanic Solids:
The parts that make up volcanic rocks are:
⚒Volcanic ejecta:
It is a frozen magma and lava ejected to the surface.
⚒ Pumice rock:
It is a silicate foam that is evaporated by gases.
⚒Volcanic ash:
It results from the fragmentation and scattering of the frozen magma summit in the neck of the volcano under the influence of pressure and steam, and it hardens quickly.

🔹️Liquid volcanic materials magma and lava (lava):
It consists of liquid materials from the lava that flows burning from the crater to great distances sometimes, and the extent of lava liquidity is subject to several factors. Such as the slope of the earth, the nature of magma and lava (viscous or fluid) and the viscosity ratio depends on the percentage of silica, and on the strength of the volcano

Gaseous volcanic materials:
Among the most important gases emitted from volcanoes are:
⚒ water vapor
⚒ Hydrocarbon compounds
⚒ sulfur dioxide

In geology, an eon is the largest and most comprehensive division of geological time, representing an extremely long and distinct interval in Earth’s history. Eons are used to categorize and organize geological time on a grand scale, encompassing billions of years. There are two primary eons in Earth’s geological history:

1. **Precambrian Eon:** The Precambrian is the longest eon, spanning approximately 4.6 billion years ago to around 541 million years ago. It comprises a vast portion of Earth’s history, including the formation of the Earth, the development of the first continents and oceans, and the evolution of early life forms. The Precambrian is divided into several subdivisions, including the Hadean, Archean, and Proterozoic eons.

2. **Phanerozoic Eon:** The Phanerozoic eon represents the most recent and comparatively shorter interval of Earth’s history, starting around 541 million years ago and continuing to the present day. It is characterized by the presence of abundant and diverse life forms and is divided into three major eras: Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic. These eras are further subdivided into periods and epochs, providing a detailed record of the evolution of life and Earth’s geological events.

Eons serve as a fundamental framework for understanding and studying the Earth’s history over vast timescales. Within each eon, significant geological and biological changes have occurred, and they provide a way for scientists to categorize and analyze the major events and developments that have shaped our planet’s history.