EAPS 10200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Continental Crust, Convergent Boundary, Mafic

• School: Purdue University
• Department: Earth Atmos Planetary Sci
• Course: EAPS 10200
• Professor: Professor Balloti

Document Summary

Volcanoes: a volcano is a crack or rupture in the surface of the earth that allows molten material from below to escape onto the surface. The surface of the earth is already cracked into pieces called plates so it should be no surprise that the majority of volcanoes occur along plate boundaries: however, plate boundaries are not the only place volcanoes are found. Two other locations produce volcanoes; areas where the crust is thinning and so-called mantle plumes that produce hot spots. Anatomy of a volcano: volcanoes are fed by an underground source of magma called a magma chamber. The source of the magma changes with location and type of rock. Initially, the magma is moving up through the rock around due to density differences and buoyancy. If the magmas" viscosity is low enough it will make it to the surface before it cools and hardens.