Study how magma erupts as lava and turns into pumice or hardens to form a shield volcano
Spectacular fountainlike eruptions at Kilauea volcano, Hawaii, are followed by streams of fluid lava flowing down the mountainside.
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Transcript
[Volcanoes erupting]
NARRATOR: In the volcano's initial stages small eruptions, each lasting a few hours, occur repeatedly over a period of weeks. Spectacular orange fountains of lava soar more than one hundred meters into the air. As the volcano reaches the peak of its activity, the fountains reach heights of more than five hundred meters, taller than any structure built by man. Expanding gas causes lava to froth and break into small pieces. As it comes in contact with the atmosphere, some of the molten material hardens into a light, porous rock called pumice, which falls to the earth in a fiery shower. But most Hawaiian lava remains in liquid form and pours from the site of the fountain. The cascading flows of molten rock spread over the land and eventually harden. The result of this process is the landform known as a shield volcano. Shield volcanoes are formed in areas where magma is very fluid. Repeated flows of lava form layers of rock that build mountains with broad, sloping sides.
NARRATOR: In the volcano's initial stages small eruptions, each lasting a few hours, occur repeatedly over a period of weeks. Spectacular orange fountains of lava soar more than one hundred meters into the air. As the volcano reaches the peak of its activity, the fountains reach heights of more than five hundred meters, taller than any structure built by man. Expanding gas causes lava to froth and break into small pieces. As it comes in contact with the atmosphere, some of the molten material hardens into a light, porous rock called pumice, which falls to the earth in a fiery shower. But most Hawaiian lava remains in liquid form and pours from the site of the fountain. The cascading flows of molten rock spread over the land and eventually harden. The result of this process is the landform known as a shield volcano. Shield volcanoes are formed in areas where magma is very fluid. Repeated flows of lava form layers of rock that build mountains with broad, sloping sides.
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