Volcanoes on earth and other planets of the solar system. Volcanoes of the Decade: the most terrible peaks of our planet Southern volcanoes of the planet

Humanity's interest in the most amazing and exotic corners of our planet Earth is quite justified and has recently flared up with renewed vigor, given the unique opportunity to travel around the world, visiting the most closed and inaccessible places.

Reflecting on the topic of the southernmost active volcano on Earth, most people uninformed in this matter for some reason have associations with the Sicilian Etna or, in extreme cases, some dormant vent in sultry Ethiopia. In fact, these assumptions have absolutely nothing to do with reality and the southernmost active volcano is Erebus, located in distant Antarctica, which in its height is second only to the active Sidley volcano, located nearby on the same continent. This volcano was first discovered back in 1841, after which in 1908 its peak was conquered by one of the scientific expeditions whose goal was a detailed study of the entire South Pole).

What is noteworthy is that since 1972 it was found that the formation began to “wake up” and today Erebus is one of the most active volcanoes of our multifaceted and amazing planet. Among other things, brave scientists managed to establish the fact that in the depths of its active crater lies a unique lava lake. The location of the volcano itself suggests constant powerful emissions of gas from deep faults in the earth's crust, on which it actually formed. It should be noted that these processes, although absolutely natural, are by no means safe for planet Earth as a whole.

The fact is that gases constantly emitted from the depths, among which elements such as hydrogen and methane should be singled out in a special niche, tend to reach the protective layer of the planet’s air envelope - the ozone layer, thereby maximizing its destruction. Surprisingly, its most deplorable condition (meaning the thickness of the ozone coating) is observed not over the noisiest megacities with huge industrial production and lines of cars “smoking the sky” with their exhaust gases, but rather over Rossa (the territory of the island and the waters of the sea of ​​the same name) . It is in this place that the peak of Erebus and its three companions, which awakened in 1972, are located, which, however, are recognized as extinct, which means that they have irrevocably ceased their activity. Moreover, it is Erebus that leads in height, the height of which reaches more than three thousand meters, in contrast to the three neighboring “dead” volcanoes, although it is inferior to Sidley, located on Mary Byrd Land.

It is quite possible that this scale and grandeur was the main reason for the tragedy that occurred in 1979, when a New Zealand airline plane crashed on the slope of Erebus, killing all passengers and crew on board.

The volcano in the eyes of the ancient man was like a real natural God who came to punish humanity for its sins. A huge mountain spewing waves of fiery water, destroying everything in its path and knowing no compassion. The crater of the volcano is an abyss into hellish hell. Getting there is a one-way ticket. There are many legends and tales around volcanoes; even now, when the nature of this phenomenon is known, and upcoming eruptions are predicted by scientists, we are unable to contain our inner trepidation before colliding with the fiery element.

The most famous volcano

It is not surprising that the most popular among tourists and the most famous in the world is the Vesuvius volcano. August 24, 79 AD he covered three cities in the Roman Empire with ashes: Pompeii, Oplontis and Herculaneum. The destructive power of Vesuvius was reflected in the works of such artists as Pierre Jacques Volard “The Eruption of Vesuvius”, Karl Pavlovich Bryullov “The Last Day of Pompeii”, and the English artist Joseph Wright witnessed the volcanic eruption and dedicated several dozen paintings to this phenomenon. Until now, this volcano is considered active and is located in Italy 15 km from Naples, reminding people of the dominance of the elements over man.

The most picturesque volcano

The Japanese volcano Fuji amazes with its beauty and harmony; its height is 3776 m (the highest point in Japan). The mountain has an almost perfect conical shape and is considered a sacred place for the indigenous population. Since ancient times, Fuji has been depicted by Japanese painters, and in the era of digital technology, the Internet is replete with photographs of the volcano at sunset. At the top of the mountain stands the Shinto Great Shrine, Hongu Sengen. In 1974, the Supreme Court of Japan gave the mountain private ownership to the temple.

The most mysterious volcano

Volcano Bromo in Indonesia is shrouded in a veil of secrets and legends. The most common version is that during the Majapahit kingdom, a young princess, Raru Anteng, married a young man named Jaka Seger. The lovers fled from their father's house and established their kingdom at the foot of the Bromo volcano. For many years they had no heirs and then, in despair, they climbed to the top of the volcano and day and night they prayed to the Gods for help. The wise Gods had mercy on the king and queen and gave them children with the condition that they would sacrifice the youngest by throwing them into the mouth of a volcano. But the couple did not want to fulfill this vow and paid for it. The gods were very angry with them, and since then, every year people threw one child into the mouth of the volcano. Traditions and morals have changed, but even in our times, representatives of the Tenger Buddhist ethnic group make sacrifices to the gods in the form of rice, fruits and livestock.

Northernmost volcano

The northernmost active volcano on our planet belongs to Norway and is called Beerenberg, which translated into Russian means Bear Mountain. The top of the volcano is covered with a cap of ice and snow. For a long time, Bear Mountain was considered a dormant volcano, but on September 20, 1970, life suddenly “awakened” in it. The volcano released hot magma and ash into the air, putting the lives of 39 island residents at risk.

Tallest volcano

The highest volcano on Earth, Ojos del Salado, is located on the border of Argentina and Chile, its height is 6893 m. In its entire history, the volcano has not had a single eruption, but emissions of sulfur and water vapor into the atmosphere were recorded. The conquest of the volcano took place in 1937 by Polish climbers, but the path to the top of the volcano was difficult and dangerous. On April 21, 2007, the Chilean athlete Gonzalo Bravo managed on a modified Suzuki S.J. climb the slope of Ojos del Salado to a height of 6,688 meters, thus setting a world record for climbing for cars.

The most ancient volcano

The Brazilian volcano Zhamanshin deservedly takes the lead in the category among the oldest volcanoes. After much calculation and research, scientists were able to find out the approximate age of the volcano - 2 billion years. Despite its longevity, the volcano rises 250 meters above ground level. It has ceased to function for several million years, but in its “golden years” Zhamanshin was able to cover an area of ​​22 km around with ash and lava.

The most unusual volcano

The Dallol volcano, located in Ethiopia, amazes with its magical and inimitable appearance. The landscapes surrounding the volcano's crater are believed to be similar to the landscape of Jupiter's moon Io. And, indeed, such an abundance of colors cannot be found anywhere else on Earth. In 1926, a strong explosion occurred, which formed a lake of yellow and purple colors in the vicinity of the volcano. In addition to its uniqueness, the Dallol volcano earns another championship - the lowest volcano. The height of its crater above sea level is only 45 meters.

Text: Yulia Tsvetkova

Ecology

In 2018, scientists dared to predict the intensification of volcanic activity on the planet, frightening ordinary people catastrophic consequences in the form of global climate change, destruction of cities and loss of life.

Such bleak forecasts from experts are not unfounded: for many years now, increasing volcanic activity has been observed along the region of the Pacific volcanic ring of fire, where more than three hundred active volcanoes are located.

The behavior of a couple of other active volcanoes that have managed to ruin the lives of a significant number of people on our planet. But there are about nine hundred active volcanoes on land alone.

Volcanoes are an integral part of the Earth, reminding us of how destructive the fury of nature can be. We present to your attention a list of the ten most dangerous active volcanoes on our planet today.

Active volcanoes

Mauna Loa Volcano, Hawaii

While the whole world is watching with aspiration as the Kilauea volcano covers the largest island of Hawaii with waves of hot lava, not so far from it it is sleeping peacefully Megavolcano Mauna Loa, whose height is 4169 meters (that is, almost three thousand meters higher than Kilauea!).

Mauna Loa, whose name translates as “long mountain,” is the largest active volcano on planet Earth. At the moment, it is a place of pilgrimage for tourists and a work site for representatives of the scientific world.

The formation of this volcano began approximately 700,000 years ago, while its activity continues to this day. Mauna Loa's most recent eruption occurred in 1984. The underwater part of this volcano is the largest on the planet and is 80 thousand cubic kilometers.

The volcano spews intense lava flows that threaten not only the huge ecosystem that has settled on its slopes, but also nearby human settlements. The Hawaiians in their mythology singled out Mauna Loa as the place of one of the sisters Pele - the goddess of fire, volcanoes and strong winds.

Eyjafjallajokull volcano, Iceland

For some time now, Eyjafjallajökull has become one of the most famous volcanoes on our planet. And this despite the fact that Very few people can pronounce its name without hesitation.. This 1666-meter-high volcano (a mysterious combination of three sixes, isn't it?) is located in the south of Iceland.

It is part of several small glaciers on this island nation. The volcano's crater itself, which is three to four kilometers in diameter, was also covered by glaciers. However, the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, which began on March 20, 2010, melted its ice.

Despite the fact that Eyjafjallajökull is not the largest volcano in Iceland, its eruption caused trouble throughout Europe. The height that the volcanic ash reached was 13 kilometers. And its significant spread led to the suspension of air traffic over the entire Northern Europe.

Almost a month later, volcanic ash from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano was recorded over a huge part of the territory of the Russian Federation. As a result of the last eruption, a new crack formed on the volcano in the direction from north to south, the length of which was two kilometers.

Volcano Vesuvius, Italy

Speaking about the most dangerous active volcanoes on the planet, it would be unforgivable frivolity not to mention the Italian Vesuvius. This volcano the last eruption of which was recorded in 1944, is most famous in the world for the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum that were razed to the ground in 79 AD.

The location of this volcano, the only one active in continental Europe, makes it one of the most dangerous in the world. The reason is the proximity of densely populated regions. Suffice it to say that just fifteen kilometers from Vesuvius is Naples, whose agglomeration exceeds three million people.

Vesuvius does not have an outstanding height - it is only 1281 meters above sea level. His quite frequent activity (one eruption approximately every twenty years) due to the relative youth of the volcano - it was formed about 25,000 years ago.

We most often remember the tragedy of Pompeii, where about two thousand people were buried during the eruption. At the same time, we forget that during the eruption on July 26, 1805 (far from the most powerful eruption of this volcano!), Vesuvius took the lives of 26 thousand people!

Active volcanoes

Volcano Nyiragongo, Congo

If we talk about activity, then the Nyiragongo volcano, whose height is 3469 meters, can rightfully be considered one of the most active. It is known that 34 eruptions have been recorded since 1882. Some of these eruptions continued for many months and even years.

In fact, Nyiragongo and its neighbor Nyamlagira are responsible for forty percent of all eruptions that continue to be observed on the African continent to this day. If we talk about the most destructive eruptions of Nyiragongo, the last one occurred on January 10, 1977.

As a result of that cataclysm, about two thousand people died, and the tragedy occurred literally within the first half hour from the moment the eruption began. Deadliest eruption of Nyiragongo in this century happened in 2002, when 45 people died under lava flows.

Nyiragongo is also famous for having the largest molten lava lake in its main crater, which is two kilometers in diameter. The temperature of the lava is 1200 degrees Celsius. The lake of fire itself, which is visible even from space, in size resembles a red Cyclopean eye, or, if you like, the eye of Sauron.

Taal Volcano, Philippines

Taal Volcano, whose height is only some 311 meters, is located on the island of Luzon, just 50 kilometers away from the more than one and a half million city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. In fact, it is one of the smallest active volcanoes on our planet.

Despite his size, Taal sent many thousands of people to the next world. It is known that since 1572 this volcano has erupted at least thirty times. It was thanks to his activity that the third largest lake in the Philippines was formed, the greatest depth of which is 172 meters. It is also called Taal.

One of the most powerful eruptions of Taal, which resulted in the death of all living things within a few minutes at a distance of up to ten kilometers from the volcano, occurred on January 30, 1911. Then masses of superheated steam and hot ash killed 1335 people. It is noteworthy that the volcano did not eject lava.

A huge cloud of ash, according to sources of those years, was visible at a distance of more than four hundred kilometers. The last powerful eruption of Taal was also recorded in the last century. It happened in 1965, taking the lives of more than two hundred people.

Volcano Merapi, Indonesia

Some volcanoes destroy settlements and villages, like Nyamlaghira and Taal. Others, like Vesuvius, entire cities. About the Merapi volcano it is known that he destroyed the entire Javanese-Indian kingdom, which was located on the territory of modern Indonesia. This happened in the year 1006.

The highest point of Merapi is 2968 meters. “Mountain of Fire” (that’s how the name of this volcano is translated) does not skimp on deadly eruptions. And this is not surprising, since Merapi is the youngest volcano from the group of its many “relatives” located in the south of the island of Java.

In the first half of the last century, there were 13 eruptions of the “mountain of fire”. It is known, for example, that in 1930, 1,300 people died due to the activity of this volcano. And now in 1974 Merapi wipes out two villages, and just a year later - another village, causing enormous damage to the region’s infrastructure. 29 people died then.

The last powerful eruption of Merapi in 2010 forced more than 350,000 local residents to flee the surrounding region. Some of them, however, dared to return, for which many of them paid with their lives - the volcano sent 353 people to the next world.

The most dangerous volcanoes

Volcano Galeras, Colombia

In Colombia, very close to the border with the Republic of Ecuador, is the majestic Galeras volcano. The height of this giant is 4276 meters. The depth of the crater (about 80 meters) and its diameter (320 meters) turn this volcano into a kind of cannon that has fired more than once.

The Galeras volcano continues to be active, as can be seen from numerous small eruptions. Not many really strong eruptions happened on Galeras. According to scientists, over the past seven thousand years there have been about six major bursts of its activity.

Galeras is a very popular destination for tourists in South America, who also come to admire the beauty of the mountain located at the foot of the mountain. national reserve, the area of ​​which is several thousand hectares.

Galeras constantly keeps in suspense almost half a million people living near the volcano, which, according to experts, remains active for at least a million years. Because of small eruptions, people often die there, and because of the threat of large ones, the authorities periodically evacuate many thousands of residents.

Sakurajima Volcano, Japan

The active Japanese volcano Sakurajima was once an independent island. However, after the 1914 eruption it became part of the Osumi Peninsula, connecting with it through frozen lava flows.

Sakurajima has been continuously active since 1955, posing a serious threat to the city of Kagoshima, with a population of more than six hundred thousand people. However, this did not prevent (but rather helped) the residents of the city to benefit from such a dangerous neighborhood, making the volcano a tourist attraction.

There is a regular ferry to Mount Sakurajima, and from the city itself to the volcano, whose height is 1117 meters, a breathtakingly beautiful view opens up. Given the constant small eruptions of the volcano, it is not surprising that residents have become accustomed to it. For example, in 2014 alone, 471 eruptions occurred!

Every schoolchild knows that Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun in our solar system. However, for several decades in the 19th century, many of the world's leading scientists had good reason to believe that a planet, dubbed Vulcan, was located somewhere within the orbit of Mercury. A renowned French mathematician first proposed the existence of this phantom planet in 1859, and it remained one of the most wanted celestial objects until Albert Einstein's theory of relativity finally debunked the mystery in 1915.

In 1859, French scientist Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier began working on one of the most puzzling problems in astronomy: the orbit of Mercury. For years, astronomers have noted that this small planet in the solar system appears to follow its own course as it orbits the sun. In particular, its perihelion—the point when the planet is closest to the Sun—shifts slightly with each orbit. According to Sir Isaac Newton's law of gravity, this discrepancy can easily be explained by the presence of other celestial objects. However, even after Le Verrier calculated the gravitational pull of Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter, his predictions of Mercury's orbit were always slightly inaccurate. The planet never ended up where it was supposed to be.

Le Verrier hypothesis

After Le Verrier carefully checked and re-did his calculations, he proposed a novel hypothesis: some other object, unknown and unseen, was exerting a gravitational pull on Mercury's orbit. This planet, or a group of small planets circling in close proximity to the orbit of Mercury, is capable of making an anomalous impact, which is felt by the last planet. Le Verrier suggested that the glare of the sun prevented the identification of this object in the past. However, he argued that it could be easily detected under the right conditions.

Dear Astronomer

The scientific community welcomed Le Verrier's theory, and for good reason, since he already had experience searching for new planets. Thirteen years earlier, he had made a similar prediction in an attempt to explain the gravitational fluctuations in the orbit of the planet Uranus. As astronomers scanned the sky, they discovered the previously unknown planet Neptune. The discovery catapulted Le Verrier to international scientific fame and secured admission to the French Legion of Honor and the post of head of the Paris Observatory. His intelligence has been described as "almost superhuman".

"Discovery" of a new planet

Armed with a fresh prediction from the discoverer of Neptune, astronomers immediately began the hunt for a new planet. But it turned out that the breakthrough had occurred several months earlier, and was made by an amateur named Edmond Modest Lecarbol. A physician by profession, Lekarbol was also a keen stargazer who built his own makeshift observatory in the countryside. Looking through his telescope on March 26, 1859, he saw a small black dot—possibly a planet—drift across the surface of the Sun. At that time, the doctor did not tell anyone about his discovery, but after reading notes about the hypothetical planet, Le Verrier sent him a letter with a full report.

After receiving the letter, Le Verrier went to meet Lecarbol to study his equipment and notes. After this meeting, he was even more convinced that there was another planet closer to the Sun than Mercury. Le Verrier announced the discovery in early 1860. Following the tradition of naming planets after mythical gods, he named it Vulcan, in honor of the Roman god of blacksmithing.

Failed observation attempts

The discovery of Vulcan was a great step forward for science. Lecarbol was accepted into the Legion of Honor, and Le Verrier was once again called a genius. There was just one problem: the new planet was frustratingly difficult to detect. Scattered information about the observation of Vulcan poured in from all over the globe, but most of it was from amateur astronomers. Leverrier still needed independent confirmation from a respected professional. Hoping to receive this confirmation, Le Verrier's supporters estimated that the planet would be visible in late March or early April 1860. The astronomers adjusted their telescopes, but when the appointed time arrived, Vulcan did not appear. Many soon began to wonder if this planet actually existed.

Hunt for Vulcan

Over the next few years, Vulcan became the subject of an international hunt. Many observations were made during the 1860s, but for every astronomer who claimed to have seen the planet, there were many more who tried and never found anything. The ranks of skeptics continued to grow until 1871, when a team of English astronomers failed to discover the planet for the third year in a row. The question of Vulcan has remained open since 1859, as author Thomas Levenson wrote in his book The Hunt for Vulcan. Random observations and seemingly consistent calculations fueled this interest.

In 1876, Vulcan's fate seemed to be sealed. A trained astronomer reported that he had observed the transit of a planet near the Sun, and the newspapers received a new flurry of reports from amateurs. The enthusiasm was so great that the New York Times even published an article declaring that "Vulcan's existence can no longer be denied or ignored." According to the article, the Earth should henceforth be named the fourth planet from the Sun, and children in public schools who learn the old-fashioned order of the planets should be sure to memorize Vulcan and its place in the solar system.

Fall from Olympus

Le Verrier died in 1877, but the most eventful period in Vulcan's life was yet to come. Only a year later, on July 29, 1878, a total solar eclipse occurred, which could be observed in Russia and North America. Such an event would make it very convenient for observing Vulcan, and so legions of astronomers set up their telescopes and cameras in hopes of seeing it. Most gave up quickly, but two respected astronomers, James Craig Watson and Lewis Swift, claimed to have spotted the planet. Newspapers again began to trumpet the existence of Vulcan, but this triumph was short-lived. Critics said that scientists were actually seeing two well-known stars, and much of the scientific community dismissed these observations as erroneous.

After the observations of Watson and Swift were criticized, the scientific community's faith in Vulcan virtually disappeared. This planet became the astronomy equivalent of the El Dorado myth, which most scientists abandoned, although some still continued to search for it. However, if Vulcan doesn't exist, scientists have once again begun to wonder what causes Mercury's orbit to shift.

Resolving issues

The final answer to this question finally emerged in 1915, when Einstein dropped the scientific bombshell that was his general theory of relativity. Unlike Newton's theories of gravity, which could explain Mercury's orbit only by the existence of an unknown planet, general relativity states that a supermassive object - in this case the Sun - is capable of bending space and time and changing the path of light. Shortly before publishing his theory, Einstein applied it to Mercury and found that it perfectly explained the discrepancy in its orbit. Thus, Mercury is not attracted by any object, and it is a matter of moving through distorted time space.

As a result of Einstein's breakthrough, Vulcan was forever thrown from the astronomical sky. Astronomers erased the planet from their charts and attributed news of past sightings to the appearance of unidentified stars or sunspots. Vulcan at the same time became one of the most famous dead ends in scientific history, but its “death” did not put an end to the hunt for new worlds within the solar system. In 1930, after a long search, the dwarf planet Pluto was discovered. Meanwhile, in recent years, scientists have discovered ample evidence that a hypothetical “Planet Nine” could be located somewhere on the outer edge of the Solar System.

There are a huge number of volcanoes on the surface of our planet. They attract with their boundless strength and power, captivating with their incredible beauty.

Every year at least one of the volcanoes wakes up and destroys everything in its path, bringing death, destruction and huge material losses ahead of it. But, nevertheless, despite the fear, volcanoes attract the increased attention of hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world.

What are “volcanoes”?

Volcanoes are formations on the surface of the earth's crust where magma comes to the surface itself, forming lava, volcanic gases or rocks.

In our article we want to talk about some of the volcanoes of planet Earth.

1. Vesuvius, Italy

This is the most famous volcano in the world. And he became famous due to the fact that in 79 he razed Pompeii from the face of the earth, burying all the inhabitants under a layer of lava and ash. And in the twentieth century, he managed to destroy two entire cities - Massa and San Sebastiano.

2. Nyiragongo, Congo

Nyiragongo is considered the most dangerous volcano in Africa due to its increased volcanic activity, as well as the special chemical composition of the lava. The main danger of this volcano is the lava lake in its very crater with a constant temperature of 982 C. The lava of the volcano is very liquid and hot. And, if the force of tremors is prohibitive, then lava bursts can reach up to 30 meters in height and flow down at a speed of one hundred kilometers per hour.

3. Yellowstone, USA

This volcano is the champion among volcanoes on earth in its strength and power. It is located on the territory of Yellowstone National Park.

It is surrounded by several hot geysers. In 2002, they became hotter, and the soil began to give the first signals of an upcoming eruption. In 2006, scientists recorded a rise in soil of 4-6 centimeters per year. And also the formation of an incomprehensible relief funnel at the bottom of Yellowstone Lake.

4. Popocatepetl, Mexico

An awakened volcano with a funny name is located 20 km from the capital of Mexico - Mexico City. Since then, city residents have been in constant readiness to evacuate.

5. Chaiten, South America

More recently, the Chaiten volcano, dormant for 9 thousand years, decided to awaken and organize a competition for the title of the most dangerous volcano on the planet. In 2008 it began to erupt. And he still has no plans to stop. Its slopes form additional craters, which increases the emission of lava.

In 2008, the volcanic eruption was so strong that it destroyed the entire city of the same name Chaiten. More than ten thousand people had to be resettled from it. After this, they decided not to rebuild the city, since there is a constant threat of an eruption.

6. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Kilimanjaro is the most famous volcano in Africa. This giant consists of three volcanoes that tower over Tanzania and Kenya. The last eruption of this fire-breathing monster was 360,000 years ago. But scientists have come to the conclusion that under its small crater, which is located 400 meters from the main peak of Kibo, there is molten lava.

In ours - we offer a unique opportunity to visit Tanzania and see the nature and culture of the black continent. After climbing the volcano, we will go on a safari through the Ngorongoro Game Reserve, where we will see lions, giraffes, elephants and other animals in the wild. Since the ascent will take place during our calendar winter, we will complete the journey on the beaches of the island of Zanzibar

7. Damavand Volcano, Iran

The extinct Damavand volcano is located in Iran in the Elbrus ridge. And it is considered the highest point in this country. Its height is 5604 meters above sea level. The summit was first climbed in 1837. The most favorable season for climbing is considered to be from June to November.

We will be able to see Iran - a wonderful country with a unique culture, kind, hospitable people and beautiful nature. Our goal is to climb the highest point in Iran - Damavand volcano. In addition to the mountains, we will immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of ancient Persia and find ourselves in a real fairy tale of “One Thousand and One Nights”.