Volcanoes

Even in ancient times, people have seen from the top of this mountain escaped the cloud of black smoke and flickering flames high into the sky flew the fiery stones. On the same island, in their assumptions were possessions of the god of fire and smithing - Vulcan. He gave the island its forge and anvil arm for Diana, thunderous lightning of Jupiter, Hercules armor, the shield of Achilles ... A smoke and fire emanating from the top of the mountain, according to the ancient Romans, testified that the volcano blows its own horn bellows. He hits the hammer on the anvil and the mountains came the muffled roar and clang. Since then, people started to call the fire-breathing mountains - volcanoes. Volcanoes are usually conical shape. If you climb to the summit of the volcano, when he is calm, you can see the volcano crater. This is, perhaps, the deepening of various sizes. In some of the old volcanic crater formed lake. Deep in the bowels of the earth is boiling molten magma. Geologists have determined that it is formed below the earth's crust in the upper mantle, at depths ranging from 30 to 90 kilometers. Sometimes the crust cracks and fractures occur. It happens that these cracks reach the liquid layer of magma. Molten magma is saturated with gases and vapors, with irrepressible force rushes up. If they reach the Earth's surface, it is a volcanic eruption. Before the eruption in the depths of the mountains there, and gradually grows dull rumbling roar. He is constantly increasing. This magma makes its way upward. This drone is constantly growing and will happen an earthquake. Gathering clouds above the crater and the mountain slopes begin to "move" and distend. After some time, there is a strong explosion and a rising above the crater of a huge cloud of dust and gas. High in the sky fly red-hot rocks - the so-called volcanic bombs. From the black, thick clouds on the ground starts to crumble volcanic ash. Volcano rumbles and shakes, but from its vents poured molten, liquid magma. She rushes in the slopes of the mountains, burning and destroying everything in its path. On Earth, more than 600 active volcanoes, that is of such volcanoes, which, after a longer or shorter interval can once again come to life. Most of the burning mountains located in areas of the earth's crust between tectonic plates. Around Indonesia, more than hundreds of active and extinct volcanoes. On the west coast of the Americas stands a dozen burning mountains. These areas, along the east coast of the Pacific - Kamchatka, Kurile Islands and Japan - the most active areas of our planet.