Login
Login

Active volcano

{{Short description|Geological feature}}

{{Use American English|date=June 2024}}

File:Map plate tectonics world.gif

File:Lava entering sea - Hawaii.png's lava entering the sea]]

File:Bárðarbunga Volcano, September 4 2014 - 15145875322.jpg, Iceland, September 2014]]

An active volcano is a volcano that is currently erupting, or has the potential to erupt in the future.{{Cite web |last=Poland |first=Michael |date=2022-10-10 |title=Active, dormant, and extinct: Clarifying confusing classifications {{!}} U.S. Geological Survey |url=https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/yvo/news/active-dormant-and-extinct-clarifying-confusing-classifications |access-date=2023-11-14 |publisher=United States Geological Survey}} Conventionally it is applied to any that have erupted during the Holocene (the current geologic epoch that began approximately 11,700 years ago). A volcano that is not currently erupting but could erupt in the future is known as a dormant volcano. Volcanoes that will not erupt again are known as extinct volcanoes.

Overview

There are 1,350 potentially active volcanoes around the world, 500 of which have erupted in historical time.{{Cite web |title=How many active volcanoes are there on Earth? {{!}} U.S. Geological Survey |url=https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-many-active-volcanoes-are-there-earth |access-date=2023-11-28 |publisher=United States Geological Survey}} Many active volcanoes are located along the Pacific Rim, also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire. An estimated 500 million people live near active volcanoes.{{cite web |url= http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Space_for_our_climate/SEM3XU2VQUD_0.html |title=Volcanoes |year=2009 |publisher=European Space Agency |access-date=August 16, 2012}}

Historical time (or recorded history) is another timeframe for active.{{cite book |title=Volcanoes |first=Robert I. |last=Tilling |year=1997 |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey |location=Denver, Colorado |access-date=August 16, 2012 |chapter=Volcano environment|chapter-url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/volc/environments.html |quote=There are more than 500 active volcanoes (those that have erupted at least once within recorded history) in the world}} The span of recorded history differs from region to region. In China and the Mediterranean, it reaches back nearly 3,000 years, but in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada, it reaches back less than 300 years, and in Hawaii and New Zealand it is only around 200 years.{{cite book |title=Mountains of Fire: The Nature of Volcanoes |last1=Decker |first1=Robert Wayne |last2=Decker |first2=Barbara |year=1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-31290-5 |page=7 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-P83AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA7 }} The incomplete Catalogue of the Active Volcanoes of the World, published in parts between 1951 and 1975 by the International Association of Volcanology, uses this definition, by which there are more than 500 active volcanoes.{{cite web | url=https://www.dartmouth.edu/~volcano/EvA.html | title=Catalogs of Active Volcanoes | publisher=Dartmouth College | work=The Electronic Volcano | date=14 November 1997 | access-date=16 April 2021 | first1=B. | last1=DeFelice | first2=D.R. | last2=Spydell | first3=R.E. | last3=Stoiber | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200119001556/https://www.dartmouth.edu/~volcano/EvA.html | archive-date=2020-01-19}} {{As of|2021|03}}, the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program recognizes 560 volcanoes with confirmed historical eruptions.{{cite web | url=https://volcano.si.edu/faq/index.cfm?question=activevolcanoes | title=How many active volcanoes are there? | publisher=Smithsonian Institution | department=Global Volcanism Program Volcanoes of the World (version 4.9.4) | editor-last=Venzke | editor-first=E. | date=2013 | access-date=2 April 2021}}

Countries with the most Holocene volcanoes, according to the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program ({{As of|2023|lc=y}}):{{Cite web |title=Global Volcanism Program {{!}} Which countries have the most volcanoes? |url=https://volcano.si.edu/faq/ |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=Smithsonian Institution {{!}} Global Volcanism Program |language=en}}

  1. United States: 165
  2. Japan: 122
  3. Russia: 117
  4. Indonesia 117
  5. Chile: 91

Countries with the most volcanoes active since 1960 ({{As of|2023|lc=y}}):{{Cite web |date=2023-11-15 |title=Infographic: The Countries With the Most Active Volcanos |url=https://www.statista.com/chart/27828/countries-with-the-most-volcanoes-that-have-been-active-since-1950 |access-date=2023-12-05 |website=Statista Daily Data |language=en}}

  1. Indonesia: 55
  2. Japan: 40
  3. US: 39 (mostly volcanic areas in and around Hawaii, Alaska, and Pacific territories)
  4. Russia: 27
  5. Chile: 19
  6. Papua New Guinea: 13
  7. Ecuador: 12

As of 2013, the following are considered Earth's most active volcanoes:{{cite web|url=http://www.volcanodiscovery.com/558.html|title=The most active volcanoes in the world|publisher=VolcanoDiscovery.com|access-date=August 3, 2013}}

{{As of|2010}}, the longest ongoing (but not necessarily continuous) volcanic eruptive phases are:{{cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/29790-worlds-five-most-active-volcanoes.html|title=The World's Five Most Active Volcanoes |last=Leontiou |first=A.|date=2 November 2010|publisher=livescience.com|access-date=August 4, 2013}}

Other highly active volcanoes include:

Holocene volcanoes with large populations within {{Convert|5|km|abbr=on|sp=us}}:

Michoacan-Guanajuato volcano in Mexico and Tatun Volcanic Group in Taiwan both have more than 5 million people living within {{Convert|5|km|sp=us}} of the volcano. Campi Flegrei in Italy and Ilopango in El Salvador both have populations of over 2 million people living within {{Convert|5|km|sp=us}} of the volcanoes. Hainan Volcanic Field in China, San Pablo Volcanic Field in the Philippines, Ghegham Volcanic Ridge in Armenia, Dieng Volcanic Complex, in Indonesia, and Auckland Volcanic Field in New Zealand all have over 1 million people living within {{Convert|5|km|sp=us}} of each volcano.{{Cite web |title=Global Volcanism Program {{!}} What volcanoes have the most people living nearby? |url=https://volcano.si.edu/faq/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Smithsonian Institution {{!}} Global Volcanism Program |language=en}}

By country

{{Incomplete list|date=May 2023}}

File:Arenal Volcano - Costa Rica - by Ardyiii.jpg, Costa Rica]]

=Costa Rica=

=Guatemala=

Source:{{Cite web |title=Global Volcanism Program {{!}} Guatemala Volcanoes |url=https://volcano.si.edu/volcanolist_countries.cfm?country=Guatemala |access-date=2024-04-07 |website=Smithsonian Institution {{!}} Global Volcanism Program |language=en}}

File:Iceland's Fagradalsfjall volcano.png volcano]]

File:Hekla Iceland 2005.JPG, stratovolcano in Iceland]]

= Iceland =

Source:{{Cite web |title=Global Volcanism Program {{!}} Iceland Volcanoes |url=https://volcano.si.edu/ |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=Smithsonian Institution {{!}} Global Volcanism Program |language=en}}

File:Aerial image of Stromboli (view from the northeast).jpg (view from the northeast)]]

File:Etna-Italy - Creative Commons by gnuckx (4276734533).jpg in Italy]]

= Italy =

Source:{{Cite web |title=Global Volcanism Program {{!}} Italy Volcanoes |url=https://volcano.si.edu/ |access-date=2023-11-23 |website=Smithsonian Institution {{!}} Global Volcanism Program |language=en}}

File:Japan, Tochigi- Nikko, Nantai volcano 2013.jpg

File:Yotei Volcano on Hokkaido in Japan 20101025.jpg Volcano on Hokkaido in Japan]]

= Japan =

See list of volcanoes in Japan for more information

== Hokkaido ==

== Honshū ==

== Izu Islands ==

== Kyūshū ==

== Ryūkyū Islands ==

File:Colima Volcano Mexican Flag.jpg in Mexico]]

File:Mexico-Popocatepetl.jpg volcano in Mexico]]

= Mexico =

Source:{{Cite web |title=Global Volcanism Program {{!}} Mexico Volcanoes |url=https://volcano.si.edu/ |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=Smithsonian Institution {{!}} Global Volcanism Program |language=en}}

File:Mayon Volcano and the Sleeping Lion.jpg volcano in the Philippines]]

File:Taal Volcano - 12 January 2020.jpg, Philippines]]

= Philippines =

{{Further|List of active volcanoes in the Philippines}}

Source:{{Cite web |title=Global Volcanism Program {{!}} Philippines Volcanoes |url=https://volcano.si.edu/ |access-date=2023-12-06 |website=Smithsonian Institution {{!}} Global Volcanism Program |language=en}}

=Turkey=

= United States =

{{Missing information|section|Hawaii, location of the United States' most-active volcanos|date=April 2023}}

File:Kilauea Fissure 8 cone erupting on 6-28-2018.jpg Fissure 8 cone erupting in Hawaii]]

== Hawaii ==

Source:{{Cite web |title=Active Volcanoes of Hawaii {{!}} U.S. Geological Survey |url=https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hvo/active-volcanoes-hawaii |access-date=2023-11-14 |publisher=United States Geological Survey}}

File:Mt. Hood (Hood River County, Oregon scenic images) (hooDA0015a).jpg in Oregon]]

File:Mount Bachelor closeup.jpg, Oregon]]

== Oregon ==

File:Mount-saint-helens.jpg, Washington]]

File:Mount Rainier 7431.JPG, Washington]]

== Washington ==

File:Mount Shasta from I-5.jpg, California]]

== California ==

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

*