Mountains that could erupt at any time forcing hot lava, gas, steam, rock, and ash out of the earth can be very dangerous, but they amazing forces of our planet earth!
Molten lava is hot! - Lava is extremely hot. Lava can reach temperatures of about 1,250° Celsius. The lava of the Hawaiian volcanoes reaches these temperatures. Normal lava temperatures reach 750° Celsius. That is still much hotter than your oven is capable of reaching.
How Volcanoes Are Formed:
A volcano is formed when there is a crack or hole in the crust, called a vent. The temperature in the deeper layers of the earth sometimes gets so hot that it melts rocks that are deep down in the earth, in the mantle and the core. Then, extremely high pressure from inside the earth builds up so much that it forces the melted rock up out of the earth through the vent, causing a volcano! Often times the vent is inside of a mountain, which means that when a volcano erupts, it shoots out of the top of the mountain. Sometimes the vent is in a flat area and the rock that erupts cools around the vent and the volcano forms its own mountain-like structure.
There can even be vents in the floor of the ocean, so sometimes volcanoes can erupt underwater. The melted rock that is pushed out of the earth is called magma. Once the magma reaches the surface of the earth and explodes out of the volcano, it is called lava. The lava flows very quickly and is very dangerous because it is burning hot! Dangerous gases, whole rocks, and ash can also shoot out of a volcano along with lava. The effects of a volcano on the land surrounding it can be very deadly. Plants and trees are often burned by the flowing hot lava or completely covered.
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