Inquiry

The last time Mt Ruapehu erupted was in 1995-1996. Here are some photo's that my dad's friend took, he was lucky to be driving past when it actually erupted before his eyes. This picture was taken by my dad's friend in 1995 before it erupted. As he was driving it started to spurt. He said it was amazing and was glad he had his camera. It got bigger and bigger.....

It was a perfect day, not a cloud in the sky.


=THE LALAR:= =On 18 March 2007, the tephra dam which had been holding back the crater lake burst, sending a lahar down the mountain. An estimated 1.4 million cubic metres of mud, rock, and water thundered down the Whangaehu river around10:30 that morning and closed all major roads in the area (trapping thousands of motorists) and shut down the main rail system for the North Island. Luckily the river banks held and no spill overs occurred. No serious damage was done and no one was injured.= =here i have a vids of volcanoes:= =[|mt vesuvius vid]= =[|mt ruapehu]= =here is my 300 word topic:= = = Out of all natural disasters, volcanoes are often the most deadly. Spewing ash, smoke, sulfur, and lava, entire cities can be lost to one eruption. Still, many scientists are willing to risk the danger in order to find out more about these fire spitting mountains. =Most of the volcanoes in the world appear upon the border of tectonic plates. Volcanoes can ford here in two different ways. The first way is when one plate slides under another. When two plates collide, one plate is lifted up. Simultaneously, the other plate is forced under the first. The plate that was pushed under is melted into a pocket of magma. These pockets may later be the source of a volcanic eruption. In the second way, two plates split apart. As they pull away from each other, hot lava oozes up through the gap between the ground. This forms round, smooth rocks of lava called pillow lava.= =The other way a volcano can erupt is if it is located over a hot spot. Though scientists aren't sure why, some stationary spots in the mantle have very high temperatures. As land passes over these spots, it sometimes melts the rock of the crust there. Since the plates are always moving, hot spots often cause more that one volcano to erupt. All of the islands in the Hawaiian chain were caused by one hot spot. In fact, the Hawaiian islands are still growing due to frequent explosions.= =One of the most famous volcanoes in history is Mount Vesuvius. This legendary volcano is the one that destroyed the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Heraculaneum. Vesuvius blew its top in about A.D. 79, bringing ruin to both cities. While the remains of Heraculaneum are not very distinct, many things were found still intact in the town of Pompeii. There have been carbonized figs and walnuts, bowls of petrified eggs, and even carbonized bread that still had the baker's stamp seen on it! In Heraculaneum, some houses have been found, but there have not been very many bodies. thank you.goodbye=