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Friday 24 June 2011

Earthquakes and volcanoes

Earthquakes
An earthquake, earthquake or earthquake also called (from the Greek "σεισμός" tremor) or tierra1 tremor is a shaking of the ground produced by the collision of tectonic plates and the release of energy in the course of a sudden reorganization of materials Earth's crust to overcome the state of mechanical equilibrium. The most important and frequently occur when releasing stored elastic potential energy in the gradual deformation of the rocks adjacent to an active fault plane, but can also occur from other causes, such processes around volcanic or karst cavities collapse.


Volcanoes
A volcano (the mythological god Vulcan) is a tube placed in direct communication the top of the solid crust with lower levels of it. It is also a geological structure which emerge from the magma (molten rock) as lava and gases from the interior. The rise usually occurs in episodes of violent activity called "rash", which can vary in intensity, duration and frequency, being from conduit lava flows extremely destructive to explosions.
Generally acquire a characteristic conical shape is formed by magma pressure and the accumulation of material from previous eruptions. Can be found above the volcano whose crater or caldera.
Volcanoes can be found on Earth and other planets and satellites, some of which are made of materials that we consider "cool" these are the cryovolcanoes. That is, they rock acts as the ice cold water while the internal liquid acts as the magma, that happens, for example in the cold Jupiter's moon Europa.
Usually, the volcanoes are formed at the boundaries of tectonic plates, although there are exceptions called hot spots or hot spots located in the interior of tectonic plates, such as the Hawaiian Islands. There are also underwater volcanoes that can remove enough material to form volcanic islands.
Geologists have classified into three categories volcanoes: shield volcanoes, cinder cones and composite cones (also called stratovolcanoes)


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