How many years does it takes for a volcano to erupt?
Are there such things as underwater volcanoes...
Deldrick Chatman
Dear Deldrick,
I assume you are asking about the amount of time between eruptions. Some
volcanoes are dormant and may go thousands of years between eruptions.
Other volcanoes are nearly continuously active, like Arenal in Costa Rica
and Stromboli in Italy. They have small explosive eruptions almost every
hour. Kilauea has been erupting almost continuously (a few short breaks
lasting at most a few days) since January 1983.
About 70% of the Earth's surface is ocean basin. All of the rock in the
ocean basins was made by volcanoes, either along mid-ocean ridges or above
hot spots in the
mantle. Underwater (or submarine) volcanoes are very common.
Unfortunately they are difficult to study but progress is being made.
Steve Mattox, University of North Dakota
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