I have 3 questions:
-What is the relationship of volcanoes to hot springs, geysers, and
geothermal energy?
-What are the three types of volcanic cones?
-What are the two types of volcanic eruptions?
-Doug Gengler
Hi Doug,
Magma is the ultimate heat source that powers geysers, hot springs, and
geothermal energy plants. Many times these are located in areas where the
volcanic activity is on the decline and only the residual heat is left.
However, that is not always the case, and once in a while it turns out
that the volcano is just sleeping.
There are more than 3 types of volcanoes and more than 2 types of eruptions.
Volcanoes can be:
Strato or composite volcanoes
shield volcanoes
large rhyolite caldera complexes
monogenetic fields
flood basalts
Eruptions can be:
Hawaiian
Strombolian
Surtseyan
Vulcanian
Peleean
Plinian
Hydorthermal
There is a good summary of all this in Volcanoes, by Gordon Macdonald. It
is important, however, that nature doesn't get categorized very easily and
you are always going to find volcanoes or eruptions that don't quite fit
into just one classification. For the most part, though, these
classifications are pretty good.
Sincerely,
Scott Rowland
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