Good morning/afternoon, Mr Beier and 9B, today I will be comparing and contrasting two major volcanoes, Mount Tambora, and Mount Santa Maria. Before I go into detail about the similarities and differences of the volcanoes, I will provide some background information on how volcanoes are formed and how they work. According to Anderson, 2012, Volcanoes are defined as a vent, or opening, in the Earth’s surface through which molten rock, gases, and ash erupt. The word also refers to the form or structure, usually conical, produced by accumulations of erupted material. Volcanoes are formed near weak spots on the Earth’s crust and where magma has been stored below. Magma is created when tectonic plates come together at a subduction boundary, one plate
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It's 1816 eruption was a 7 on the VEI, meaning that it ejected a total of over 100 km3 of tephra, 160 km3 to be exact. The combination of massive amounts of tephra and the reflection of UV rays away from Earth, due to sulfur dioxide that comes from the limestone that runs underneath Mount Tambora, caused a volcanic winter, meaning that a reduction in global temperatures occurred. The world’s climate to change so much that crops in Europe and North America were wiped out, causing the biggest famine in the 19th century.
The third difference of the two volcanoes is that Mount Santa Maria had been dormant for over 500 years, while Mount Tambora had smaller, more frequent eruptions. The eruption of Mount Santa Maria was one of the largest eruptions in the 20th century, it measured a 6 on the VEI, meaning that it ejected a total of over 10 km3 of tephra, it also left a 1.5 km wide crater in the south-west side of the mountain.
In conclusion, Mount Tambora and Mount Santa Maria have many similarities and differences, they both have a high level of silica, they are both surrounded by subduction boundaries, they were both formed by converging boundaries moving north, Mount Santa Maria has ejected a pyroclastic flow, Mount Tambora has caused a volcanic winter and limestone runs under it, creating more sulfur dioxide, and Mount Santa Maria has been dormant for over 500 years, while Mount Tambora has had smaller, more frequent
It's 1816 eruption was a 7 on the VEI, meaning that it ejected a total of over 100 km3 of tephra, 160 km3 to be exact. The combination of massive amounts of tephra and the reflection of UV rays away from Earth, due to sulfur dioxide that comes from the limestone that runs underneath Mount Tambora, caused a volcanic winter, meaning that a reduction in global temperatures occurred. The world’s climate to change so much that crops in Europe and North America were wiped out, causing the biggest famine in the 19th century.
The third difference of the two volcanoes is that Mount Santa Maria had been dormant for over 500 years, while Mount Tambora had smaller, more frequent eruptions. The eruption of Mount Santa Maria was one of the largest eruptions in the 20th century, it measured a 6 on the VEI, meaning that it ejected a total of over 10 km3 of tephra, it also left a 1.5 km wide crater in the south-west side of the mountain.
In conclusion, Mount Tambora and Mount Santa Maria have many similarities and differences, they both have a high level of silica, they are both surrounded by subduction boundaries, they were both formed by converging boundaries moving north, Mount Santa Maria has ejected a pyroclastic flow, Mount Tambora has caused a volcanic winter and limestone runs under it, creating more sulfur dioxide, and Mount Santa Maria has been dormant for over 500 years, while Mount Tambora has had smaller, more frequent