How do volcanic eruptions

effect the biosphere?

Group #4

What is a volcano?
A volcano is a rupture
on the crust of a
planetary-mass object,
such as Earth, that
allows hot lava,
volcanic ash, and gases
to escape from a
magma chamber below
the surface.

Types of volcanic eruptions

Magmatic eruptions: the decompression
of gas within magma.
Phreatomagmatic eruptions: the
compression of gas within magma.
Phreatic eruptions: the superheating of
steam via contact with magma.

The effects of a volcano are complex, so the

biosphere is not the only realm involved.
Volcano >> geosphere >> atmosphere >> hydrosphere >> biosphere
Volcano >> geosphere >> hydrosphere >> biosphere
Volcano >> geosphere >> atmosphere >> biosphere >> geosphere
Volcano >> complex interactions

How do volcanoes affect plants?

Plants are destroyed over
a wide area, during an
eruption. The good thing
is that volcanic soil is
very rich, so once
everything cools off,
plants can make a big
comeback!

How quickly do plants begin to grow back?

The answer is that it
depends on how
much rain falls in
the particular area.

How do volcanoes affect animals?

Livestock and other mammals have
been killed by lava flows,
pyroclastic flows, tephra falls,
atmospheric effects, gases, and
tsunami. They can also die from
famine, forest fires, and earthquakes
caused by or related to eruptions.
The impact of eruptions on insects
depends on the size of the eruption
and the stage of growth of the insect.

Long-term effects of an eruption

The long-term effects of an eruption on wildlife are usually quite
small. Certainly both plants and animals returned to the utterly
devastated areas within only a year or so of the eruption.
There are various variations on the main theory. In general it is
proposed that volcanic activity put so much ash and/or gas into the
atmosphere that the earths temperature either got too hot for the
dinosaurs or got too cold for the dinosaurs.

How Long do Volcanic Eruptions Last?

It is much more difficult to predict
the end of an eruption than to predict
its beginning. The table gives the
length of time that volcanoes erupt.
Explosive eruptions end when
sufficient decompression is attained
to cause magma chamber collapse
and restoration of the initial pressure
conditions.