3) Volcanoes - Mountains of Fire!
A volcano forms when molten rock and gases from the mantle are able to escape onto the Earth's surface. This can occur when weak regions of the crust break as a result of pressure from the mantle or nearby plates. Australia's current active volcanoes are Heard Island and McDonald Islands.
Australia's Only Active Volcanoes
McDonald Island began erupting in 1992, after lying dormant for 75,000 years. It has erupted several times since with satellite pictures in 2001 showing that the island had doubled in size. The initial evidence came in the form of abundant pumice washing up on beaches north and south of The Spit at the eastern extremity of Heard Island, directly to the east of McDonald Island. |
Introduction to Volcanoes
1) Clickview video - "Supervolcanoes" (30 minutes) 2) The Mount St Helen's Eruption (5 minutes) |
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Mount Versuvius Erupts on the 24th August 79 AD
Very Very Fun Volcano Experiment
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