Mount Merapi eruption
- December 6, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Mount Merapi eruption
Subject: Geography
Section: Physical geography
Context:
Some facts about Mount Merapi:
- Mount Merapi is a volcanic mountain peak located near the centre of the island of Java, Indonesia.
- It is located on Sumatra, the westernmost and third largest of Indonesia’s 18,000 islands.
- It stands 2,891m high.
- Mount Marapi, which means “Mountain of Fire”, is among the most active of Indonesia’s 127 volcanoes and is also popular among hikers.
- The Indonesian archipelago sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.
Why do more volcanoes occur in Indonesia:
- Indonesia is situated within the expansive Ring of Fire encircling the Pacific Ocean, comprising more than 17,000 islands and islets, along with nearly 130 active volcanoes.
- Also known as the Circum-Pacific Belt, the Ring of Fire denotes a pathway around the Pacific Ocean marked by active volcanoes and frequent seismic activity.
- The prevalence of volcanoes and earthquakes along this belt is a consequence of intense tectonic plate movements in the region.
- At many points along the Ring of Fire, tectonic plates intersect at convergent boundaries known as subduction zones.
- In these zones, the lower plate is forced downward, or subducted, by the upper plate.
- As the rock undergoes subduction, it melts and transforms into magma.
- The abundance of magma in close proximity to the Earth’s surface creates favorable conditions for volcanic activity.
- A noteworthy exception occurs at the boundary between the Pacific and North American Plates.
- This segment of the Ring of Fire functions as a transform boundary, where plates slide horizontally past one another.
- Such boundaries give rise to a substantial number of earthquakes as tension in the Earth’s crust accumulates and is subsequently released.
Location of selected volcanoes of Indonesia:
Some facts about volcanoes:
- Volcanoes are openings, or vents where lava, tephra (small rocks), and steam erupt onto the Earth’s surface.
- Volcanoes can be on land and in the ocean.
- They are, in part, a result of their own eruptions but also the general formation of our planet, as tectonic plates move.
- Volcanoes can be classified as:
- Active: Have a recent history of eruptions
- Dormant: Have not erupted for a long time but may erupt in the future
- Extinct: Are not expected to erupt in the future
- There are four main types of volcanoes: cinder cones, composite or stratovolcanoes, shield volcanoes and lava domes.
- Their type is determined by how the lava from an eruption flows and how that flow affects the volcano, and, as a result, how it affects its surrounding environment.