what is the difference between an in active and active volcano?
612872
There are three classifications for volcanoes in respect to their activity. Two of those are inactive.\n\nActive volcanoes have erupted recently or are expected to erupt in the near future. They are showing signs that they are active such as releasing gases, uplift of surrounding land, movement of magma, & mini earthquakes.\n\nDormant volcanoes are those that have erupted at least once during recorded human history but have not erupted since that time. They are expected to erupt at some point in time but are not currently showing signs.\n\nExtinct volcanoes are ones that have not erupted in recorded human history but evidence left behind tells us that it had erupted at one time. These volcanoes are considered to be dead and will not erupt again.\n\nSo to answer your question directly, the only volcanoes that are active are the ones that are not extinct or dormant.
597381
Geologists generally group volcanoes into four main kinds--cinder cones, composite volcanoes, shield volcanoes, and lava domes. \n\nIn regard to your question, Cinder cones are the simplest type of volcano. They are built from particles and blobs of congealed lava ejected from a single vent. As the gas-charged lava is blown violently into the air, it breaks into small fragments that solidify and fall as cinders around the vent to form a circular or oval cone. Most cinder cones have a bowl-shaped crater at the summit and rarely rise more than a thousand feet or so above their surroundings. Cinder cones are numerous in western North America as well as throughout other volcanic terrains of the world.\n\nShield volcanoes are built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. Flow after flow pours out in all directions from a central summit vent, or group of vents, building a broad, gently sloping cone of flat, domical shape, with a profile much like that of a warrior's shield. They are built up slowly by the accretion of thousands of highly fluid lava flows called basalt lava that spread widely over great distances, and then cool as thin, gently dipping sheets. Lavas also commonly erupt from vents along fractures (rift zones) that develop on the flanks of the cone. Some of the largest volcanoes in the world are shield volcanoes. In northern California and Oregon, many shield volcanoes have diameters of 3 or 4 miles and heights of 1,500 to 2,000 feet. The Hawaiian Islands are composed of linear chains of these volcanoes including Kilauea and Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii-- two of the world's most active volcanoes. The floor of the ocean is more than 15,000 feet deep at the bases of the islands. As Mauna Loa, the largest of the shield volcanoes (and also the world's largest active volcano), projects 13,677 feet above sea level, its top is over 28,000 feet above the deep ocean floor.
660018
Different kinds of volcanos.. Shield, cone etc.\nJust the way the lavva flows out and the ash spits up./
27976
I couldn't find any record of a recent volcanic eruption in Canada; however, there is a volcano in Alaska that is currently active.  The Augustine Volcano, about 175 miles southwest of Anchorage, entered an active phase on January 11, 2006 and is sending ash plumes as high as 25,000 feet into the air.\n\nFlights into Anchorage were temporarily suspended due to the ash cloud but have resume as of the evening of January 31.
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http://volcano.und.edu/\nhttp://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/\nhttp://library.thinkquest.org/17457/english.html\nhttp://volcanoes.usgs.gov/\nhttp://www.geo.mtu.edu/volcanoes/world.html\n\nTry these, and if they don't work, try typing "Volcanoes" into Google or Yahoo searches.
103838
They are small volcanos.
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Depends on the composition of the magma.\n\nMagma high in silica tends to be thick & gas bubbles are trapped. The gas builds up & boom! Explosion.\n\nBasaltic lava tends to be "soupy" so that the gas bubbles escape. No explosions here.\n\n:)
450623
go to\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanoe
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Volcanoes are a result of the Earth trying to lose its internal heat. If the Earth's interior was cold, there would be no volcanoes. So how does a volcano form hey.\n\nWell, deep inside Earth, between the molten iron core and the thin crust at the surface, there is the mantle, a large layer of rock that is largely solid, but flows like plastic. When, for various reasons, rock from the mantle melts, it sometimes moves to the Earth’s surface through weak spots in the crust, releasing heat, gasses, and rock, what do you get when you put all this together..... you got it,  a volcanic eruption.\n\nVolcanoes erupt because magma is less dense than the solid rocks surrounding it in the mantle of the earth. As it nears the surface, gases expand and boil out of the rock, and this force of explosion propels lava from the vent. \n\nVolcanoes can occur by themselves or in belts and chains. The location of these volcanoes splits them into three groups. Rift volcanoes, subduction volcanoes, and hot spot volcanoes. This has a lot to do with plate tectonics, or moving of the segments of the earth's lithosphere. \n\n· Rift volcanoes occur where the plates are moving away from each other. They fill the separations with lava flows, creating new sea floor and mountain ridges beneath the waves. \n\n· Subduction volcanoes form where the plates collide and slide over each other. They create ridges and peaks. The Ring of Fire is a famous chain of volcanoes that rim the Pacific Ocean. About 1,000 live subduction volcanoes occur in this ring, and in any one-year, approximately 40 will be in some state of eruption. The Ring of Fire is composed of stratovolcanoes, which normally occur in chains, and account for over 95% of the world's active volcanoes.\n\nHot spot volcanoes are the exception to the rule of volcanoes occurring along plate margins. There are constant zones of magma within the earth in some places beneath the plates. The magma pierces through the plate. As time passes and the plates move, new volcanoes appear, and the extinct volcanoes are carried away with the drift of the plates. The common forms of hot spot volcanoes are shield volcanoes, like Mauna Loa of the Hawaiian Islands.\n\nMany factors determine the location, appearance, and amount of activity of each volcano. The location and consistency of magma determine the type of explosion, which determine the type of volcano that is formed. \n\nVolcanoes are both facinating and deadly examples of natures power. They are natural wonders that should be not just appreciated, but studied aswell. \n\nSorry this is long its just I studied volcanoes at uni and just find them fascinating.
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There was a recent Nova program that said a magnetic reversal had been captured in a lava flow, so that it had reversed while the lava was cooling.\n\nOn the other hand, they also indicate that the reversals take place as localized anomalies, so that only the area of the volcano may have reversed.\n\nMore info at\n\nhttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/magnetic/reversals.html
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Well, a shield volcano is the shortest volcano, but it's not the one with the shortest diameter. Stratovolcanoes are.
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Check out all the links I listed, you should enjoy...\n\nA volcano is an opening (or rupture) in the Earth's surface or crust, which allows hot, usually molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from deep below the surface. Volcanic activity involving the extrusion of rock tends to form mountains or features like mountains over a period of time.\n\nVolcanoes are generally found where two to three tectonic plates pull apart or are coming together. A mid-oceanic ridge, like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, has examples of volcanoes caused by "divergent tectonic plates" pulling apart; the Pacific Ring of Fire has examples of volcanoes caused by "convergent tectonic plates" coming together. By contrast, volcanoes are usually not created where two tectonic plates slide past one another (like the San Andreas fault). Volcanoes can also form where there is stretching of the Earth's crust and where the crust grows thin (called "non-hotspot intraplate volcanism"), such as in the African Rift Valley or the European Rhine Graben with its Eifel volcanoes).\n\nFinally, volcanoes can be caused by "mantle plumes," so-called "hotspots;" these hotspots can occur far from plate boundaries, such as the Hawaiian Islands. Interestingly, hotspot volcanoes are also found elsewhere in the solar system, especially on rocky planets and moons.
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A dormant volcano no longer erupts regularly but has lava in the batholith and is capable of erupting.  An extinct volcano contains no magma and the batholith has hardened.  It cannot erupt.
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Shield volcanoes are composed of basaltic, low viscosity lavas. which have low height/area aspect ratio (think about Hawaii).\nComposite volcanoes have a high height/are aspect ratio and are formed formed by andesitic to dacitic lavas, and pyroclasts. They are also called strato-volcanoes.\nThe domes, are dome shaped eruptions, lavas or volcanoes formed by dacitic to rhyolitic lavas, with some pyroclasts in the rims. They can also form cake like shapes or even very impressive protruding spine-shaped extrusion of very viscous magma.
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A volcano possesses explosive power plus a flow of volcanic lava that tends to follow i hope that helps. It combines both power and flow but a different kind to that of water.
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Simple answer: distance and monitoring.\n\nPlacing sensitive probes on the volcano to monitor any movements, shifts, temperature change, growth, seismic activity, etc., will give some indications of what a volcano is up to. If vulcanologist's studying the volcano's activities consider an eruption is about to happen, then an early warning can be issued for an evacuation.\n\nVolcanic eruption cannot be stopped. Eruption prediction is an inexact science at best. Safety is in distance. Tourist beware.
20175
Geologists classify volcanoes in following ways:\n\nCinder cones are the simplest type of volcano. They are built from particles and blobs of congealed lava ejected from a single vent. As the gas-charged lava is blown violently into the air, it breaks into small fragments that solidify and fall as cinders around the vent to form a circular or oval cone. Most cinder cones have a bowl-shaped crater at the summit and rarely rise more than a thousand feet or so above their surroundings. Cinder cones are numerous in western North America as well as throughout other volcanic terrains of the world.\n\nSome of the Earth's grandest mountains are composite volcanoes--sometimes called stratovolcanoes. They are typically steep-sided, symmetrical cones of large dimension built of alternating layers of lava flows, volcanic ash, cinders, blocks, and bombs and may rise as much as 8,000 feet above their bases. Some of the most conspicuous and beautiful mountains in the world are composite volcanoes, including Mount Fuji in Japan, Mount Cotopaxi in Ecuador, Mount Shasta in California, Mount Hood in Oregon, and Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier in Washington.\n\nShield volcanoes, the third type of volcano, are built almost entirely of fluid lava flows. Flow after flow pours out in all directions from a central summit vent, or group of vents, building a broad, gently sloping cone of flat, domical shape, with a profile much like that of a warrior's shield. They are built up slowly by the accretion of thousands of highly fluid lava flows called basalt lava that spread widely over great distances, and then cool as thin, gently dipping sheets. Lavas also commonly erupt from vents along fractures (rift zones) that develop on the flanks of the cone. Some of the largest volcanoes in the world are shield volcanoes. In northern California and Oregon, many shield volcanoes have diameters of 3 or 4 miles and heights of 1,500 to 2,000 feet. The Hawaiian Islands are composed of linear chains of these volcanoes including Kilauea and Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii-- two of the world's most active volcanoes.\n\nVolcanic or lava domes are formed by relatively small, bulbous masses of lava too viscous to flow any great distance; consequently, on extrusion, the lava piles over and around its vent. A dome grows largely by expansion from within. As it grows its outer surface cools and hardens, then shatters, spilling loose fragments down its sides. Some domes form craggy knobs or spines over the volcanic vent, whereas others form short, steep-sided lava flows known as "coulees." Volcanic domes commonly occur within the craters or on the flanks of large composite volcanoes. The nearly circular Novarupta Dome that formed during the 1912 eruption of Katmai Volcano, Alaska, measures 800 feet across and 200 feet high.