• Question: will volcanos ever stop erupting

    Asked by jonel018 to Davie, Gemma, James P, James V, Nuala on 29 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: James Pope

      James Pope answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      Hi jonel018,

      I’m sure James V will give the detailed answer to this, but no, volcanoes won’t ever stop erupting, magma will always be able to find a way to break through the thin and brittle crust that we live on and cause volcanoes!

    • Photo: James Verdon

      James Verdon answered on 29 Jun 2012:

      Hi jonel,

      Individual volcanoes do go extinct. Volcanoes go extinct where there is no more molten magma for them to erupt. Volcanoes form when there is a heat source, either in the crust or below in the mantle, that heats up the rocks and melts them, creating magma that can be erupted through a volcano. Obviously, after a while the heat source might die down again, or maybe plate tectonics will push the heat source to a different area. With no more heat, all the magma at the volcano will solidify, and there will be nothing left to erupt. At this point, the volcano can be considered extinct.

      However, while some volcanoes go extinct, new ones will form. So long as we have active plate tectonics on the planet, we will always have volcanoes.

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