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Volcanoes are one of the world's most astonishing, yet devastating phenomena. The Earth is made of many different layers, including the core, mantle, and crust. Volcanoes can be formed when two or more of the earth’s tectonic plates converge. They can also be formed from mantle plumes or “hotspots�, which is an abnormally hot rock in the Earth’s mantle that has had volcanic activity there for a long time.

Volcanoes are a beautiful example of clockwork. They can be classified by how often they erupt, if they erupt at all. Volcanoes that erupt regularly are called “active� while volcanoes that have erupted in the past, but no longer erupt are called “dormant�. There are also volcanoes that have not erupted and are called “extinct�.

Volcanoes have an amazing infrastructure. When the tectonic plates are pushed beneath another, the Earth's crust melts and it becomes magma. When there is enough magma, a Volcano is formed. It is made up of the Magma chamber, at the very bottom and center of the volcano, the strata, or the layers in the volcano, the central vent, and the crater. This is shown in the diagram below.

Volcanoes can have a huge impact on humans also. They force people to leave their homes to seek safety, they cause people to find a new source of water, and they also restrict travel to the popular tourist sites.
A volcano is an extraordinary example of a phenomena because it exhibits all the characteristics of one.

“Volcano� Wikipedia. 2006. Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia. 5 Oct. 2006.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcano