When you look at a mountain, or a valley, do you wonder how it got there?
A farm is nestled at the base of beautiful mountains. These mountains are volcanoes.
When you look at a map of the world, have you ever noticed how the continents look as though they could almost fit together like a puzzle?
Earth is very old – over 4.5 billion years old. And the land on our planet is constantly moving and changing. It’s happening right NOW!
It’s weird to think about, right? I mean, we know about the water cycle, so we know water on Earth is moving and changing. And we know about wind and changing weather, so we know there’s lots going on in the atmosphere. Plants and animals are growing and moving. That’s no surprise. But sometimes we don’t think about how the very ground beneath us is also moving and changing.
Being the good scientific thinkers you are, I know you’re saying, “WHAT?!? That sounds a little CRAZY! What’s your EVIDENCE?” So, recently I traveled to the country of Iceland to gather some photographic evidence for you.
Ms. Christie-Blick climbing mountains in Iceland. They are all volcanoes in this picture. These have been dormant a long time. The “ground” you see is volcanic ash.
Iceland has many mountains because it sits between two continental plates. Since it is right at the edge of two plates, the ground here moves A LOT. This movement causes friction, which creates heat, melting rock underground.
Can you find the country of Iceland? Part of the country is on the North American Plate, and part of it is on the Eurasian Plate. It’s on the boundary of both plates.
Look for the “You Are Here” star on the map, showing that Iceland is at the two plate boundaries.
The underground natural heating creates some weird and wonderful phenomenon around Iceland, like mud pots….
and geysers.
The liquid rock under Iceland, called magma, sometimes breaks through the surface of the earth. We call this a volcano.
When it erupts, the liquid rock from under the earth pours onto the top of the earth and creates more land. As the lava cools, it mounds up higher and higher and can become a very tall mountain, or it can spread out.
Ms. Christie-Blick walks across cooled lava, which has spread across the land for many miles in all directions.
I saw many different types of volcanic landscapes in Iceland – beautiful and fascinating! In some areas, the land was still very hot. I had to watch out where I stepped.
Other areas had cool ground but their tumultuous history left behind magnificent scenery.
Ms. Christie-Blick inside the caldera of a volcano. It’s been dormant for a long time, and has filled up with rain water. (Chirpy is in the backpack.)
Chirpy sitting on waves of lava that have cooled into rock.
Lava poured out of a volcano and hardened into rock. Years later, an earthquake cracked it open. It filled with rain water and melted snow. Now people throw in coins and make a wish while picnicking at this beautiful spot!
Seismologists, scientists who study earthquakes, know that there’s usually some movement of the earth before a volcano erupts. Engineers have built monitors to detect the earth’s movement. Engineers and scientists work together to increase our understanding of the geosphere. Warning systems are in place to tell people when a volcano is about to erupt so they can move away from the area.
A measuring device in the metal box is placed near volcanoes. It’s powered by wind and sun. It sends information about ground movement to scientists’ computers.
When those large blocks of earth, continental plates, move away from each other, they can crack the earth wide open. We call this action of the geosphere an earthquake. Sometimes it creates a small crack in the ground.
An earthquake cracked the ground open. It’s now filled with rain water and melted snow.
Other times, it can create a very deep and wide crack, creating a valley. In the picture below, I’m inside one of those cracks caused by an earthquake, looking at what the inside of the earth looks like.
Ms. Christie-Blick inside the earth that has cracked open.
While movement of the geosphere can create beautiful landscapes, it also has an impact on the biosphere. People are often affected by the earth’s movement and changes, not only in Iceland, but in areas around the world, especially near areas where two continental plates meet.
On April 25, 2015, a strong earthquake was felt in Nepal, a country north of India. It broke apart buildings and roads. It started an avalanche on Mount Everest. This has had tragic consequences for thousands of people. Over 2000 people have died.
Buildings crumbled during the earthquake in Nepal, destroying property and lives.
The Bardarbunga volcano recently erupted in Iceland. The eruption went on for several months! Lava poured down its sides creating more land, and changing the landscape around it. Any human-made buildings or roads quickly got swallowed up by the lava.
As with Iceland, the Hawaiian Islands were created by volcanoes, and they continue to erupt.
The geosphere is active indeed, constantly changing the shape of the land and the lives of the people who live nearby.
I can’t believe how many people died in Nepal.
Today in science I learned that the underground natrual heat creates mud pots. It was very intresting when i saw the video.To me it kind of looked like boiling cement it was super cool,what I would want to do is go to iceland.I also have a question for you , if a valcano just erupted when is the estimated years the next time that the valcano wil erupt?
Good question, Ricky. Sometimes a volcano will erupt again the next day or the next week. Sometimes it won’t erupt again for a year or a hundred years! It depends on the amount of gas under the volcano, and the depth of the magma.
I didn’t know that even though a volcano erupted decades ago the ground could still be hot. I also never knew that when the ground is hot it is because of friction and scientists know that the earth’s plates are moving.
We thought that it is very sad that over 1,000 people died in an earthquake in Nepul.
Wow! I never knew that the earth was 4.5 billion years old! Its funny to think that we are the future to a a past generation,I bet that if we showed up how we are now at that time, I bet they would think we are aliens!
Maya-I learned that Earth is 4.5 billion years old.
Reilly-I learned that the top of a volcano is cold from all the melted snow and rain.
Liam: I learned that the earth is over 4.5 billion years old!That is pretty cool to know.
Louie: I learned that Napal was destroyed because of an earthquake.
Here is what we both learned about the geosphere about something we didn’t know.
Volcanoes come in different forms and it is really awesome to see them erupt. There is so much facts you can learn about in the geosphere. We can learn so much about volcanoes.It is amazing to see what happened to the land after the earthquakes.
I never knew that the lava deep underneath the ground heated up the pools of water, making them hot pools. I think that the geysers are really cool to watch but they are dangerous. Now I understand that there is boiling water underground caused by magma.
I can’t believe that there was such a big earthquake in Nepal. 7.8!! It’s so sad that so many people died. Over 1,000. It’s unbelivable that less than 1% of the people were American.
When I just started learning about the geosphere I did not know they can tell when a valcano is going to erupt and they can tell when a earthquake is going to shake
1 mrs Christie-blick you were warning us about volcanos why are in the middle of one?! 2 How are the mud pots made are they like bubbley geysers and did you purposely put the people there?
The volcano was being monitored by scientists. See the photo with the scientific equipment. That’s how I knew the volcano was not going to erupt while I was inside it!
Kayla- I learn how when earthqucks form it forms a vally and you can walk in it which is very cool.
Catie- I was supriesed to find out that the warning systems for the volcanoes were out in the open. I thought they were in a research lab or a weather staiton.
CJ:This helped me understand how earthquakes effect the environment and sometimes not in good ways.
Brian:I think this is very neat because this a learning experience for all of us and we can learn what happened is nepal.
We did not know that there were earthquakes strong enough to knock down buildings ,temples and crack roads. We also did not know that there are machines to sense earthquakes.
What I learned about the geosphere that I didn’t know before was that how over the years the ground can move a little bit over the years but now the earthquakes have erupted so much that you can sometimes walk through it. This was amazing news to me.
I now understand so much more. I do not think I want to visit Iceland or chile any time soon! Those volcanos and earthquakes make me think WHY! Why do the plates move why are they so large and big when they happen? I hope that I would never have to experience that. The events are so amazing when you see all that cracked land and how it just swallows everything. I hope that I can see more videos and picture about these amazing events.
Michael and I never new that the plates underground moved and that`s what created the volcano`s and cracks in the earth
We never knew how dangerous the geosphere could be. The volcanoes and earthquakes could be very destructive. Even though it is beautiful you have to be careful in Iceland.
I learnd that under the ground is always moving and that there could be such big earthquakes.
I learnd that there are such big earthquakes that it can distroy a large area and make a crack in the ground.
I now understand that their is boiling water underground because I watched a video which showed a geyser shoot up in the air very high which was really cool.
We learned how much the earthquakes damaged the houses and buildings.Also we learned how the volcanos magma looked like and we learned that they have boiling water.
i didn’t know that we need drones to get photos of volcanoes
Wow that was awesome the geosphere is awesome becuse there is really cool rocks and really cool volcano becuase that have melted rock ans magama the geosphere is so cool!
I learned that earthquakes can efect more than 1 contrey. Also the after shock of a earthquake can last more than a year.
i agree completely Megan
The video of the volcano erupting showed us how far the lava can travel.