Explosion thingies, AKA Volcanoes

How do Volcanoes form?

Volcanoes occur because of the movement of the tectonic plates. The movement of a plate sinking beneath another plate into the mantle makes it become very hot and it then melts due to the friction. This is called Magma, and as it rises through the cracks of the earth surface, causing pressure buildup and it eventually is released. Once this pressure is released, the magma flows to the surface causing what is known to be called a volcanic eruption. Once the magma has reached the surface, it erupts to form lava flows and ash deposits, once that has cooled, it forms a new crust. After years and years of buildup of this lava creates the Volcano shape that most people are familiar with. 

The Diamond Head Volcano in Hawaii

The Diamond Head Volcano is a volcanic tuff cone on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu and is known to most Hawaiians as Le'ahi. This volcano is widely known for its beautiful views of O'ahu as well as the humungous crater at the top. Lying at the southern edge of Waikiki, Le'ahi is an extinct volcanic crater and tuff cone. It was the site of a Luakini Heiau, which is a historical structure dedicated to the war god and was used for human sacrifice as well as devotion to the god. The name Le'ahi was originally given to the volcano by the Ancient Hawaiians. It is most likely that lae "brow ridge, promontory" and ahi "tuna" because the shape of the ridgeline of the crater as seen from Waikiki resembles the shape of a tuna's dorsal fin. But it can also mean "wreath of fire" and refer to the navigational fires lit on the summit to assist canoes travelling offshore. It was known as the Diamond Head in 1825 when the British sailors and settlers mistook volcanic crystals for diamonds. The volcano is estimated to be 150,000 years old and extinct for 150,000 years. The Diamond Head crater was formed from many cones and vents. It is responsible for a series of volcanic eruptions called Honolulu Volcanic Series. The eruptions caused several popular landmarks in Hawaii to emerge. The eruption that created the Diamond Head lasted for only a few days. 

Many people visit the Diamond Head Crater every year. It is quite a famous tourist attraction. Visitors to Waikiki often hike to the Diamond Head Monument. It takes around 2 hours to reach the observation deck, but if you are quite an efficient, fast walker, it could take less than an hour. There are many stairs on the way up to the monument and a small tunnel that you have to pass through. Once you reach the observation deck, you will be able to observe the scenery of Waikiki. 

Hawaiian legends say that the volcanic cone was one of the places where Pele, the volcano goddess, and her younger sister, Hiiaka, lived as they searched Hawaii for a permanent home. 

Our Volcanic Eruption 

After researching volcanoes, we were given the task to create a model of one of our group members volcanoes. Jessica's volcano was the volcano we used. Mount Vesuvius. Using paper mache, we created the volcanic structure of the volcano and then painted it. We erupted the volcano and it went quite well.

4 spatulas of Potassium Iodide in 20mls of water 
 20mls of 35% hydrogen Peroxide 
Dishwashing liquid 
Red Food colouring 
H202--------> H20 + O2

First, we mixed the Potassium Iodide and the water together in the small beaker until it was clear like regular water, While Jess was doing this, Molly and I mixed the rest of the ingredients into our volcano. To create the final lava flow, we added the iodide mixture into the bottle and watched how it erupted. This experiment worked because Hydrogen Peroxide is water and oxygen and slowly separates. The Potassium iodide was asses to the hydrogen peroxide to speed up the eruption process. The glitter we added also made it super sparkly and I love it.