Living with Volcanic Activity

Page 1

Benefits brought by volcanoes

Geothermal Power

heat from a magma chamber can be used as an energy source

electricity generated directly from steam in volcanically active area

electricit generated by water pumped down and heated from hot rocks

space heating for greenhouses, public buildings and homes

hot water supply for swimming pools, cooking and domestic use

Fertile soils - lava and some volcanic ash weather create a deep fertile soil

somewhere to live - volcanic tuff formed from ash is a useful building material, easy to cut and light.

without volcanic gases the earth would have no atmosphere:

volcanoes supply large volumes of gases to the atmosphere and initally created the earth's atmosphere of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen

all the water in the oceans originated as volcanic has in the form of water vaopout

minerals:

sulfur is mined from active volcanoes

black smokers are hydrothermal vents on MORs that produce a variety of sulfide metals deposits, rich in nickel, copper, silver, zinc, mercury, magnanese and lead

bacteria found in Yelowstone are now used in DNA and AIDS testing.

New Page