What makes Mt. Baekdu erupt?

200401110 Sangseek Min

27. June. 2010

What makes Mt. Baekdu erupt?

 

Mt. Baekdu is the 2,744 meter volcano on the border between China and North Korea. I encountered a shocking article in the newspaper about Mt. Baekdu a few days ago. The article has warned of the possibility of a major eruption of Mt. Baekdu in the near future. As evidence of this, the height of Mt. Baekdu has grown nearly 10 centimeters since 2002. It is an indicator of a future eruption. Because an expanding magma pool is gradually pushing up the height of Mt. Baekdu. Here is how you can understand the eruption of Mt. Baekdu.

 

 

Do you know what is Pompeii? I have been interested in Pompeii after reading the book about a history of Pompeii. It was the volcanic eruption that destroyed Pompeii and killed thousands in 79 AD. A huge cloud of volcanic gas and ash covered the city and burning rocks fell on the city of Pompeii. If Mt. Baekdu goes to the eruption, a similar case like Pompeii will happen? And then, we have to know what is a volcano to prepare for volcanic eruptions.

 

 

In highschool, I learned that a volcano is an opening in the earth's surface which allows magma, ash and gases to escape from below the surface. My science teacher said that the magma is formed when the heat and pressure in the earth melts the rock. When the magma comes out of the volcano, it is called lava. Namely, lava is the very hot liquid rock that comes out of a volcano. And my science teacher always said that lava is very dangerous. Because it is able to melt all things.

 

 

Have you seen the scene that a volcano erupt? Maybe you might watch the picture on National Geographic. By the way, what makes a volcano erupt? Fortunately, I found good informations about the volcanic eruption on internet. According to the internet site, the pressure under the earth is usually caused by tectonic plates. But the magma pressure is from a heat source. It comes from natural radioactive decay within the Earth. The increasing pressure pushes the magma topside. In other words it is the eruption of a volcano. And the magma pressure can get high if magma is sitting around in the magma chamber within the volcano. This is because as the magma in the chamber starts to cool off, it releases gases. These gases can increase the pressure until the volcano fractures.

 

 

I watched a hollywood disaster movie 'Volcano' when I was a middle school student. The film about a volcano eruption in downtown Los Angeles made me scared. And It gave me a certain curiosity about a volcano. So I could perceive the truth that the volcano is a terrible disaster. Mt. Baekdu eruption also is going to destroy everything near the volcano. And it will make people who live near the border of North Korea unhappy. Therefore we have to seek a reasonable solution to provide against emergencies about eruption. because coming Mt. Baekdu eruption is going to be the similar to the previous massive one 1,000 years ago. The consequences could be 1,000 times the recent Iceland eruption.