Bárðarbunga Volcano, September 4 2014 - 15145875322

An active volcano is a

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...

which is either erupting or is likely to erupt in the future. An active volcano which is not currently erupting is known as a

dormant volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...

Overview

Tlocene Epoch. Most volcanoes are situated on the

Pacific Ring of Fire The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. The Ring o ...

. An estimated 500 million people live near active volcanoes. ''Historical time'' (or recorded history) is another timeframe for ''active''. However, the span of recorded history differs from region to region. In China and the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

, it reaches back nearly 3,000 years, but in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and Canada, it reaches back less than 300 years, and in Hawaii and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

it is only around 200 years. The incomplete ''Catalogue of the Active Volcanoes of the World'', published in parts between 1951 and 1975 by the International Association of Volcanology, uses this definition, by which there are more than 500 active volcanoes. , the Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program recognizes 560 volcanoes with confirmed historical eruptions. As of 2013, the following are considered Earth's most active volcanoes: * Kīlauea, the famous

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

an volcano, was in nearly continuous, effusive eruption (in which lava steadily flows onto the ground) between 1983 through 2018, and had the longest-observed lava lake. * Mount Etna and nearby Stromboli, two

volcanoes in "almost continuous eruption" since antiquity. *

Piton de la Fournaise Piton de la Fournaise (; en, "Peak of the Furnace") is a shield volcano on the eastern side of Réunion island (a French overseas department and region) in the Indian Ocean. It is currently one of the most active volcanoes in the world, alo ...

, in Réunion, erupts frequently enough to be a tourist attraction. , the longest ongoing (but not necessarily continuous) volcanic eruptive phases are:{{cite web, url=http://www.livescience.com/29790-worlds-five-most-active-volcanoes.html, title=The World's Five Most Active Volcanoes , last=Leontiou , first=A., date=2 November 2010, publisher=livescience.com, access-date=August 4, 2013 *

Mount Yasur Mount Yasur is a volcano on Tanna Island, Vanuatu, high above sea level, on the coast near Sulphur Bay, northeast of the taller Mount Tukosmera, which was active in the Pleistocene. It has a largely unvegetated pyroclastic cone with a nearly c ...

, 111 years * Mount Etna, 110 years * Stromboli, 108 years * Santa María, 101 years *

Sangay Sangay (also known as Macas, Sanagay, or Sangai) is an active stratovolcano in central Ecuador. It exhibits mostly strombolian activity. Geologically, Sangay marks the southern boundary of the Northern Volcanic Zone, and its position straddlin ...

, 94 years Other very active volcanoes include: *

Mount Nyiragongo Mount Nyiragongo ( ) is an active stratovolcano with an elevation of in the Virunga Mountains associated with the Albertine Rift. It is located inside Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, about north of the town of ...

and its neighbor,

Nyamuragira Nyamuragira, also known as Nyamulagira, is an active shield volcano in the Virunga Mountains of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, situated about north of Lake Kivu. The name is derived from the Bantu verb ''Kuragira nyamu'', meaning to '' ...

, are

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

's most active volcanoes Lava Lake Nyiragongo 2

. *

Erta Ale Erta Ale (or Ertale or Irta'ale; Amharic: ኤርታሌ) is a continuously active basaltic shield volcano in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia. It is situated in the Afar Depression, a barren desert area. Erta Ale is the most active volcano ...

, in the

Afar Triangle The Afar Triangle (also called the Afar Depression) is a geological depression caused by the Afar Triple Junction, which is part of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. The region has disclosed fossil specimens of the very earliest hominins; t ...

, has maintained a lava lake since at least 1906. *

Mount Erebus Mount Erebus () is the second-highest volcano in Antarctica (after Mount Sidley), the highest active volcano in Antarctica, and the southernmost active volcano on Earth. It is the sixth-highest ultra mountain on the continent. With a summ ...

, in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

, has maintained a lava lake since at least 1972. *

Mount Merapi Mount Merapi, ''Gunung Merapi'' (literally Fire Mountain in Indonesian and Javanese), is an active stratovolcano located on the border between the province of Central Java and the Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most acti ...

* Whakaari / White Island, has been in a continuous state of releasing volcanic gas since before European observation in 1769. *

Ol Doinyo Lengai Ol Doinyo Lengai (Oldoinyo Lengai), "Mountain of God" in the Maasai language, is an active volcano located in the Gregory Rift, south of Lake Natron within the Arusha Region of Tanzania, Africa. Part of the volcanic system of the East African Ri ...

* Ambrym *

Arenal Volcano Arenal Volcano ( es, Volcán Arenal) is an active andesitic stratovolcano in north-western Costa Rica around northwest of San José, in the province of Alajuela, canton of San Carlos, and district of La Fortuna. The Arenal volcano measures ...

* Pacaya *

Klyuchevskaya Sopka Klyuchevskaya Sopka (russian: Ключевская сопка; also known as Klyuchevskoi, russian: Ключевской) is a stratovolcano, the highest mountain of Siberia and the highest active volcano of Eurasia. Its steep, symmetrical cone t ...

Sheveluch Shiveluch (russian: Шивелуч), also called Sheveluch, which originates from the name "suelich" which means "smoking mountain" in Itelmen language, Itelmen is the northernmost active volcano in Kamchatka Krai, Russia. It and Karymsky (volcan ...

Overview

References

See also