The Highest Mountains Around The World: Volcanoes

A volcano on Earth is a vent or fissure in the planet's crust through which lava, ash, rock, and gases erupt. A volcano is also a mountain formed by the accumulation of these eruptive products. Volcanoes are Earth's geologic architects. They've created more than 80 percent of our planet's surface, laying the foundation that has allowed life to thrive. Their explosive force crafts mountains as well as craters.

Volcanoes have existed for a long time on Earth, likely causing disasters such as the Permian mass extinction about 250 million years ago, the greatest mass extinction in Earth's history, according to a 2015 paper. Volcanoes can and have existed on other worlds as well: although volcanoes on the moon and Mars have long been dormant, volcanoes are still very active on Jupiter's moon Io.

There are some reasons how was the volcano came formed!!!

Earth's crust is 3 to 37 miles thick, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It is broken up into seven major and 152 smaller pieces called tectonic plates, according to a 2016 paper by Christopher Harrison at the University of Miami. These plates float on a layer of magma, semi-liquid rock, and dissolved gases. At the boundaries of these places, where they move past, are pushed under, or move away from each other, magma, which is lighter than the surrounding solid rock, is often able to force its way up through cracks and fissures. Magma can explode from the vent, or it can flow out of the volcano-like an overflowing cup. Magma that has erupted is called lava.

There are volcanoes on every continent, even Antarctica. Some 1,500 volcanoes are still considered potentially active around the world today; 161 of those over 10 percent sit within the boundaries of the United States. But each volcano is different. Some burst to life in explosive eruptions, like the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo, and others burp rivers of lava in what's known as an effusive eruption, like the 2018 activity of Hawaii's Kilauea volcano. These differences are all thanks to the chemistry driving the molten activity. Effusive eruptions are more common when the magma is less viscous, or runny, which allows gas to escape and the magma to flow down the volcano's slopes.