A volcano is an opening in the Earth’s surface where hot magma, gases, and ash escape, sometimes erupting explosively to form new land.
What is a Volcano?
A volcano is like a natural vent in the Earth’s crust. Deep inside the Earth, heat melts rock into a thick liquid called magma. When magma rises and reaches the surface, it is called lava. Volcanoes often form on mountains or at the edges of tectonic plates, which are huge pieces of the Earth’s crust that move and sometimes collide, creating cracks for magma to escape natgeokids.com+2.
Why Do Volcanoes Erupt?
Volcanoes erupt because gas pressure builds up inside magma. As magma rises, trapped gases expand. When the pressure becomes too strong, the magma bursts out, sometimes slowly as lava flows, or explosively, sending ash, rocks, and gases into the air Encyclopedia Britannica+1. This is similar to opening a shaken soda bottle — the gas pushes the liquid out!