Volcanoes

Abstract

Volcanic eruption is the most spectacular of all landscape-forming processes, and has a fascination for the scientist and the ordinary man alike. This book gives an up-to-date account of the mechanism of volcanic activity, the products of eruption, and especially the many varieties of landform produced by vulcanism. It also describes the processes of weathering and erosion that attack volcanoes and lava flows, and discusses the course of landscape evolution in volcanic areas. The numerous examples of eruptions, disasters, landforms, and scientific investigations are drawn from all over the world, with some emphasis on volcanic features of Australasia. The distribution of volcanoes is explained in conjunction with modern ideas of the evolution of the earth's crust, and the final chapter discusses methods used to predict eruptions as well as what to do when an eruption occurs. Volcanoes is aimed at the level of undergraduate geomorphology students, but will be of interest to geologists, geophysicists, and hydrologists. It is also a suitable introduction to volcanoes for schools and for the general reader. Like other volumes of the Introduction to Systematic Geomorphology series it is well illustrated with diagrams and photographs.