Chimney Volcano · Volcanoes05 / 12

Volcanoes, lava and tectonic plates: 8 facts for kids

Islands are built from lava; when it cools in the sea, the island grows. Chimney Volcano was built from layer upon layer of lava: every time lava cools in the sea, the island grows a little. Your child cools the lava to make new land and watches the volcano breathe from the observatory.

01

Volcano

Magma from deep underground squeezes up through cracks in the crust; eruption after eruption piles it higher into a volcano. The pit at the top is the crater.

How does a volcano form? Read more →

02

Magma & lava

Underground it is called magma; once it reaches the surface it is lava. It is melted rock at over 1,000 degrees — many times hotter than an oven.

What's the difference between magma and lava? Read more →

03

Brand-new land

When lava flows into the sea it cools and hardens, and the island grows a little. The islands of Hawaiʻi grew this way — and are still growing.

How do volcanoes make new land? Read more →

04

Basalt & black sand

Lava cools into black basalt; waves slowly smash and grind the basalt into black sand beaches.

Why is the sand on some beaches black? Read more →

05

Volcanic ash

Fresh ash smothers everything, but it is full of nutrients — a few years later the land becomes especially fertile.

How can volcanic ash make soil fertile? Read more →

06

Tectonic plates

Earth's outer shell is like a jigsaw of pieces called plates. They slowly push and pull, so earthquakes and volcanoes happen along the cracks.

What are tectonic plates? Read more →

07

Steam vents

Steam vents mostly puff out water vapour — underground heat boils the groundwater, bringing up rotten-egg-smelling sulfur too.

What comes out of a steam vent? Read more →

08

Pioneer plants

Mosses and ferns are the first to grow on new rock. They slowly turn stone into a little soil so other plants can follow — this is called succession.

What grows first on new rock? Read more →