Volcanoes
October 06, 2004

by Andrew Wilson, Youth Web Editorial Coordinator, Office of Collections and Services

Volcano Resources

There are about 1500 named volcanoes on the planet. Some of them are well known: Vesuvius, Krakataua, Etna, Fuji, Pelee, Kilauea, Rainier, St. Helens. Some are less so: Bagana, Bam, Bliznets, Demon, Frosty, Haku-san, Reykjanes. According to the Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program about twenty volcanoes will be erupting at any given moment. Though most go unnoticed by the general population, the news images of the most dramatic blasts are riveting: columns of ash and smoke rising above a shattered landscape, glowing lava pouring from blackened craters, forests set ablaze, cities covered in ash. There were 154 eruptions in the 1990s. Many of the questions raised by these events are still unanswered but science has been making great gains recently in our understanding of volcanoes. If you are interested in finding answers to questions like:

How are volcanoes formed?
Why do they erupt?
How accurately can we predict eruptions?
What are the warning signs?
Can they affect my local weather?
Are we experiencing more eruptions than usual?
Are there any volcanoes near me?

take a look at these resources from the collections of The New York Public Library and other selected web sites.

Web Sites

Google News: Volcanoes The latest volcano news stories from around the world.

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument Includes a live "VolcanoCam."

Smithsonian Institution, Global Volcanism Program

United States Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program

The University of North Dakota's Volcano World

volcanolive.com Daily news stories from Australian Volcanologist John Seach

Volcanoes from learner.org

Recommended Reading for Adults, Teens and Children

For Adults and Teens

  Out of the Crater : Chronicles of a Volcanologist by Richard V. Fisher. Princeton University Press, c1997.

Volcanoes : Crucibles of Change by Richard V. Fisher. Princeton University Press, c1997.

  Volcanoes : Fire from the Earth by Maurice Krafft. H.N. Abrams, c1993.

  Volcanoes by David A. Rothery, Contemporary Books, c2001.

  Volcanoes of the United States by Ellen Thro. F. Watts, c1992.

  Krakatoa : The Day the World Exploded, August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester. Thorndike Press, c2003.

For Children

Volcanoes! : Mountains of Fire by Eric Arnold. Random House, c1997.

  Volcanoes by Franklyn Mansfield Branley. Crowell, c1985.

Volcanoes by Vincent J. Bunce. Raintree Steck-Vaughn, c2000.

Volcanoes : Nature's Incredible Fireworks by David L. Harrison. Boyds Mills Press, c2002.

  Volcano : the Eruption and Healing of Mount St. Helens by Patricia Lauber. Bradbury Press, c1986.

  Earthquake games : Earthquakes and Volcanoes Explained by 32 Games and Experiments by Matthys Levy. M.K. McElderry Books, c1997.

  Vacation Under the Volcano by Mary Pope Osborne. Random House, c1998.

  Danger! Volcanoes by Seymour Simon. SeaStar Books, c2002.

  Volcanoes by Seymour Simon . Morrow Junior Books, c1988.

Videos

Volcano. DK Vision, c1996.

  The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top. KidVision, c1995.