GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Dormant volcanoes have not erupted for a very long time but may erupt at a future time. Extinct volcanoes are not expected to erupt in the future.

Detailed explanation-2: -Where on Earth? Known to the Romans as ‘the lighthouse of the Mediterranean’, the island volcano of Stromboli off Sicily has been quietly erupting for over 2, 000 years.

Detailed explanation-3: -Volcanologists use that term as shorthand for “potentially active, ” so a “dormant” volcano is one that is not erupting now, but that is considered “active” because it could erupt in the future. Mount Hood is an active volcano that is currently dormant. Kīlauea is an active volcano that is currently erupting.

Detailed explanation-4: -Volcano World A dormant volcano would then be one that hasn’t erupted in the past 10, 000 years, but which is expected to erupt again. An extinct volcano would be one that nobody expects to ever erupt again. These are human definitions of natural things – there have been a number of eruptions from “extinct” volcanoes!

Detailed explanation-5: -Volcanoes go dormant because magma from the Earth’s mantle can no longer reach the volcano. For example, in Hawaii, the line of islands are slowly moving to the northwest. Meanwhile, the supply of magma stays in the same place within the Earth, which currently happens to lie beneath the Big Island.