No Lava Needed Next, we’ll visit the Dallol crater. It’s in East Africa. Here, three plates are pulling apart. T e land here sinks into the cracks between the plates. Under the ground, magma rises. It
heats water in the ground. T is water boils and turns into steam. Sometimes, the steam explodes.
Rock, ash, and water fly into the air. T at’s how this giant crater formed almost 100 years ago.
Mud Mess An odd volcano in Indonesia
erupts every day. It’s not spewing lava. It’s coughing up mud! This mud volcano is linked to
Earth’s rising heat. Hot water deep under the ground mixes with gases and dirt. They make mud. Then the hot mud rises. It breaks through Earth’s surface. This volcano is dangerous. The mud gushes through villages and buries homes.
No one knows what started the
mud flow. Some scientists say it was an earthquake. Others say it could have been caused by a company drilling for oil. For now, the mud keeps flowing.
22 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER
Bubbling Water Nearby, you hear the sound of boiling water. T e water is under the ground. As the water boils, it picks up dangerous chemicals. T en it bubbles into the crater. It forms pools. Don’t dive in, though. T ese pools are green and toxic. T ey smell like rotten eggs. T e heat dries up some water.
What’s leſt is a crust of salt and minerals. T e minerals form rocky towers. Bacteria color the towers yellow and red. T e hiss of toxic fumes rises from the ground. It’s not safe to stay here. You’d better end your tour of odd volcanoes. By now you’ve learned a few
things about volcanoes. Some are very odd. Yet all volcanoes are alike in one way. All of them feel the heat!
WORDWISE
core: the center of Earth crust: the surface of Earth lava: melted rock that fl ows from a volcano magma: partly melted rock inside Earth
mantle: the layer of Earth between the crust and the core
plate: a giant piece of Earth’s crust and upper mantle
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