4 Different Types of Volcanoes:

Different Types of Volcanoes:

When we think of volcanoes, we often perceive the concept that we usually see in Hollywood movies – hazardous, harmful, damaging and catastrophic volcanoes. Although that is pretty much the truth, but actually there are many different types of volcanoes. Some of these volcanoes are actually very dangerous, while others are not. In order to understand the true nature and catastrophic characteristics of a volcano, it is important to know about the different types of volcanoes.
Generally, volcanologists divide volcanoes into 4 major types, which will be discussed later in this article. For now, let us have a brief look at what is a volcano?

What is a Volcano?

Before we move forward to our main topic of discussion, which is the different types of volcanoes, it is recommended to first understand that what is a volcano?

The Ice Biome

Climate:  

Basically, it's below freezing here year round.

World Distribution:  

The map below shows the polar ice cap represented only by the interior of Greenland and Spitsbergen. The map does not extend far enough to the south to show the continent of Antarctica, which is also all covered by snow and ice.  In addition, large areas of the norther ocean freeze solid for most of the years, but at least recently the area covered by ice year-round has decreased with global warming, and since sea ice isn't on land it really isn't part of a "biome" anyway.   It should be noted that a similar icy habitat exists at the tops of some mountains of the alpine biome.

 Indicator Plant Species:

It's ICE, folks!  There are no higher plants; in some areas algae may grow in the snow and give it a pinkish color.

Indicator Animal Species:

Few animals live on the ice either.  There are some birds and polar bears, below, but that's pretty much it.  Even the polar bears spend a lot of time out on the floating ice or in the water.  Seals, whales and other marine mammals are there (the bears eat the seals), and of course there are a lot of fish.  In Antarctica, penguins are common. All of these pictures are of animals in captivity, except for the 2 harbor seals, which were in Maine. Penguins	Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas) Killer Whales (Orcinus orca)
	Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina)
Polar Bear (Ursus maritimus)	Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina)

Ecological Notes: With no exposed soil, it's hard for plants to take root, so there really isn't much of a base for a biological community on land (with the exception of those algae in the snow and perhaps a few insects that feed on them).  Most of the food resources are in the adjacent ocean, so life on the polar ice cap is restricted to the nearshore Threats: There aren't a lot of people running out to build houses on the tundra.  Development is not a major problem, nor is there much pressure from human populations (although pollution problems near human settlements can be severe; it is a great technical challenge to effect efficient sewage treatment in a cold environment, for instance).  The biggest threats come from airborne pollutants, which have brought measurable levels of pollutants such as DDT and PCB's to even remote areas.

The biggest threat, however, is from oil and gas development and the resulting global warming.  The Arctic National Wildlife refuge mentioned earlier has the misfortune of sitting on about a 6 month supply of oil.  Despite the great difficulty in extracting this oil, corporate interests and their pet politicians just can't seem to let the idea of drilling here go.  Instead of promoting fuel conservation, which could easily make up for the oil not retrieved from this arctic paradise, they continue to push the propaganda on the American people that drilling here will somehow offset high oil prices.  An more sever threat comes from global warming, however.  As the planet warms (a result of burning all that fossil fuel from elsewhere), the permafrost melts and tundra ecosystems collapse.  Further, the permafrost contains a significant amount of dead plant material (grown in earlier and warmer times); as the permafrost warms this material begins to decay, releasing even more CO₂ into the atmosphere and accelerating global warming.

Tour:

I flew over Greenland once in January and took these pictures.  Actually, these were from southern Greenland and these areas might actually support tundra in the summer, but you get the general idea.

Different Types of Soil

Soil is the most vital element required for food production, and is nothing but fine particles that have eroded from a parent rock.

A rock, as we know, is made up of various minerals, metals, and fossils. Continuous exposure to natural and man-made factors causes the parent rock to weather. Over a period of time, these weathered rock particles form the top layer of soil, that plants use to grow and survive.

The size of soil particles is important. The amount of open space between the particles influences how easily water moves through soil, and how much water the soil will hold. Too much clay in proportion to silt and sand causes the soil to take in water very slowly. Such soils give water to plants slowly, and are sticky when wet. Based on the components and the size of the particles, soil is classified into different types.

Mediterranean Climate

Introduction

Mediterranean climate types can be found along the west side of continents in mid-latitudes from 30° to 50° N and 30° to 40° S latitudes, commonly in a belt of prevailing westerly winds (Fig. 1).  Shrub communities are common in the Mediterranean climate type. In Chile and Spain these Mediterranean shrub communities are called matorral, in France it is called maquis and in Italy, macchia.  In South Africa it is known as fynbos and in southwest Australia kwongan.

 Oak woodland and grasslands also occur in this climate type.
These Mediterranean climate types are classified under the Köeppen climate classification system (Kottek et al. 2006) as “Cs”. The “C” stands for warm temperature climates, where the average temperature of the coldest months is 64° F. The “s” stands for a dry season in the summer.  In the winter the Mediterranean climate, is mild and moist.  During the summer it is very hot and dry.

Types Of Desert And Their Ecosystem

Deserts are one of the major ecosystems in the world and constitute one fifth of the earth’s land. There are four major types of deserts:

• Hot and dry deserts
• Semiarid deserts
• Coastal deserts
• Cold deserts

Hot And Dry Desert

The hot and dry deserts are present around the equator and have a warm and hot temperature through out the year. The examples of these types of deserts are: Sahara desert, Sandy Desert of Australia and Sonoran Desert.

Denudation

In geology, denudation is the long-term sum of processes that cause the wearing away of the earth’s surface leading to a reduction in elevation and relief of landforms and landscapes. Endogenetic processes such as volcanoes, earthquakes, and plate tectonics uplift and expose continental crust to the exogenetic denudation processes of weathering, erosion, and mass wasting.

 Schematic illustration of regional denudation for felsic alkaline intrusive rock bodies of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Cabo Frio Island and Itaúna Body.