Krakatoa, Mauna Loa, Yellowstone... This quiz tests your real knowledge of volcanoes and the forces that shape the Earth.
Eruptions, magma, the Ring of Fire and supervolcanoes. 10 questions to test your knowledge of volcanoes.
Pick your level
Volcanoes are among the most powerful forces on Earth, capable of reshaping landscapes, disrupting air travel and, in the most extreme cases, altering the global climate for years. From the legendary explosion of Krakatoa to the supervolcano lurking beneath Yellowstone National Park, this quiz explores the science and history behind some of the planet's most dramatic eruptions.
Along the way, it covers the different types of volcanoes, the difference between magma and lava, and the Pacific Ring of Fire, home to roughly three-quarters of the world's active volcanoes.
All ten easy level questions, with the answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: Washington
Washington, where the blast tore off the north side of the mountain.
Correct answer: Pele
Pele, said to live at Kīlauea.
Correct answer: Pumice
Pumice, full of gas bubbles, and handy for feet.
Correct answer: Mount Doom
Mount Doom, in Mordor, and it is a long walk.
Correct answer: Extinct
Extinct. Dormant only means asleep, which is less reassuring.
Correct answer: A geyser
A geyser, a word that comes from Iceland's Geysir.
Correct answer: Tanzania
Tanzania, where it is Africa's highest mountain.
Correct answer: Ash
Ash, which is really tiny fragments of rock and glass.
Correct answer: Red and orange
Red and orange, darkening as it cools.
Correct answer: Sulphur
Sulphur, in gases such as hydrogen sulphide. Not ideal for a picnic.
Want to warm up before playing or double-check something? Open any question to reveal the correct answer and a short explanation.
Correct answer: Shield volcano
A shield volcano, like Mauna Loa in Hawaii, owes its very gentle slope to fluid lava that flows over long distances before solidifying, creating a broad, flattened shape.
Correct answer: Lava
Magma is the name given to molten rock while it remains underground. As soon as it reaches the open air during an eruption, it is called lava.
Correct answer: Vesuvius
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD buried Pompeii and Herculaneum under several metres of ash and pumice, preserving the cities in an exceptional state for modern archaeology.
Correct answer: The Ring of Fire
The Pacific Ring of Fire forms a horseshoe-shaped belt around the Pacific Ocean, where tectonic plate subduction concentrates about 75% of Earth's active and dormant volcanoes.
Correct answer: Mauna Loa
Mauna Loa, in Hawaii, rises to around 4,170 metres above sea level but extends over an enormous base beneath the ocean, making it the largest active volcano on Earth by total volume.
Correct answer: Krakatoa
The explosion of Krakatoa in August 1883 produced a sound heard as far away as Australia and Rodrigues Island, nearly 4,800 kilometres from the source, remaining one of the loudest natural detonations ever recorded.
Correct answer: A pyroclastic flow
A pyroclastic flow is a devastating mix of hot gas, ash and rock fragments that can race down a volcano's slopes at several hundred kilometres per hour, far faster than a typical lava flow.
Correct answer: Yellowstone
The Yellowstone supervolcano sits atop a giant caldera formed by ancient cataclysmic eruptions. A large part of Yellowstone National Park lies directly above this magma chamber.
Correct answer: Eyjafjallajökull
The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in April 2010 sent an ash cloud that shut down airspace across much of Europe for several days, an unprecedented disruption since the Second World War.
Correct answer: Olympus Mons
Olympus Mons, on Mars, rises to roughly 22 kilometres in elevation, nearly two and a half times the height of Mount Everest, making it the largest known volcano in the solar system.
Stuck on one, or just curious how nasty it gets? Every hard mode question is here with its answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: Mount Erebus
Mount Erebus, with a persistent lava lake in its crater.
Correct answer: Plymouth
Plymouth, on Montserrat, which remains abandoned.
Correct answer: Pāhoehoe
Pāhoehoe, as opposed to the rough, blocky ʻaʻā.
Correct answer: Pliny the Younger
Pliny the Younger, whose uncle Pliny the Elder sailed towards the eruption.
Correct answer: Sumatra
Sumatra, where a supereruption took place about 74,000 years ago.
Correct answer: India
India, and their eruptions overlapped with the dinosaur extinction.
Correct answer: Argentina
Argentina, at nearly 6,900 metres.
Correct answer: Santorini
Santorini, also known as Thera, whose crescent shape is the rim of the caldera.
Correct answer: Tonga
Tonga, after Hunga Tonga-Hunga Haʻapai sent a plume into the mesosphere.
Correct answer: Laki
Laki, whose toxic gases killed much of Iceland's livestock.