화산은 어떻게 태어나는가

Deep Beneath Our Feet

Have you ever wondered how a mountain first begins? Far below the ground where you walk, the Earth hides a fiery secret. The heat comes from deep inside our planet. Deep down, the rock grows so hot that some of it slowly melts. This melted rock is called magma, and it glows a bright orange-red. Magma is lighter than the solid rock that surrounds it on every side. Because it is lighter, the glowing magma begins its long journey upward.

A Crack in the Ground

As the magma pushes toward the surface, it searches for a weak spot. Sometimes it discovers a thin crack in the Earth's hard, rocky crust. The crack becomes a doorway. The magma squeezes into this opening and creeps closer to the open air. Pressure builds beneath the ground, much like air trapped inside a shaken bottle. Before long, the rock can no longer hold all of that pressure back.